O'BSERVATIONS - THE 2014 OSCARS CEREMONY

I spent Oscar Sunday alone in my apartment because of my current incapacity (incapacitation?)  But then again, I'm not sure I would have been invited to any parties had I been able to travel......

Watching the Oscars on the Toob is definitely better when among friends, because you can get all snarky about every little detail, inappropriate comment, and snafu and even engage in a snark-off against the other party-goers.

I was still able to do that, thanks to Facebook!

So I thought I'd share with you most of my thoughts about this year's presentation.  Not all of them were winners (I could never hope to equal the bon mot bombs lobbed by Cynthia Heimel in the pages of the Village Voice in years past.)  One comment I had to delete because it was mean-spirited.  But my friend Ivy thought I was hitting on all cylinders most of the night and her opinion means the world to me.

I didn't bother with the Red Carpet crap.  My friend Ivy Hurley thinks that the pre-show lead-up is the Super Bowl for women, but I think it's more like the McLaughlin Group in drag.  I didn't even bother with Ellen's monologue and wasn't inspired until Jared Leto won.....

Jared Leto is dressed to play Jesus Christ, secret agent.

And when he brought up the current crisis in Ukraine:

Woohoo! Politics! Bring on Vanessa Redgrave!

I've seen the name "Pharrell Williams" in print, but never actually saw him before and never heard any of his songs.  I gotta tell you - that name made me think he was a woman.

When he came out to sing the song from "Despicable Me 2":

Hey, Pharell Williams! Ranger Smith wants his hat back.

This dance number would have been more fun if they were all dressed like minions.

Samuel L. Jackson was one of the presenters for costumes.....

I hope the costume design winner is a major upset, so we can hear Samuel L Jackson say "Oh HELL no!"

The animation awards.  I didn't see any of the nominees for Animated Short, but just the quick clips decided my favorite even if it didn't win:

I want to see "Get A Horse".......

And then it was time for the Animated Feature:

I guess "the Croods" is the only nominated film I've seen this year and that's only thanks to a seven-year-old nephew with a Redbox account.

Mention of the latest "Star Trek" fiction during the nominees for Special Effects made me realize:

Cumberbatch is in three nominated movies this year. Does anybody know if that's a record?

Best Red Carpet moment:

Benedict Cumberbatch photo-bombs U2

(By the way, they are "Star Trek: Into Darkness", "August: Osage County", and "12 Years A Slave".)

Edited moments from the earlier awards ceremony were shown.....

Do you know why they gave Angela Lansbury her award in a separate ceremony? They didn't want somebody murdered on live TV......

I don't even remember what Ewan MacGregor and Viola Davis were presenting; it didn't matter.....

And now presenting: Obi Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu in drag.....

Not all of the nominees were seated down in the orchestra section of the theater.....

All of these Oscar winners in the balconies.... I keep expecting John Wilkes Booth to show up.....

As far as I can remember, this was the first goof-up of the night:

Reading the nominees is pre-recorded. Wasn't anybody there who could have told Charlize Theron how to pronounce "Smaug"?

I think she made it sound like "Smoge".....

My friend Tay Mueller responded:

Thank God she didn't have to say "Moriarty"...

When Bill Murray mentioned the late Harold Ramis during the presentation of the Cinematography award:

Reminds me of when Ayckroyd snuck in the reference to Belushi ( "He was a special effect.")

Lupita Nyong'O won Best Supporting Actress.....

Will Jack Nicholson be hitting on Lupita this year?

As a presenter, Whoopie looked out over the crowd and proclaimed it to look like "Sunset Boulevard".  Was she talking about the Wax Museum group from that movie?

Whoopie? How can it be like Sunset Boulevard? I don't see many old faces there in the crowd…..

I suppose it's a realization with each new generation of the Awards, but we're losing all touch with the Hollywood of old.

Ellen went down into the audience to greet Judy Garland's kids for a weak tribute to the 75th anniversary of "The Wizard Of Oz"......

Don't keep the lights on Liza Minnelli for too long!

