INTRODUCING THE 66 RAMBLERS

The Facebook group, The 66 Ramblers, specialize in colorizing 'Doctor Who' pictures from the black & white years.  (They also do amazing 360° panoramas as well.)

And when you're talking about the black & white years, you're talking Patrick Troughton as the Second Incarnation.  (My favorite Doctor!)

Here are some examples they shared during 2018.....

 A Yeti with TV Personality Alan Whicker

If you like this sort of thing, you should like their page on Facebook.  (They spell their name all as one word.)

BCnU!

ADHERENTS OF THE REPEATED MEME - BEAUTY AND THE GALLIFREYAN BEAST

Every so often, a good Who-Meme works better than a long drawn-out essay from Ye Olde Curator.......

BCnU!

TWIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES - FATE OF THE DOCTOR

I'm just going to leave this here.....

ECHOES - FAMILY MEMORIES

THE SECOND INCARNATION OF THE DOCTOR

Victoria:
You probably can't remember your family.
The Doctor:
Oh yes, I can when I want to. And that's the point, really. I have to really want to, to bring them back in front of my eyes. The rest of the time they... they sleep in my mind and I forget. And so will you. Oh yes, you will. You'll find there's so much else to think about. To remember. Our lives are different to anybody else's. That's the exciting thing! There's nobody in the universe can do what we're doing.

THE THIRTEENTH INCARNATION OF THE DOCTOR

Yasmin:
Have you got family? 
Doctor:
No. Lost them a long time ago. 
Ryan:
How do you cope with that? 
Doctor:
I carry them with me. What they would've thought and said and done. I make them a part of who I am. So even though they're gone from the world, they're never gone from me.


Geronimo!

WELCOME TO THE "WHO'S ON FIRST?" BLOG-A-THON!

Welcome to the 12th anniversary edition of the "Who's On First?" blogAthon.  For the next 24 hours, there will be forty-eight posts about 'Doctor Who', one every half hour.

This round-the-clock celebration of 'Doctor Who' began somewhat modestly - there were only seven "episodes" for that first outing.  But it has grown to the point where for the last couple of years we have tried to present a new blog post about the universe of the Doctor every half hour.

And I always amaze myself that I find enough topics each year.  But then, I have yet to see every episode of the 55 year old series.

Because of their time-sensitive nature, there were a few posts I published earlier in the year.  Some are just mentions of the Doctor, most of them dealt with the breaking news about the show.  But if you're interested.... 

So here it is - the kick-off to the 2019 edition of 'Who's On First'!  And as always, we begin with the frame grab from 'Robot Chicken' which has become our mascot.....  

Allonsy!

2019 HAT SQUAD - HYPHENATES & OTHERS

HYPHENATES
John Falsey (writer, producer, creator - 'Northern Exposure', 'St. Elsewhere')
James Frawley (actor- 'The Outer Limits', 'Columbo', director - 'Columbo', 'Father Dowling Mysteries', 'Cagney & Lacey')
Andre Previn (Performer - 'Morecambe & Wise', 'Great Performances', composer - 'The Aquanauts', 'Jenny: Lady Randolph Churchill')
Tom Hatten (host - 'Popeye & Friends', actor - 'Gomer Pyle')
Martin Charnin (composer, writer, producer - "Feathertop", 'Bell Telephone Hour', "Annie")
Robert Evans (mega-producer, actor - 'The Simpsons', 'Just Shoot Me')

