TVXOHOF, CHRISTMAS 2019 - FLASH THE FIRST

Every year, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame inducts a new member into the Hall.  Usually it’s some TV character who has a connection to the “Reason for the Season”….

Even if it’s a bit of a stretch.

But this year?  No problem!  We’re inducting the guy in the red suit….

BARRY ALLEN

“THE FLASH”

Oh.  You thought it was going to be Santa Claus?  Well as it stands now, there are three Santas in the Hall already:

• Santa Claus of Earth Prime-Time (as played by Charles Durning)
• Santa Claus of the Evil Mirror Universe (as played by Art Carney)
• Santa Claus of the “Puppetoobworld” (as personified by Santa Claus from “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”)
• Plus Mrs. Claus of Earth Prime-Time.

So it’s time to share the wealth!

Originally the plan was to induct the current Flash, the Barry Allen of the so-called Earth-1 (as played by Grant Gustin in the current incarnation of ‘The Flash’.)  But that was before the mega-crossover, “Crisis On Infinite Earths”; before John Wesley Shipp bolstered his tally with appearances on ‘Arrow’ and ‘Supergirl’.

And that was before the events of the first “half” of the “Crisis” crossover made it necessary for us to honor Mr. Shipp’’s contribution to the DC segment of the TV Universe.

From Wikipedia:
He played the lead Barry Allen on CBS's superhero series ‘The Flash’ from 1990 to 1991.    

He portrays both Barry Allen's father, Henry Allen, Jay Garrick/Flash and Earth-90 Barry Allen/Flash on the current ‘The Flash’ series on The CW network.  

‘The Flash’ is an American television series developed by the writing team of Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo that aired on CBS from September 20, 1990 to May 18, 1991. It is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, a costumed superhero crime-fighter with the power to move at superhuman speeds. The Flash starred John Wesley Shipp as Allen, along with Amanda Pays, and Alex Désert.  

The 2014 television series, ‘The Flash’, features several references to the 1990 series. John Wesley Shipp plays the recurring role of Barry Allen's father, Henry Allen, and Amanda Pays once again portrays a character named Dr. Tina McGee.

Shipp eventually portrays the Earth-3 version of Henry Allen, Jay Garrick / Flash. Regarding the difference in his portrayal of Garrick over Allen, Shipp "figured Jay is my version of Barry" from the 1990 series, adding, "I went back and I watched a couple of episodes of the 1990/91 version to kind of remind myself what I did. [Jay] is much more reminiscent of my Barry Allen from 25 years ago than my Henry Allen. I went back and I was amazed how much attitude my Barry Allen had in some situations. I went back and I picked up that thread and I brought it forward 25 years, and tried to weave it in."

In "Welcome to Earth-2", as Barry, Cisco and Wells are traveling to Earth-2, glimpses of the multiverse are seen, including an image of Shipp as the Flash from the 1990 series, implying that the series was retroactively being added to the Arrowverse-multiverse.

Shipp reprises his role as Barry Allen from this series in the 2018 Arrowverse crossover, "Elseworlds". The crossover also links the 1990 series to the Arrowverse, designating its world as Earth-90. The character reappears in the next year's crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths", having been captured by the Anti-Monitor and used to power his anti-matter cannon to destroy the multiverse.

He ultimately sacrifices himself to destroy the machine, seeing his life with Tina (whom he had married at some point) flash before his eyes in the form of a clip from the original series, ending it properly with The Flash's sacrifice.  After the filming of the scene, John Wesley Shipp told ‘The Flash’ show-runner Eric Wallace, ‘Thank you for giving me this opportunity to close a chapter.'
Here are the series which add up to qualify him for membership in the TVXOHOF:

The Flash
Barry Allen / The Flash / Pollux
22 episodes

The Flash
Henry Allen / Jay Garrick / The Flash /
23 episodes

Supergirl
- Bunker Hill (2018)
... The Flash (uncredited)

Arrow
- Unmasked (2018)
... The Flash (uncredited)
- Elseworlds, Part 2 (2018)
... Earth-90 Barry Allen / The Flash

This post is also serving as my latest rumination, my O’Bservation, on “Crisis on Infinite Earths”.  As such I should point out that just as was the case with Dick Grayson of Earth-66, Barry Allen of Earth-2 is merely the doppelganger of his incarnation on Earth Prime-Time.