From Tay Mueller: They'll melt all her beautiful wickedness!

Alan Sepinwall made a good point in his HitFix column:

"a lengthy tribute to only one of the many iconic films of 1939 (a year that gave us "Gone with the Wind," "Stagecoach" and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," to name just a few others) on the 75th anniversary felt much too random."

And then Pink came out to sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow".....

The ruby slippers as a dress – I like it!

The cleavage of Oz.

The song began with some new material and I would have preferred a whole new song with scenes from the movie rather than invite comparisons to the original recording.

It took over two hours before the first major snafu at the Oscars. Somebody forgot to drop a house on Liza Minelli...,..

The commercials didn't escape my O'Bservations.....

The family plan from Sprint – Sketchy Jeff looks like the descendent of Tyrion Lannister.....

"The Great Gatsby" was up for a costume award and there was a quick shot of the orchestra members at some party....

"Gatsby" had fezzes? Fezzes are cool.  Ehhhh, I still wouldn't have seen it.

There was a meandering montage of clips about "heroes", which made no sense.  In the broadest terms which they seemed to be operating under, the Three Stooges could have been shown as an example!

I wonder if the inclusion of the "Ghostbusters" was a last-minute addition because of Ramis' death?

Then it came time to do the annual "In Memoriam" segment, which usually sets me off on a rant.....

Okay, A better montage for the tribute segment than I've seen in years. However, Peter O'Toole should've been the capper, not Philip Seymour Hoffman.

But upon further review, there is a minor rant: why was Sid Caesar included and not Jonathan Winters.  Winters made more movies, and based on Sid's "The Spirit Is Willing", funnier ones.  If the Academy tries to claim it's because Winters is known more for TV work (as they did to Oscar nominated Patrick McGoohan!), then the same standard applies even moreso for Sid.  

You know why he was in there?  His death was recent and maybe still on the minds of the jerks in charge of this "tribute".  Sid's spot should have been used instead for Ed Lauter.  A lot more people could have been included if they cut out Bette Midler singing AFTER the tribute!  Oh, wait.  She was singing that "Heroes" song and the theme was "Heroes".....

Rant over.

Maybe it was just under the wire before the commercial break, but at least Sarah Jones got a mention this year. Good night and may God bless…

During the course of the night, two members of the same family were trotted out......

Here's Goldie Hawn, doing her impersonation of Kim Novak….

Being an Oscar winner herself, I bet Goldie was only up onstage with Hollywood's Young Turks because most people today know her as Kate Hudson's mother.

The sponsor for the night's proceedings should have been......

 20 Mule Team Botox

Kim Novak and Goldie Hawn should've teamed up to sing the song from "Frozen".....

"Gravity" won the most Oscars, but I think voters had gone into lock-step when filling out their ballots.....

Okay, I think this musical score award is just overkill for "Gravity".

I think the producers of the telecast knew in advance that "12 Years A Slave" would be the big winner of the night.....

It's not just me, right? There are a lot of black and white pairs for presenters?

I'm getting the feeling that Price Waterhouse spilled the beans…

Cate Blanchett won for Best Actress and she accepted her award from Daniel Day Lewis.

Blanchett: "Thank you, Mr. Day Lewis.  Getting this award from you, it exacerbates this honor....."

"Exacerbates"? I don't think that word means what you think it means.....

From Merriam-Webster:

"to make (a bad situation, a problem, etc.) worse"

The roll-call of nominees for Best Actor.....

I would have no problem with Leonardo Di Caprio becoming the next Peter O'Toole, if you know what I mean.....

There really is a paucity of the Hollywood Old Guard for the presentation of the Big Award.....

Does Will Smith have the stature to be presenting the best picture award?

I guess they couldn't ask Sidney Poitier to do it.  He looked a bit infirm when he presented an earlier award, and he needed coaching from his co-presenter.

And then "12 Years A Slave" was announced as the winner.

Oooooohhhhhh, that's why…. I knew Price Waterhouse had loose lips.