OTHERS
Ward Thomas - British TV executive who helped usher in independent TV networks.  Grampian, Yorkshire, Trident
Jeraldine Saunders - Her memoir about being a cruise ship director inspired the TV series 'The Love Boat'.
Lotte van der Zee - former Miss Teenage Universe, just 19
Max Saines - Endeavour Content TV executive
Stewart Greene - advertising executive responsible for the "I Love NY" campaign, novel ads for Benson & Hedges and Alka-Seltzer
Ross Perot - Tech billionaire, ran for President in 1992, played by Richard Crenna in a TV movie and by Dana Carvey in 'Saturday Night Live'
John Paul Stevens (Supreme Court justice portrayed in "Recount", 'Boston Legal', 'Picket Fences')
Robert Morgenthau (NYC District Attorney, inspiration for the character of Adam Schiff in the 'Law & Order' franchise)
Rick Ludwin (NBC Executive who shepherded 'Saturday Night Live', 'Seinfeld', and the 'Tonight' transition)
Michael Peacock (TV exec who launched  BBC2)
Arthur Singer Jr. (behind the scenes  work led to the Corporation for Public Broadcastin)

2019 HAT SQUAD - BEHIND THE SCENES

WRITERS
Brian Garfield ("Death Wish", 'Tales Of The Unexpected', 'Wild Times', "Legs")
Rosamunde Pilcher ("The Shell Seekers", 'Coming Home', 'Rosamunde Pilcher' anthology series)
Christopher Knopf ('Equal Justice', 'Cimarron Strip', 'Trackdown', 'Zane Grey Theater', 'Dick Powell Theatre')
Larry DiTillo ('Transformers', 'Babylon 5', 'He-Man')
Larry Cohen ('Coronet Blue', 'Branded', 'The Defenders', 'Blue Light', 'Custer', 'The Invaders', 'Columbo')
Monkey Punch (writer/cartoonist, creator of Arsene III)
Stanley Price ('Moving', 'The Bretts', 'Sam Saturday')
Alvin Sargent ('Coronet Blue', 'Doctors and the Nurses', 'Route 66', 'Ben Casey', 'Run For Your Life', 'Mr. Novak')
Roger Hirson ('Pippin', 'Playhouse 90', 'Armstrong Circle Theatre')
Bill Witliff ('Lonesome Dove')
Judith Krantz ('I'll Take Manhattan', 'Scruples', 'Mistral's Daughter')
Andrea Camilleri (Creator of Detective Montalbano)
Terrance Dicks, also script editor ('Doctor Who', 'Great Expectations', 'Moonbase 3', 'The Avengers')
Gordon Bressack ('Pinky & The Brain', 'Darkwing Duck')
Peter Nichols ('Inspector Morse', 'The Wednesday Play', 'The Play Of The Week')
Bernard Slade ('The Partridge Family', 'Bridget Loves Bernie', 'The Girl With Something Extra')
Alison Prince ('Trumpton',  'Jackanory')
Maria Perego (Creator/writer for Topo Gigio)
D.C. Fontana ('Star Trek')
Barrie Keeffe ('Play For Today', 'No Excuses')
William Luce (playwright)

DIRECTORS
Stanley Donen (King of musicals - 'Moonlighting' musical episode, Lionel Richie's "Dancing On The Ceiling" video)
Percy Wolff (documentarian  - "A Tour of the White House', ''Hunger In America', 'The Selling of the Pentagon')
Franco Zefirelli ('Jesus Of Nazareth')
D.A. Pennebaker (documentarian)
Diarmuid Lawrence ('Emmerdale', 'Minder', 'Silent Witness')

PRODUCERS
David Pritchard ('Floyd On Fish', 'Taste Of The Sea')
Kjell Rasten ("Robert Young with the Young", 'ABC Late Night')
Sandra Faire ('So You Think You Can Dance Canada', 'Comedy, Inc.', 'Comedy Now')
Barbara Schultz ('CBS Playhouse', 'Visions')Grant McKee ('The Queen', 'Mysterious Universe', 'Cutting Edge')
Katherine Textor ('60 Minutes', mostly Morley Safers')
Artur Brauner ('Alaska Kid', 'Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein')
 Irene Shubik ('Rumpole', 'Out Of The Unknown', 'Jewel of the Crown')
Al Burton ('Facts of Life', 'The Jeffersons', 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman')
Barry Frank ('American Gladiators', 'Battle of the Network Stars')
Julia Cave ('Omnibus', 'What's My Line?', 'The Great War')
Peter Adam ('Arena', 'Review', 'American Masters')
Lee Mendelson ("Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown", 12 Emmys))