No matter what happens in the “Crisis” crossover by its end, DC and the CW have no control over the main Toobworld.  It will still exist, as will other alternate Toobworlds – not just the Evil Mirror Toobworld, Skitlandia, and the several Comix Toobworlds, but also Disaster Toobworld, Zombie Toobworld (Nosferatoob), and Black Toobworld, among many others.

So that first Flash - as played by John Wesley Shipp - will still exist.

But in the meantime, we’re taking this opportunity to honor the doppelganger of the first Barry Allen to appear in the greater Toobworld Telemosaic.

Welcome to the Hall, Mr. Allen.

CRISIS O'BSERVATION - SMALLVILLE

CRISIS vs. TOOBWORLD
THE WORLD OF SMALLVILLE

According to the Arrowverse, the Multiverse designation for the world on which ‘Smallville’ took place was Earth-167.

From the Arrowverse Wiki:
Clark Kent lived in Smallville with Lois Lane and their daughters. While chopping wood, Clark was visited by Clark Kent and Lois Lane of Earth-38 and Iris West-Allen of Earth-1, who attempted to ask him to join them to stop the Anti-Monitor. However, Lex Luthor of Earth-38 appeared and sent them away, before attempting to kill Clark. He realized that Clark no longer had his powers, before Clark punched him and Lex disappeared.

This universe is (supposedly) home to the ‘Smallville’ television series. In addition, the number 167 is a nod to the show's producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar both being born in 1967.

However, this Earth being part of the Arrowverse multiverse stands in contrast to Season 10 and the comics continuity of ‘Smallville’, in which the prime earth is Earth-1, while there are others such as Earth-2 and Earth-Majestic. Also, in the comics continuity of ‘Smallville’, the heroes face a species named Monitors, dedicated to erase the multiverse using a form of anti-matter nicknamed "The Bleed".

In the DC Comics, Earth-167 is the universe where best friends Lex Luthor and Clark Kent are Superman and Batman respectively.

Earth Prime-Time, the main Toobworld, has nothing invested in ‘Smallville’.  It couldn’t take place on Toobworld because that had its own Superman already – to be found in the 1950s series ‘The Adventures Of Superman’.

So far, the “Crisis On Infinite Earths” mini-series hasn’t acknowledged the existence and/or the destruction of that Earth, except in the blanket announcement that only their concept of Earth-1 was left.

In the overall concept of the Toobworld Dynamic, not every TV show can exist on the same Earth.  If they did, ‘Bob ❤️ Abishola’ would have been overrun by ‘The Walking Dead.’  Showrunners who are focused on their own shows can’t afford to recognize the existence of other series unless they’re explicitly tied into their show with an official crossover.

But now, if the CW is going to stand by the events of the Crisis, then they’re basically saying that all the shows on their network take place on the same world as their superhero shows.  And I’m okay with that.  It just seems like a shame that we’re going to lose the possibility that they could theoretically interact with other TV series on other networks.

Getting back to ‘Smallville’, after seeing how filled out Tom Welling has become since his show went off the air (plus the fact that his Clark Kent no longer has his powers), it’s a shame to think that we’ll never get the chance to see him outfitted in the blue suit and the big red “S”.  By claiming that his world has been destroyed, they’ve robbed themselves of one day making some gelt off TV reunion movies.

I would think DC – with its own DC Universe establishing itself – might not like losing that option.  Just sayin’….

When we last saw the Clark and Lois of that world, they were happily walking off to be with their daughters.  Clark had to keep up the pretense of being in the moment even though he knew what was coming.  And I’m sure he had regrets as the sky turned red that he had given up his powers… not that there was much he could have done to save his family.