SHOW OVER!

Ended right at Midnight. Impressive. But they'd have been done by 11:30 if they started at 8 pm. Earlier if they skipped the pizza bit.

Good night, everybody! I'll be performing all week at Stumpy's Chuckle Hut. Try the squab! (You thought I'd go with "veal", didn't you?)

BCnU!

LITTLE BIG SCREEN: MARCH INTO THE FUTURE!

There is a Toobworld version of the characters and situations from the "Back To The Future" film trilogy.  We saw Doc Brown in the live-action segments of the "BTTF" cartoon series, practicing his serlinguism.  (He started off doing full on-camera appearances but gradually it just became his voice and probably a stunt arm underneath the DeLorean.)

Doc Brown has taken his serlinguistic skills on the road - a couple of years ago, the scientist showed up in Argentina where he schilled products for the Garbarino electronics chain.

The Earth Prime-Time version of the DeLorean has reappeared in a new GE commercial.  And with the voice-over by Michael J. Fox, it can be assumed that the driver of that time-travelling vehicle is Marty McFly.

This isn't the first time we've seen GE commercials using characters from other TV shows and movies: Lt. Commander Data of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', KITT from 'Knight Rider', and Robbie the Robot, who could be from any number of TV productions - from 'The Thin Man' to 'Columbo' - instead of from the movie "Forbidden Planet".  (It's apparently a common casing for robots; it's the software that is different in each.)

And that's our March salute for "Toobworld Goes Hollywood"......

BCnU!

OSCAR MIRED PREENERS - TV VARIATIONS ON JOAN & OLIVIA

On December 15, 2013, actress Joan Fontaine passed away, making it the last time she would achieve something before her sister Olivia de Havilland would.  (Both won Oscars in their careers, but Joan was the first to do so.  However, Olivia won two - for "To Each His Own" and "The Heiress" while Joan only won once, for "Suspicion".)

Joan Fontaine established her Toobworld presence in two productions - an episode of 'Mr. Adams And Eve' and in the anthology series 'Climax!' which was about the televersion of Louella Parsons (played by Teresa Wright.)

Olivia de Havilland had plenty of TV credits herself, but none in which she played a fictional version of herself.  However, over in the Tooniverse, it's inferred that she exists:

In an episode of 'Rocky & Bullwinkle', Boris and Natasha had suspended Bullwinkle over a snake pit.  Luckily Rocky flew in and rescued his friend and they ran off.  But Bullwinkle came back,looked down into the hole in the floor and said "So long, Olivia!"

Ms. de Havilland starred in the movie "The Snake Pit".....

'MIDSOMER MURDERS'

"DEATH AND THE DIVAS"

In Toobworld, the rivalry between actress siblings has had a few variations on the Joan & Olivia theme.  Chief among them were the rash of murders in the village of Midsomer which centered around Stella Harris and her more successful sister Diana Davenport, a Hollywood superstar.  Stella was supposed to get her big Hollywood break with an adaptation of "The Fall Of The House Of Usher", but producer Cy Davenport fell in love with her sister Diana (and married her) and then gave the role to Diana instead.  But Stella became the Toobworld version of Hazel Court - the British Scream Queen of the 1960s with the movies "I Thirst For Blood", "Death And The Diva", "The Mummy Rises", and "Torment".  Meanwhile, Diana went on to a fabulous career but one in which she lost out on the Oscar for "By Love Divided".  ("I was robbed," she told Stella.)

Toobworld Central has another pair who never appeared together in a television episode and never referred to each other in the shows in which they did appear.  (But that would be expected if there was a heightened rivalry between them.)

'COLUMBO'

"REQUIEM FOR A FALLING STAR"

The more famous of these two (and the more talented) was Nora Chandler.  She starred in a lot of classic Hollywood movies in the forties and fifties, but her star was definitely on the wane by the early 1970s when she murdered her personal assistant.  As often happened with Lt. Columbo's murder suspects, it was something she treasured which finally tripped her up.  In her case, it was a scene in one of her old movies in which she dressed like a man she had killed and then took his boat out into rough waters to make it look like he died at sea.  Unfortunately for her, Columbo happened to catch that scene on the late show.