MUSIC
Jake Black (Alabam 3 & composer of 'The Sopranos' theme)
Leon Redbone ('Saturday Night Live', 'Sesame Street', 'Mr. Belvedere' theme)
Sid Ramin ('The Patty Duke Show', 'The Milton Berle Show')
Jerry Herman ("Broadway At The Hollywood Bowl", 'The Dean Martin Show', "Mrs. Santa Claus")


COSTUMERS
MARTHA MANN ('Anne of Green Gables', 'Avonlea')

ANIMATORS
Don Lusk ('Peanuts' specials, 'The Smurfs', 'The Flintstones/Jetsons' crossover)
Christopher Reccardi ('Powerpuff Girls', 'Ren & Stimpy', 'Samurai Jack')
Suzann Pitt (stop motion animation, 'Big Bag')
Wayne Fitzgerald (Title designer - "Sabrina the Teenaged Witch, 'Guiding Light', 'NewsRadio', 'Father Dowling Mysteries' )

EDITOR
Norman Hollyn (editor, 'Wild Palms', 'The Equalizer')

LOCATION MANAGERS
Jim Thompson (location manager, 'EastEnders', 'Casualty')

SPECIAL EFFECT/STUNTS
Warren Appleby ('The Strain', 'Killjoys', 'Hemlock Grove', 'Happy Town', 'The Bridge', killed working on 'Titans')

TECH CREW
Phil Hymes (lighting designer, 'Saturday Night Live')