This has only been a Toobworld theory in the past, but ‘Smallville’ shared its dimension with three other TV series, as well as a movie:

• ‘The West Wing’
• ‘Mr. Sterling’
• “Minority Report” – the movie
• ‘Minority Report’ – the TV series

I got some splainin to do as to why…..

‘The West Wing’ – Both shows depicted a presidential election race in an off-year during the same TV season. That may not seem like much, but the possible connection led me to wonder why the world of ‘The West Wing’ – which can’t be Earth Prime-Time because the main Toobworld must have the same POTUS as the Real World – didn’t have its own Superman to come to the rescue whenever he was needed during ‘West Wing’ episodes (like when that Navy ship was going to be caught in the hurricane.)

Well, in ‘Smallville’ Clark Kent didn’t reveal himself to be wearing that big red “S” until the last few seconds of the series!  ‘Smallville’ ended in 2011; ‘The West Wing’ ended in 2006, long before “Superman” made his debut in that world.

Furthermore, as of 2019, Lex Luthor – as played by Michael Rosenberg – was the POTUS of the United State of America on Earth-167.  So President Matthew Santos could have served until 2015, and Lex Luthor either was elected as the next President, or was the Vice President and succeeded his POTUS.  Whether he engineered the President’s removal from office one way or the other….?

‘Mr. Sterling’ – This was loosely spun off from ‘The West Wing’ allegedly.  But there were no crossover characters and no real references to events from that series.

‘Minority Report’ (The TV Series) – This takes place in 2065, eleven years after the movie version.  In the pilot episode, a scene takes place in Bartlet Plaza, named after the President of that world at the turn of the Millennium.

“Minority Report" (The Movie) – With the TV series taking place eleven years after the movie, that’s plenty of time to flush out the characters of the movie and set it elsewhere.  No problem in absorbing it into the TV Universe.  Besides, with it taking place in 2054, after I’m gone, who cares?  LOL

So with the destruction of Earth-167, we lost not only all the characters from ‘Smallville’, but also Jed and Abby Bartlet, Josh Lyman, Toby Ziegler, Matthew Santos and CJ Cregg. (Sadly, we lost Leo McGarry before the series ended.)  And we lost characters who might not even be born yet since ‘Minority Report’ as just the movie wasn’t going to be happening for another 35 years from now.  Now it won’t.

But speaking of the future timeline for Earth-167, the past of that world’s timeline was altered.  As the Trueniverse audience, we might be left with our memories of what once happened on that world, but with its destruction some of those memories should be wiped out as well.

Clark Kent interacted with the Legion of Superheroes in at least one episode, “Legion”.  At least in the comic books and the CW, the Legion exist far in the future of Earth.  But with that far future now wiped out, the Legion of Superheroes doesn’t exist and ther interaction with Clark Kent never happened.  Who knows what ripple effects that might have triggered… to the point where Clark wasn’t on his Smallville farm to greet his visitors in those last moments of Earth-167.

Well, we shall see what we shall view when the Crisis crossover event returns in January.

Excelsior!

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS - THE NEW YORK SENTINEL

For today’s Friday Hall of Famer we’re adding another newspaper to the Media Room in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  We’ve already got the NY Chronicle and its sister publication, the L.A. Chronicle.  (Both published by one-shot character Arthur Kennicutt from ‘Columbo’.)  And the warhorse of the tabloids, the NY Ledger.

Joining them will be…

THE NEW YORK SENTINEL

Sadly that’s the only picture I have so far for the newspaper.  But according to Wikipedia, the NY Sentinel appeared in the following TV series:

• Law & Order
• The Adventures of Hiram Holliday
• Beauty and the Beast
• Murder, She Wrote

The Sentinel played a significant role in Jessica Fletcher’s life, beginning with the tenth season.  And if I’m not mistaken, Hiram Holliday worked for the Sentinel as a proofreader.

At any rate, the New York Sentinel has four TV series to its credit, one more than required for the TVXOHOF.  It may not be much, but hey – it’s the holidays.

What a great alibi!

Toobworld Central welcomes the New York Sentinel to the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.....