'THE NAME OF THE GAME'

"THE PROTECTOR"

"THE TAKEOVER"

Magda Blaine was the less talented of the two, but she still made her fair share of movies.  (Two of them were "Perilous Voyage" and "Bleeding Heart".)  Her main problem was that she was a terrible over-actor and did so even in real life.  (Magda was prone to inserting quotes from her old movies into her conversations.)  She became an active player in the 1970 military coup which temporarily overthrew the government of President Ben Kaliman in Bhasa.  This was not her first time involved in such a venture: two years earlier she was caught up in the machinations of Herman Allison, a multi-millionaire who plotted to bring down the United States government.

BCnU!

TELE-FOLKS DIRECTORY - CORTLAND EVANS

Tomorrow is the Academy Awards presentation...

'MARCUS WELBY, M.D.'

"Of Magic Shadow Shapes"

Cortland Evans had once been a famous movie director in Hollywood whose star faded away, leaving him broke and broken, with hardly any friends and very sick.  For Courtland Evans, the worst part was that he was practically forgotten.

As a boy, he traveled with his mother, who took pleasure in keeping company with rich and powerful men.  Even at a very young age, Evans probably knew what kind of woman his mother was, but it gave him the chance to see the world and rub elbows with the famous and the powerful.

His first big film was "Pleasure Domes" which he completed by the time he was thirty years of age.  The studio (Monolith, I'm claiming) took the film away from a director named Ronstadt and Cortland had no problem grabbing the reins for himself, never looking back.

After that, other big pictures came out bearing the screen legend: "Directed by Cortland Evans":

• "Mansions In The Dust"
• "Against The Gods"
• "Pinnacle"

Evans married several times, but it was his first wife who inspired him the most, even though none of the characters in his films were ever based on her.  And he was good friends with other legends in Hollywood, like Otto Preminger.

And then, in 1941, Evans was directing what he hoped would be his masterpiece - "Flanders Fields".  It was to be a powerful statement against war which he hoped would strengthen the resolve of the American audiences to remain neutral in the current global conflict.

And then, on December 7th of that year... Pearl Harbor.

Evans never finished "Flanders Fields".  He bought the movie back from the studio with the hopes of one day going back to work on it, but it only gathered dust in his archives.  

He tried to move on to other work, but the pacifist nature of the movie put him in dutch with Congress and he was somewhat blacklisted.  After the war, he turned to TV where he directed episodes of 'Mosquito Man' and 'Tobor of Space Patrol', but his heart wasn't in it.

Eventually, Cort moved to Europe where he directed cheaply produced potboilers throughout the 1950s.  Mostly they were badly written noir films, a couple of sword and sandal pictures, and even some slightly licentious horror films with enough blood and cleavage to satisfy all tastes of the audience.

Among these movies were:

• "Arrrrrrggghh!" (But the original)
• "Bloodbath In Cell Block 11"
• "The Creature From Another Planet"
• "Dracula's Women"
• "Eye Of The Mummy"

and 

• "Mohawk Over The Moon"

However, near the end of his life, suffering from an aneurysm that could burst at any time, Evans was spurred on by a film student to finish the movie.  Of course, it would mean postponing the surgery to save his life, but what was that when "Flanders Fields" promised him immortality?

Dr. Welby was able to get the student, Perry Archer, to see that his own ambitions would end up killing Cort Evans.  Archer finally convinced the old man to get the surgery and a few months later he was able to continue his work. 

"Flanders Fields" received great word of mouth from local critics and film historians when it received its world premiere at the actors' home in the Los Angeles area and it looked certain to burnish the legend of Cortland Evans to shine once more.

This is just supposition, but I think that when Cortland Evans was a small boy, he and his mother (and whoever her current amour was) were invited to stay at Downton Abbey in the Yorkshire region.  There he met Lord and Lady Grantham and many of the members of the Crawley family.  