THE HAT SQUAD 2019 - ACTORS & PERSONALITIES

ACTORS 
Bob Einstein ("Super Dave Osborne", 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', 'The Smothers Brothers Show')
Rosenda Monteros ('Lucia Sombra', 'Sor Simplicia')
Carlos Sanchez (Juan Valdez in coffee commercials)
W. Morgan Sheppard ('Max Headroom', 'Star Trek' franchise, 'Shogun', 'Babylon 5', 'London Bridge Belongs To Me')
Verna Bloom ('Bonanza', 'NYPD', 'Kojak', 'The West Wing')
Carol Channing ('Sesame Street', 'The Love Boat', 'The Ed Sullivan Show', 'The Muppet Show', 'Hollywood Squares')
Bradley Bolke ('Tennesee Tuxedo And His Friends', "The Year Without A Santa Claus", 'The New Casper Cartoon Show')
Dick Miller ('The Flash', 'Fame', 'V', 'ER', 'NYPD Blue')
Windsor Davies ('It Ain't Half Hot, Mum', 'Never The Twain', 'Gormenghast')
Muriel Pavlow ("Hansel & Gretl" 1937, 'Belonging', 'House of Cards')
Kaye Ballard ('The Mothers-in-Law', 'The Doris Day Show', 'What A Dummy', 'Due South')
Clive Swift ('Keeping Up Appearances', 'Doctor Who')
Julie Adams ('The Jimmy Stewart Show', 'Code Red', 'Murder, She Wrote', 'Diagnosis Murder', 'Lost')
Kristoff St. John ('The Young & The Restless', 'Bad News Bears', 'Charlie & Co.', 'Hangin' With Mr. Cooper')
Sylvia Kaye ('Just Good Friends', 'Mixed Blessings', 'Rooms')
Steve Bean ('Cleghorne', 'Ray Donovan', 'Coach', 'Cheers')
Carmen Argenziano ('CSI: NY', 'Y&R', 'Booker', 'Heartbeat')
Joseph Sirola ('The Magician', 'Wolf', 'The Montefuscos')
Bruno Ganz ('Tassilo - Ein fall fur sich', 'Vater und Sohne')
Mable Lee (dancer - 'Saturday Night At The Palace')
Sheena Marshe ('Doctor Who', 'Best Of Friends', 'The Prisoner')
Beverley Owen ('The Munsters' - first Marilyn)
Morgan Woodward ('Dallas', 'The Life And Legend of Wyatt Earp', 'Hill Street Blues', 'Gunsmoke', 'Star Trek')
Albert Finney ('My Uncle Silas', 'Emergency Ward 10', 'Cod Lazarus', 'Karaoke', 'Nostromo')
Vinnie Vella ('The Sopranos', 'Law & Order', 'NY Undercover')
Lisa Seagram ('Batman', 'Bewitched', 'Burke's Law'), 'The Beverly Hillbillies')
Lisa Sheridan ('Halt And Catch Fire', 'Invasion', 'Legacy', 'Journeyman', 'FreakyLinks')
Katherine Helmond ('Soap', 'Who's The Boss?', 'Everybody Loves Raymond')
Nathaniel Taylor ('Sanford & Son', 'Sanford', 'What's Happening?')
Mitzi Hoag ('We'll Get By', 'Blind Ambition', 'The Facts of Life', 'Santa Barbara', 'Here Come The Brides')
Don Brady ('Leverage', 'Breakout Kings', 'The Big Easy')
Sue Casey ('The Dick Van Dyke Show', 'Diagnosis Murder')
O'Neal Compton ('Orleans', 'Seinfeld', 'LateLine', 'Coach')
Jean Cinader (over 100 commercials)
Peter Hughes ('Good Girl', 'Second Time Around')
Luke Perry ('Beverly Hills 90210', 'Riverdale', 'Jeremiah', 'Oz', 'Body of Proof', 'Windfall', 'John From Cincinnati')
Marshall Brodien (Emmy winning Wizzo on 'The Bozo Show')
Jan-Michael Vincent ('Airwolf', 'Survivors', 'The Winds of War')
June Harding ('The Fugitive', 'The Defenders', 'Matt Lincoln')
Paul Laffan ('The Snapper', 'Father Ted')
Richard Erdman ('Community', 'The Tab Hunter Show', 'Saints & Sinners')
Jed Allen ('Santa Barbara', 'Days Of Our Lives', 'Lassie')
Antonia Rey ('Happy!', 'Dora the Explorer', 'Courage the Cowardly Dog', 'Who's The Boss?')
Bronco McLoughlin (stunts - 'The Last Place On Earth', 'Father Ted')
Tania Mallett ('The New Avengers', 'Call My Bluff', 'Playboy This Morning', second Bond Girl)
Greta Thyssen ('Perry Mason', 'Bachelor Father', 'Dragnet')
Shane Rimmer ('Thunderbirds', 'Coronation Street', 'Compact')
Noah Keen ('Arrest And Trial', 'The FBI', 'Ironside')
Seymour Cassel ('Heist', 'Under Suspicion', '12 O'Clock High')
Sandy Ratcliff ('EastEnders', 'Crossroads', 'Couples')
Georgia Engel ('The Mary Tyler Moore Show', 'The Betty White Show', 'The Good Time Girls', 'Everybody Loves Raymond', 'Hot In Cleveland', 'Coach'.  Every year there seems to be that one person whose death hits me more than the others.  Working back the last few years, it's been Chuck McCann, Mary Tyler Moore, Gene Wilder.  The year is only a quarter over, but I think we have unfortunately our 2019 entry.....)
Bibi Andersson ('Langton' Blaa Blomma', 'Arn', 'Scenes From A Marriage')
John McEnery ('The Bill', 'Silent Witness', 'Our Mutual Friend')
Clement Von Franckenstein ('All My Children', 'Blackbeard')
Peter Mayhew ("Star Wars" Chewbacca, 'No. 73', 'Glee', 'Breaking In')
Stefanie Sherk ('#HASHTAG - The Series', 'CSI: Cyber')
Machiko Kyo ('Yokomizo Seishi Shirizu', 'Haregi Koko Ichiban')
Isaac Kappy ('Breaking Bad', 'Night Shift')
Peggy Lipton ('The Mod Squad', 'Twin Peaks')
Doris Day ('The Doris Day Show')
Tim Conway ('McHale's Navy', 'The Carol Burnett Show', 'Rango', 'Small & Frye', 'Turn-On')
Stephen Thorne ('Doctor Who', 'Last Of The Summer Wine')