CRISIS VS. TOOBWORLD #6 - THE FLASH

CRISIS VS. TOOBWORLD #6
THE FLASH

Personal disclaimer:
When I was a kid, “The Flash” was my favorite superhero comic book… for two reasons.  The main one was that it was always visually stimulating – that bright red suit, the depiction of speed and vibrational resonance, plus the use of speed in time travel, and then there were the colorful villains in Flash’s Rogue’s Gallery.  (I think Captain Boomerang was my favorite of the bunch.)

As for the second reason?  Well, even if they cost about a dime, I wasn’t only assured I’d be able to afford the next month’s issue.  At that time, Marvel was geared to story arcs while DC focused on single issue storylines.

And now, here be spoilers….

I liked the 1990 version of ‘The Flash’ and John Wesley Shipp perfectly exemplified the square-jawed hero.  But I had no delusions regarding his fate in the “Crisis On Multiple Earths” mega-crossover.  When it comes to that, I suppose I’m not the only one who had come to expect it.  Shipp originally played Barry Allen’s father, Henry, in the CW adaptation of “The Flash”.

Eventually, Henry Allen died.

Then we saw him as the Flash from Earth-3, Jay Garrick, later in the series.

It is assumed that with everybody else of Earth-3, Jay Garrick eventually retired, but is presumed as having perished with the dissolution of his home dimension.

And then we got the Barry Allen of Earth-90.  That designation was an in-joke reference to ‘The Flash’ having been broadcast in 1990.

So for Greg Berlanti and the showrunners for this crossover, Earth-90 was the world shown in that series.

But in this playground of Toobworld, it actually was an alternate dimension.  For Toobworld Central, the 1990s version of ‘The Flash’ took place on Earth Prime-Time.  Therefore, as far as the tribunal is concerned, Shipp’s version of the Scarlet Speedster still exists.

But I understand why they felt it necessary to kill off his Flash during the crossover.  In the comic book mega-crossover, the death of Barry Allen, sacrificing himself by using his super-speed, played out in such a memorable scene which was heart-breaking to a big fan like me.  It was illogical to expect Grant Gustin’s Flash make that sacrifice while the show is still running.

So maybe the Flash of Earth Prime-Time may never be seen on our TV screens again either way, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing John Wesley Shipp on ‘The Flash’ ever again.  That particular DNA sequence is very strong and has shown up three times already.  I won’t be surprised if they find a way to use him again in some capacity.

And I’ve got a suggestion for how that might happen….

Earth-38 was able to rescue a good number of its citizens in spaceships which were able to pass through the dimension veil and arrive on Earth-1 (their designation, not mine.)

There should be some character from that world, looking like the older Barry Allen, Henry Allen, and Jay Garrick, who made it into one of the spaceships and is now on Earth-1.  He might even be another member of the Allen family.

Whether he’s another speedster or not, that’s not up to me.  I’m just giving them a way to bring Shipp back.

BCnU!
 

CRISIS O'BSERVATIONS 4 - EARTH-89 TWO FOR TUESDAY

CRISIS VS. TOOBWORLD O’BSERVATIONS
TWO FOR TUESDAY – EARTH-89

Within the main Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event, Earth-89 was the first of the alternate Earths in the Multiverse to be destroyed.  (Many episodes ago in ‘The Flash’, Earth-90 - home of the 1990 TV series of ‘The Flash’ [to them, at least; not me] - was the first to go, I think.)

Earth-89 was the homeworld for the 1989 “Batman” movie directed by Tim Burton with Michael Keaton as the Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker.  We didn’t see them in the quick scene of Earth-89, but it was established by the appearance of Robert Wuhl as his character of Alexander Knox, an investigative reporter along the lines of Mike McAlary or Pete Hamill.  Unlike the Huntress from her Earth, we didn’t see him evaporate with his world’s destruction, but it was a given.

It’s a shame we didn’t see the parallel Earths from the greater Cineverse dimensions for the Schumacher and Nolan “Batman” movies and even that 1940s serial.  But by the time the first three-fifths of the crossover were over, we were assured that they no longer existed. (From the CW’s perspective.)