But the one who must have made the strongest impression on a wide-eyed boy of 10 years so far from his home was the Dowager Countess, Lady Violet.  She must have filled him with fear with her imperious demeanor.  But he also was witness to the toll Life was taking on her as she was nearing the end of her days.

Cortland Evans never forgot Lady Violet in her indomitable infirmity and she came to mind when he was struggling with his own illness....

After collapsing in his home soon after checking himself out of the hospital, Cort waved off the concerns of Dr. Welby saying: 

"I just got dizzy;

Swooned like an old Victorian dowager."

O'Bviously it was a reference to Lady Violet.....

Cortland Evans knew when to make an exit.  He recognized "Flanders Fields" to be his crowning achievement, his legacy, and he felt no compunction to make another movie.  

But occasionally he would direct a TV commercial now and again, just to keep his hand in the game.  Several of those jobs were for an old friend, Larry Tate of McMann & Tate....

The first was back in the 1950s during one of his visits home to America, for Vitameatavegemin.  But he also made ads over the years for:

• Carabonal
• Schotz Beer
• Crickly Wicklies Breakfast Cereal
• Charlie Strayhorn's Breakfast Sausages
• Denise Dumont Perfumes
• Barker's Baby Food
• Mint Brite Toothpaste
• Gibbons Dog Burgers
• Potomac Greeting Cards
• Dozy Doodles sleeping pills
• The Whizzo Chocolate Assortment (in the United Kingdom)
• Churchill's Beer (in the United Kingdom, made by Feldspar Breweries)
• The Phoenix automobile (commercial never completed when it was learned the car didn't really exist)

Cortland Evans died in 1994, but at least he died with his boots on.  He was filming a Binford Tools commercial at the time.......

SHOWS CITED:

• 'Downton Abbey'
• 'DaVinci's Inquest'
• 'Laverne & Shirley'
• 'The Rockford Files'
• 'Green Acres'
• 'Bewitched'
• 'Get Smart'
• 'EastEnders'
• 'Monty Python's Flying Circus'
• 'Banacek'
• 'The Saint'
• 'Gilligan's Island'
• 'Drake & Josh'
• 'Frasier'
• 'Last Of The Summer Wine'
• 'The A-Team'
• 'The Kenny Everett Television Show'
• 'iCarly'
• 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'
• 'New Tricks'
• 'Home Improvement'

BCnU!

BIG SCREEN TV - LOUELLA PARSONS

Unlike her celebrity gossip-monger rival Hedda Hopper, Louella Parsons never established a televersion for herself in a fictional setting for Toobworld.  (Ms. Hopper had appearances in 'I Love Lucy', 'The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour', and 'The Beverly Hillbillies' to her credit, making her eligible for the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.)

But Ms. Parsons was portrayed several times in TV movies of the 1980s:

• "Malice in Wonderland" (1985) Played by Elizabeth Taylor
• "The Hearst and Davies Affair" (1985) Played by Doris Belack
• "Marilyn: The Untold Story" (1980) Played by Priscilla Morrill
• "The Scarlett O'Hara War" (1980) Played by Jane Kean 
• "Bogie" (1980) Played by Anne Bellamy

All of these would be relegated to alternate TV dimensions, so five other Toobworlds would be "richer" for this contribution.  (Your pont of view may vary.)

Louella Parsons did appear as herself on several TV game shows, variety programs, and talk shows.  While these are accepted as part of the TV on TV aspect of Toobworld (especially if - like 'The Ed Sullivan Show', one of her credits in this category - it gets mentioned in other TV shows), they just don't give the alternate universe aspect any "oomph".  So their value to the quality of the Toobworld Dyanmic isn't counted for much.  

So for Earth Prime-Time, the televersion of Louella Parsons is portrayed by Teresa Wright in the 'Cimax!' episode "The Louella Parsons Story".  The reason why this should gain prominence over the other vehicles is simple - the overwhelming presence of celebrities appearing as members of the League of Themselves.