Andrew Hall ('Butterflies', 'Blood Drive', 'Coronation Street')
Carmine Caridi ('Phyllis', 'Fame', 'NYPD Blue')
Paul Darrow ('Blake's 7', 'Emergency-Ward 10', 'Doctor Who')
Bobby Diamond ('Fury', 'The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis')
Sylvia Miles ('Head of the Family', 'Naked City', 'Sex & The City')
Irene Sutcliffe ('Cor,onation Street', 'The 10%ers', 'Pathfinders In Space', 'Formula For Danger')
Jim McMullen ('Dallas', 'Santa Barbara', 'Chopper One')
Sean McCann ('Night Heat', 'Noddy', 'Naturally Sadie')
William Simons ('Heartbeat', 'The Inspector Aleyn Mysteries', 'Crown Court')
Max Wright ('Alf', 'Buffalo ,Bill', 'Norm', 'Misfits of Science')
Arte Johnson ('Laugh-In', 'Glitter', 'Sally', 'Don't Call Me Charlie')
Bryan Marshall ('United!', 'Rooms', 'Embassy', 'Buccaneer')
Cameron Boyce ('Jessie', 'Gamers' Guide To Everything')
Glyn Houston ('Lord Wimsey Mysteries', 'Keep It In The Famiy', 'Deadline Midnight')
Eddie Jones ('Lois & Clark', 'The Invisible Man', 'The Equalizer')
Rip Torn ('The Larry Sanders Show', '30 Rock', 'Blind Ambition')
Freddie Jones ('Emmerdale', 'District Nurse', 'The Ghosts of Motley Hall')
Valentina Cortese ('I Buddenbrook', 'Facciaffitasi', 'Il Grandi Camaleonti')
Stephanie Niznik ('Everwood', 'Life Is Wild', 'Vanishing Son')
John O'Leary ('Barney', 'Baskets', 'Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman', 'Prime Suspect', 'Highway To Heaven')
David Hedison ('Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea', 'Five Fingers', 'The Young & The Restless')
Jeremy Kemp ('Z Cars', 'Conan', 'The Winds of War', 'War & Remembrance', 'Härte 10', 'Colditz', 'Peter The Great'}
Rutger Hauer ('Floris', 'True Blood', 'Porters', 'Channel Zero', 'The 10th Kingdom'}
Russi Taylor (Voice of Minnie Mouse, Huey, Dewey, and Louie)
Gabe Kouth ('Once Upon A Time', 'Supernatural', 'iZombie')
Julia Farron (ballerina - "Cinderella", "Giselle", "Selfish Giant")
Peter Fonda ('Naked City', 'The Defenders', 'The Blacklist')
Valerie Harper ('The Mary Tyler Moore Show', 'Rhoda', 'Valerie', 'City', 'Columbo')
Carol Lynley ('The Night Stalker", 'General Electric Theater', 'Fantasy Island')
Gillian Hanna ('Mist: The Sheepdog Tales', 'Brookside')
John Wesley ('The Fresh Prince of Bel Air', 'Martin', 'Benson')
Aron Eisenberg ('Deep Space Nine', 'Blade of Honor')
Phyllis Newman ('Coming of Age', '100 Centre Street', 'Diagnosis Unknown')
Sid Haig (
Rob Garrison ('Cobra Kai', 'St. Elsewhere', 'Columbo')
Diahann Carroll ('Julia', 'Dynasty', 'White Collar')
Anna Quayle ('The Avengers')
Rip Taylor ('The Gong Show', 'The $1.98 Beauty Contest')
Marshall Efron ('The Great American Dream Machine', 'America 2Night')
Stephen Moore ('The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy', 'The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole', 'Doctor Who', 'The Boss')
John Witherspoon ('The Wayans Bros', 'Black Jesus', 'The First Family', 'The Boondocks', 'The Tracy Morgan Show')
Alicia Alonso, dancer ('The Bell Telephone Hour', 'In Concert At The Met')
Brian Tarantina  ('The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel')
Ann Crumb ('Law & Order', 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit')
William Wintersole ('The Young & The Restless', 'General Hospital')
Laurel Griggs ('Saturday Night Live', 'Bubble Guppies')
Andrea Newman
Jean Ferguson ('The Last of the Summer Wine', 'Coronation Street')
Jin Nakayama ('Ultraman')
Michael J. Pollard ('Star Trek', 'Lost In Space', 'The Young Riders')
Joan Staley ('Broadside', '77 Sunset Strip')
Shelley Morrison ('The Flying Nun', 'Will & Grace')
Robert Walker Jr. ('Star Trek' 'Coumbo')
Ron Liebman ('Kaz', 'Friends')
Korean Actress
Carroll Spinney (Big Bird & Oscar the Grouch)
Rene Auberjonois ('Deep Space Nine', 'Boston Legal', 'Benson')
In-Ha Cha ('The Banker', 'Clean With Passion For Now')
Sulli Choi ('To The Beautiul You', 'Hotel Del Luna')
Richard Easton ('The Brothers', 'Benjamin Franklin', 'Doctor Who', 'Chintz', 'Frasier', 'Boardwalk Empire', 'L&O: SVU')
Joan Staley ('77 Sunset Strip', 'Broadside', 'Batman')
Danny Aiello ('Dellaventura', 'Lady Blue', 'The Last Don I &II')
Anna Karina ('Dossiers: Danger Immediat', 'I Spy', 'Z Cars')
Nicky Henson ('EastEnders', 'Fawlty Towers')
Sheila Mercier ('Emmerdale', 'Six With Rix')
Claudine Augier (Bond Girl, 'The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes', 'Die goldenen Schuhe', 'Qui c'est ce garçon?',  'La piovra 5 - Il cuore del problema')
Sue Lyon ('Fantasy Island', 'The Virginian', 'Night Gallery')
Tony Britton ('Don't Wait Up', 'Robin's Nest', 'Six Proud Walkers', 'The Other Man', 'Melissa')
Neil Innes ('Monty Python's Flying Circus', "The Rutles")