As Earth-89 was from the movies, and an alternate Cineverse at that, since there was the 1966 “Batman” movie before it and the 1940s serial before that, it really has no effect on the concept of Toobworld.  (For the greater Toobworld Dynamic, the 1966 movie was absorbed into the dimension of Earth Prime-Time since it was really just an extension of the TV series.)

So there are two points from that quick clip I’d like to address; both of them come from the front page of that newspaper which Alexander Knox was reading.

1] THE GOTHAM GAZETTE

I’ve seen a lot of tsuris over the fact that Knox was seen reading the Gazette when he had been a reporter for the Gotham Globe.  But hey!  That was thirty years ago!  There are so many things which could have happened in that time.

• Knox could still be working for the Globe, but he’s checking up on the competition.
• Knox is retired and just wants to read all the coverage of the news in Gotham.
• Knox maybe got fired from the Globe and now reads the Gazette in public as a small form of revenge.
• And whether he got fired or quit, Knox could now be working for the Gazette.  Perhaps he was lured away by the lure of a pay raise.  (Saw it all the time with the tabloids in NYC.)
• So it’s no big deal about what newspaper he’s reading.

2] “BATMAN CAPTURES JOKER”

In the movie, the Joker most certainly died from that fall from that height.  But “the Joker” isn’t a name; it’s a job description.  In the ensuing years since the movie, somebody else must have picked up the mantle; perhaps there have been more than one Joker wannabe since 1989.

And the same holds true for the Batman.
Earth-89’s Batman was at his apex in fitness and ability, perhaps through the 1990s.  But it’s been thirty years and while Michael Keaton has pretty much stayed fit, he is showing his age.

So the cowl and cape may have been passed to a new torchbearer, and like the Joker, maybe to more than one.

As I said earlier, Earth-89 has no real effect on the Toobworld concept.  I just find it fascinating that its fate closes the door on any possibility of a sequel by Burton and Keaton if they wanted to examine the life of the Batman in his twilight years.

C’est la vie....

  

CRISIS O'BSERVATIONS 3 - WIL WHEATON

CRISIS VS. TOOBWORLD
O’BSERVATIONS ON WIL WHEATON

There are still two episodes to go in the CW/DC crossover event “Crisis On Infinite Earths” – ‘Arrow’ and ‘Legends of Tomorrow’.  When the story first arrived in the DC comic books, the goal was to streamline their massive empire down to one manageable Earth for all of their characters.  One result was that many superheroes and villains and other characters were wiped out or combined into one character.

I don’t follow comics anymore, so I can’t say if there is still only the one universe… for them.  But at the time, it was mostly unspoken, but if those multiverses contained comic book versions of all of us, then we’re all dead in those various dimensions as well.

But it was only the fictional characters we saw get erased from existence.  (The most graphic were the deaths of the Huntress from Earth-203 and the Clark Kent/Superman from Earth-96.)   While televersions of real-world people have showed up in TV series on a regular basis, so far in the Crisis Crossover, that hasn’t happened.

Or has it?

In the first chapter, taking over the ‘Supergirl’ slot, the introduction to Earth-38 for newcomers was a “Doomsday Protester” played by Wil Wheaton (in a nod to the Christopher Reeve movie “Superman II”.  Supergirl – whom the protester was denouncing – saves him from the fiery breath of Spike the dragon, last seen in Season 4 of ‘Supergirl’.  (I’m assuming the poor big lug perished with the planet.)

It was only a minor cameo for Wheaton, but he notched another role in the major genre shows of the last twenty years.  (Eventually we might see him in an episode of ‘Doctor Who’ perhaps.)  Not bad for the guy who played Wesley Crusher.

But who was the Doomsday Protester?

O’Bviously he should be the Earth-38 version of some other character played by Wheaton.  It will be the ruling of Toobworld Central that he can’t be the actual, original depiction of such characters because for the most part they belong on Earth Prime-Time.  Yeah, I’m greedy that way.