Also appearing in this episode of the anthology series listed alphabetically:

• Gracie Allen
• Eve Arden
• Jean-Pierre Aumont
• Lex Barker
• Joan Bennett
• Jack Benny
• Charles Boyer
• George Burns
• Eddie Cantor
• Dan Dailey
• Howard Duff
• Joan Fontaine
• Zsa Zsa Gabor
• Susan Hayward
• Ida Lupino
• Fred MacMurray
• Robert Mitchum
• Kim Novak
• Maureen O'Sullivan
• Merle Oberon
• Ginger Rogers
• Gilbert Roland
• Robert Stack
• Lana Turner
• Robert Wagner
• John Wayne

Some of them have appeared as themselves in other TV shows.  In fact, three of them are members of the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame (Jack Benny, George Burns, and John Wayne.) All together, they make a powerful argument for this televersion of Louella Parsons to be left in the main TV Land, Earth Prime-Time.

Outside of the Box:
Teresa Wright & Louella Parsons in a publicity picture

BCnU!

TELE-FOLKS DIRECTORY: SONNY DRYSDALE

Adonis "Sonny" Drysdale was a dissipated playboy and the stepson of Beverly Hills banker Milburn Drysdale.  But Sonny didn't spend all of his time in Beverly Hills....  After all, he was a Yale man!  He was also a frequent visitor to New York City and called its many bars, saloons, and cocktail lounges "home".

Sonny was in the Big Apple in May of 1959 when Detectives Jimmy Halloran and Frank Arcaro recovered two missing bloodhounds near Central Park.  Sonny was so drunk that he mistook the dogs for rather small carriage horses.

And so he was brought in to the 65th station house to be booked on a drunk & disorderly charge.

SHOWS CITED:

'Naked City' - "Bloodhounds"

'The Beverly Hillbillies' - "Elly's First Date"
                                       - "Pygmalion And Elly"
                                       - "Elly Races Jethrine"
                                       - "Sonny Drysdale Returns"

"The Legend Of The Beverly Hillbillies"

BCnU!

MORE FROM ORK

While doing research on 'Mork And Mindy', I learned about a Brazilian remake entitled 'Superbronco' and starring Ronald Golias.  I was hoping to learn more about the show than that, but at least from the USA POV of the Internet, that's about all there is to find out.  However, it was Golias' one unsuccessful TV show.

But based just on this, I'd say that his character is also from Ork, sent on a similar mission to Earth.  I see this more as a spin-off than an international remake.

If his name turned out to be also Mork, that's okay.  Think how many Earthlings share the same name.  There were two Thomases in 'Downton Abbey', two Henrys in 'Picket Fences', and there were two Petes in 'The Adventures Of Pete And Pete', for Pete's sake!

He was probably named "Bronco", according to IMDb, but I haven't been able to verify that.

What if there were other Orkans who visited Earth Prime-Time around the same time as Mork and Bronco, eve they never got their own sitcoms in our world?  Could some "middle-aged" humans on TV right now, who don't seem "normal" by human standards, be actually Orkans hiding in plain sight?

If so, I think the Orkan who landed in Soviet Russia back in the late 1970s probably never survived once the Soviets got hold of him.......

In a border raid into the Cineverse, maybe this 1949 publicity shot of Jean Kent for "Trottie True" was of a woman from the planet Ork arriving on Earth.....

BCnU!

TUESDAY NEWS DAY - FLASH FORWARD

When the CW unveils its spin-off from 'Arrow' - 'The Flash' - the first televersion of the Scarlet Speedster will be on board the project as well.

John Wesley Shipp played Barry Allen and his alter-ego the Flash in the CBS series back in the 1990s.  But this time around, we don't know whom he will be playing; it's all a big mystery.  But it won't be a one-shot guest appearance to give the show some sort of blessing with the passing of the torch.  (Not The Torch.)

Shipp will be a recurring guest star should the series gets an official pick-up to a full run.  