PERSONALITIES
Daryl "Captain" Dragon ('The Captain and Tenille', 'Ellen')
Theo Adam (opera singer - "Ariadne auf Naxos", "La flûte enchantée", "Bernstein on Beethoven: A Celebration in Vienna")
Russell Baker (Pulitzer winner, host of 'Masterpiece Theater')
Fatima Ali ('Top Chef' contestant)
Brody Stevens ('The Naughty Show', 'Brody Stevens - Enjoy It!', 'Chelsea Lately', 'The Church of What's Happening Now!)
Peter Tork ('The Monkees')
Princess Lee Radziwell ('The Mike Douglas Show', 'The David Frost Show', Jackie O's sister)
Clark Gable III (host, 'Cheaters')
George Klein (host, 'Dance Party')
Mario Marenco ('Another Side Of Sunday')
Yulia Nachalova (Russian TV presenter)
Scott Walker (Britvac advert with Dusty Springfield)
Charles Van Doren ('The $20,000.00 Question" scandal)
Henry Block (spokesman for H&R Block)
Mike Thalassitis ('Love Island')
Jim Fowler ('Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom')
Elsa Patton ('Real Housewives of Miami', 'Havana Elsa')
Daniel Wright ('The Biggest Loser')
Robert Earle ('The General Electric College Bowl')
Dr. John Rebennek (New Orleans musician - 'Treme', 'SCTV')
Dennis Day - body foun in 2019, missing since October of 2018 ('The Mickey Mouse Club')
Gloria Vanderbilt (Jeans commercials)
Beth Chapman ('Dog The Bounty Hunter')
Bob Dorian (AMC host for old movies)
Lee Iacocca (Head of Chrysler, appeared in commercials)
Jim Bouton (pitcher, author, actor - 'Ball Four')
Christopher Kraft (NASA Mission Control, many documentaries)
Bryan Magee (BBC philosopher)
Reverend Ben Kinchlow ('700 Club' co-host)
Kip Adotta ('The Tonight Show', 'The Larry Sanders Show', 'Anything Goes')
Jessi Combs ('Mythbusters', 'Overhaulin'')
Haley Smith ('American Idol')
Chris March ('Project Runaway', 'Mad Fashion', 'Project Runway All-Stars')
Ric Okasek (The Cars videos)
Carl Ruiz (celebrity chef, Food Network)
Suzanne Whang ('House Hunters' host)
Jimmy Nelson (ventriloquist for Nestle's Chocolate)
Karen Pendleton ('The Mickey Mouse Club')Rudy Boesch ('Survivor')
Gay Byrne (RTE talk show personality)
Walter Mercado (Telemundo & Univision astrologer)
Robert Morris (one of the Marlboro Men)
Narayana Reddy (YouTube's "Grandpa Kitchen")
Gary Rhodes ('Rhodes Around Britain', 'Dancing With The Stars')
Godfrey Gao ('Chase Me')
Clive James ('Clive James On Television')
Kenny Lynch
Magenta Devine ('Network 7', 'Rough Guide')
Chuey  Bravo ('Chelsea Lately')
Don Imus ('Imus In The Morning')
Joe & Bill Smith ('My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' - twins double suicide)