These characters would especially include:

• Isaac Parrish (‘Eureka’)
• Colin Mason (‘Leverage’)

And plenty of one-shot guest roles on the following TV series:

• ‘CSI’
• ‘Criminal Minds’
• ‘Numb3rs’
• ‘Diagnosis Murder’
• ‘Sirens’
• ‘Love Boat: The Next Wave’

But there are at least three characters played by Wheaton who have to be in a different dimension than Earth Prime-Time:

• Conrad Moody of ‘Powers’ as it’s a world where super-powers are natural to all.
• Bryan (no last name known) in an episode of the anthology series ‘Perversions of Science’ (a lot of freedom from the rules with anthology shows.)
• “Sharknado 2” – NO way could the “Sharknado” franchise could be happening in the main Toobworld.  I think the dimension of Disaster Toobworld would be a better fit.  But the main reason that Wheaton’s character has to be considered from some other Toobworld than Earth Prime-Time or Earth-38 can be summed up by his listing in the credits on the IMDb:

“Dead Passenger”.  (But he has to be the Wil Wheaton of Disaster Toobworld.)

Here’s who I’d like that protester to be – the Earth-38 televersion of Wil Wheaton himself, a member of the League of Themselves who will eventually be inducted into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.

Wheaton has a firmly established televersion in Earth Prime-Time, thanks to 17 episodes of ‘The Big Bang Theory’. I think there will more in time.

Even if Earth-38 Wil Wheaton survived the destruction of the planet by boarding one of those ships, he’ll only be making it to Earth-1 (their designation, not mine.)  So there would be no Zonk in having them exist on separate Toobworlds.

That same argument could apply to any of his other characters, but I just like the idea that on Earth-38, Wil Wheaton became a doomsday conspiracy nutjob.

BCnU!

CRISIS O'BSERVATION TWO - DICK GRAYSON AKA ROBIN

CRISIS VS: TOOBWORLD 2
O’BSERVATIONS ON DICK GRAYSON

In the multiverse in which Toobworld can be found, the surge in TV series in which superheroes can be found has resulted in a sew of alternate Toobworlds to house them all.  (There have been elements in most of them which prevent them from sharing the same Earth, not the least of which is that there have been many reboots of certain characters so they couldn’t share the same space.  It may be a TV-based universe, but that doesn’t mean life there has to go through continuous reboots and reruns.)

But the main Toobworld, Earth Prime-Time, has been the home for a core group of TV superheroes, all predicated on a first-come first-served basis.  For the most part, they are the core group of the Justice League.

• SUPERMAN (‘THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN’)
• BATMAN (‘BATMAN’)
• WONDER WOMAN WONDER WOMAN’)
• THE FLASH (‘THE FLASH’)

Into this mix would be added Spiderman and the Hulk.

With those shows, they came about in a simpler time – yes, even 1990 falls into that estimation, but that year probably serves as the end to such a consideration. After that, the concept of the multiverse really took hold, thanks to ‘Sliders’.

The idea that there were multiple Earths had already been considered, especially with the primary example being the “Evil Mirror Universe’ established in the “Mirror, Mirror” episode of ‘Star Trek’, which got later confirmation thanks to ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’.

But new shows came along which wanted to stake their claim to being the official Earth for their premises.  That’s understandable, of course – for showrunners, the concept that their show had to conform with what was being promoted by other TV series would have been too restricting.  You never would have been able to get all of those zombie series if everybody thought that way.

Anyhoo…

For today’s O’Bservation on Crisis vs. Toobworld, we’re taking a look at one of the first victims of the Anti-Monitor’s disintegration of various TV dimensions.  And that would be Dick Grayson of Earth-66.

As everybody should have realized that designation was what David Bianculli would call an “Extra”, an in-joke.  As played by Burt Ward, this Dick Grayson is supposed to be from the 1966 TV version of ‘Batman’.

Well, it is and it isn’t.  With a lot of crossovers to parallel worlds we’ve seen over the years, generally the main character’s doppelganger looks exactly like him/her, with some differences – the cliché being the goatee as worn by Mr. Spock’s “evil twin”.  Willow Rosenberg (a black magic practitioner in the evil dimension) and Ares (god of War vs. god of Love) being the best examples after Spock.