I've seen suggestions online that he'll be playing Jay Garrick from the comic books who was the first Flash during the WWII era and considered a citizen of "Earth 2".  

For Toobworld, the new Flash will already be in an alternate TV dimension.  So if Shipp is playing Garrick, then he's from an extension of that dimension more than from an off-shoot from Earth Prime-Time.  

Well, the casting news did serve its purpose - I can't be the only one who will now be watching after all, just to find out the secret behind John Wesley Shipp's character....

BCnU!

HELLO, FLASH! GOOD-BYE, "ARROW"!

With the introduction of Barry Allen in the latest episode of 'Arrow', Toobworld Central says good-bye to any further adventures from the CW superhero series.  From that point on, nothing that happens on 'Arrow' will be taking place on Earth Prime-Time.

Earth Prime-Time already has its own version of Barry Allen, who is better known in the comic book universe as the Flash.  As far as being seen in the main Toobworld, Barry Allen first appeared in 1990 when a chemical explosion in his lab transformed him into the Scarlet Speedster.

The Trueniverse audience only saw him in action that one season, but Life goes on even after cancellation.  I see no reason why Barry Allen should not be still alive in Toobworld.  

But as for still being the Flash?  If the Flash still existed as was capable of such high speeds, why isn't he being mentioned as foiling crimes in Central City still, or somewhere in the country?

Here's what I think happened - the high metabolic rate of his body eventually drained off all of the ability for Barry Allen to travel at high speeds.  (Such a situation could also have gone unchecked until it finally killed him, but why do superhero stories always have to have such morbid endings nowadays?)  I prefer to think that once he was bereft of his powers as the Flash, Barry Allen returned to his civilian life as a forensic scientist for the Central City police department.

He may even have opted to cash in on his former popularity by writing his autobiography, selling the rights to his story to the televersion of DC Comics, and making some coin off the merchandizing rights to his logo and costume.

Something along those lines must have happened.  On 'The Big Bang Theory', Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj all owned Flash costumes.  Sheldon also owned at least one T-shirt with the Flash logo, as did Screech in 'Saved By The Bell'.  And in the "Lion's Den" episode of 'The Outer Limits', Brae referrred to Morris as the Flash.  Also on TBBT, the Flash comic book can sometimes be seen in Stuart's comic book store.  

In fact, in the pilot episode of 'The Middleman', Wendy Watson told her new boss that "The Flash" was her favorite comic book.  The Middleman responded, "Barry Allen or Wally West?"  From this we could make the conjecture that DC Comics created Wally West as a fictional successor to Barry Allen, or perhaps Wally West also exists in Earth Prime-Time but we just haven't seen him yet.  (I prefer to think he was fictional; otherwise DC would have had to deal with Wally to secure the rights to his story.)

Getting back to 'Arrow', it's not a total write-off for the series as far as Earth Prime-Time is concerned.  As was the case with 'Heroes', 'Stargate SG-1', 'The Dead Zone' and even 'Alias Smith And Jones' before it, the preceding episodes of 'Arrow' before Barry Allen makes his appearance can still be considered part of the main Toobworld.  So that would mean thirty episodes of 'Arrow' do exist in Earth Prime-Time, and that's not such a bad legacy, is it?

But from "The Scientist" onwards, the series is following the Oliver Queen of an alternate TV dimension.

Perhaps even the same dimension currently occupied by 'Marvel Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D'.....?

Exelsior!

MISSING LINKS: CASINO CLAIMS

When a million dollars was stolen from the middle of a Las Vegas casino in plain view, insurance investigator Thomas Banacek was called in to take over the case.  We never learned the name of the casino, only that it was owned by reclusive billionaire Jonathan Jackson (a Howard Hughes type).

So I'm going to claim that the casino would later become known as the Montecito, once it was sold after the death of Jackson.  O'Bviously there was forty years of renovation to turn it into the sleek casino seen in the later TV show.

SHOWS CITED:
'Banacek' - "A Million The Hard Way"
'Las Vegas'

BCnU!