NEWS & SPORTS
Gene Okerlund (Wrestling announcer - AWA, WWE, WCW)
Sylvia Chase ('60 Minutes', '20/20', 'CBS Newsbreak', KRON anchorwoman)
Mel Stottlemyre ('Prime 9', 'Sunday Night Baseball')
David Horowitz ("Fight Back!" consumer advocate)
Ana Real (CBS editor and journalist)
Soni Mathu ('Inside Africa')
Bart Starr (Packers QB, 'Gentle Ben')
Bill Buckner (Red Sox error Game Six '86, 'Curb Your Enthusiasm')
Nan Martin (pioneer BBC news reader)
Todd Tongen (WPLG anchorman)
Steve Annett ('Here And Now', 'Just One Chance', 'The Money Programme')
Cokie Roberts (ABC News)
Chris Drake (BBC reporter)
Ron Fairly (sportscaster, baseball announcer)
Richard Lindsey (journalist)
Alex Ducal Smith (BBC journalist)
Carly McCord (sports reporter for WDSU, NBC affiliate)
Fred P. Graham (CBS & Court TV legal affairs reporter)
and
Denise D'Ascenzo (WFSB anchorwoman over thirty years)

THE 2019 TOOBITS AWARDS

2019 TOOBITS AWARDS
It's that time of year again, when we all make lists and think back over the past year, in whatever field of interest concerns us, and chronicle the high points and the lows.  For the past few years I've been presenting this compilation as an awards show, the Toobits, which of course celebrates my two bits about Toobworld.

As it is with any such list you'll find in TV columns across the country these last few weeks, these are my opinions.  You're welcome to your own and I hope you'll share them, but I'm sticking to my weapons of choice.  (It could be you won't see something that was a favorite of yours because I just never got around to seeing it.  There's only so much time in the world - even for a do-nothing-else-anyway sort like me! - and I've only got the two eyes, even if they do operate independently of each other at times.)