For the Toobworld Dynamic, Dick Grayson still lives on Earth Prime-Time, which is not designated as Earth-66.   (Sadly, the Batman of Earth Prime-Time has died in the last few years.)

It’s an extrapolation of what his life was like after the series was cancelled, with the added flavoring of cherry-picked events in his life from the comic books, but I think the Dick Grayson of Earth Prime-Time eventually assumed the crime-fighting alias of Nightwing before assuming the cape and cowl of the Batman after Bruce Wayne retired.  And in the tradition of the Phantom and the Dread Pirate Roberts, he executed his role of the Caped Crusader as though he was Bruce Wayne.

But eventually, he too retired – it’s been fifty years plus since he was in high school after all!  And he physically changed as he aged, making gradual donations to his overall avoirdupois, let’s say.

I also think that he may have retired while still in his prime in order to marry and begin a family.  After all, for Toobworld Central (if not for other crossoverists), Dick Grayson is the founter of the family tree which will eventually lead to the birth of Amanda Grayson, the human mother of the previously mentioned Mr. Spock.

All we saw of the Dick Grayson from Earth-66 was that he was walking his dog as his world came to an end.  Except that he looked exactly like the man from the main Toobworld and employed an equally pithy/corny exclamation, we know nothing about this man on that world.

Did he even become the Boy Wonder and ward to Bruce Wayne in that life?  On Earth-66, he might have become a schoolteacher instead.  (If so, that would make Earth-66 the Toobworld of TV movies.  On second thought, I’m not going to relinquish that alternate Toobworld.)

We never even got confirmation that he was actually named Dick Grayson.  If he got adopted by somebody else in that world, he could have been given a different name; he could have been Dick Murphy for alls we know, not Dick Grayson!  (Go ahead, look him up.)

Here’s a possibility – what if Earth-66 was the legendary “Evil Mirror Universe”?  Frankly, I think just from the name, Earth-666, the getaway home for Lucifer Morningstar, would be better-suited for that particular life ethos.

It’s a primal concept for alternate Toobworlds which I’m sure will come back again in some TV show.  (I think we last saw it in ‘Deep Space Nine’, but I could be wrong… not an uncommon occurrence.)

Even so, if some other TV series did bring back the concept of an evil Toobworld, all that would mean is that I’ve got some splainin to do.  I’m sure I could find a way to make it work for the Toobworld Dynamic.

But think of the possibilities if we were witnessing the last minute of life for the evil Dick Grayson!  Perhaps he was a major crime boss now in Gotham City, and he wasn’t just taking his dog for a walk.  Maybe he was returning from siccing his dog on somebody who didn’t pay the “vig” fast enough to suit Grayson.

Like Muskie Muskrat would say, “It’s pozz’ble, just pozz’ble.”

Speaking of that dog, I’ve seen it suggested that he was supposed to be Ace the Bat-hound from the comic book universe.  If anything, the canine could have been named after the original Ace – if that world’s Batman and Robin actually had such a dog.  The original would have been long since dead since the 1960s!

One last possibility – we could have been seeing the Earth-66 televersion of Burt Ward.  He does have an established presence in Toobworld, thanks to appearances in episodes of ‘Living Single’ and ‘Clueless’.  (And – over in the Tooninverse, in an episode of ‘Futurama’.)

After fifty years living under the spectre of his most famous role, spouting such “Holy Whatever!” phrases could be second nature.  And it wouldn’t be the only time we saw a member of the League of Themselves during this mega-crossover whom we can assume eventually died.  (It could then be that Earth-66 is Toobworld-Toobworld, where those behind the scenes docudramas can be found.)

Whatever the overall concept of Earth-66 might be, as far as Toobworld Central is concerned, we did NOT see the actual demise of the Dick Grayson we knew and loved from the original ‘Batman’ TV series.

That was some other Dick.

Holy dead doppelganger!”

BCnU!