Unlike the Emmy Awards which will just keep handing out trophies to some shows forever, only shows, characters and what-not that debuted in 2019 can be considered.  (And by "debuted", I mean that which I first came in contact with in 2019. It could be a few years old, but if it's my first time seeing it, it's new.)  

This one-time-only rule includes characters who have been recast; those are still the same characters who already exist in Toobworld.  (But there were a few notable appearances that deserved honorable mention, and they get it.)

So without further ado, let's have at it:

BEST NEW TV SHOW
‘The Watchmen’
I was a big fan of the comic books/graphic novel.  Really enjoyed the movie.  (Never checked out the follow-up comics which apparently blended Moore & Gibbons’ vision into the greater DC Universe.  (Diluted it, actually, I would think.)  Since  Moore wasn’t involved (but with Gibbons on board as a consulting producer), I wasn’t sure if they could carry on the vision of the Wathmen’s world and its original feel.  But with Damon Lindelof in charge, who put ‘Lost’ into my top ten favorite TV series, I figured I should at least check it out.

Proved to be the fastest nine weeks to pass in a long time, and luckily without the agony in between episodes.  They threw a lot of balls into the air and successfully juggled them all to a satisfying conclusion.

Lindelof has been hedging if the show will be coming back; that this might have been a one-off; and that he might not be back if it does.  I probably should have listed this as the Best Limited Series, but I’d rather hold out hope.

BEST TV MOVIE
“The Aeronauts”
It doesn’t matter that it aired for maybe two weeks first in theatres; this was made for Netflix.  And I’m glad it was.  I don’t think I could have taken some of those scenes on the big screen!

WORST TV MOVIE
 A puzzler.  I could have sworn that there would have been a 2019  sequel to “Sharknado” by now.  Oh well.

BEST MINI-SERIES
‘Good Omens’
This was everything I hoped it would be, knowing the writings of Neil Gaiman and having heard so many good things about Terry Pratchett.  A great multi-national cast, witty bon mots and clever plot tricks, all fronted by the fantastic pairing of Tennant and Sheen.

BEST COMMERCIAL
Bud Light -> ‘Game Of Thrones’

 

WORST COMMERCIAL
Mint Mobile – “Chunky Milk”

As I posted to Facebook when it ran during the Super Bowl, “Mint Mobile just made me lactose intolerant.”

BEST IMPORT COMMERCIAL
Tine  
I usually don’t see commercials from other countries until Christmastime.  That’s when the world ups their A games.  It took me two years to see this one so it’s new to me.

 

BEST EPISODE, ANY GENRE
‘The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’
“Season Six/Episode 107”
The fifth year anniversary show played out in the style of the late Garry Shandling’s great ‘The Larry Sanders Show’.  It was a knowing, loving tribute to Shandling’s masterpiece, right down to the warm-up speech to the studio audience about the “Applause” sign.  Few commercials so that we could see more of the backstage antics mostly involving Ben Stiller.

And we've got a runner-up:
“The Intransigence of Love” – ‘You’re The Worst’
This sitcom has won this category once before, when it did something similar: kicking off the episode in such a way to make you think you must have recorded the wrong show.  Being off-balance while watching it leads to a pleasurable experience as it all pulls together.

BEST SERIES RETURN
‘The Twilight Zone’
This marks the fourth incarnation of the series.  Being an anthology series, it could afford to take some liberties with what came before and Peele pulled it off.

BEST SERIES FINALE
‘Game of Thrones’
The final season had its flaws, which I blame on HBO for rushing the last three years.  But even so, I think as far as the televersion of the George R.R. Martin opus goes, showrunners Benioff and Weiss stuck the landing.  (We probably won’t see the culmination of Martin’s vision for a couple more years.)

BEST CLIFF-HANGER
‘Watchmen’
“See How They Fly”
To watch Angela swallow the egg and start to step on the water was low-key.  But if the show never comes back, I know I won’t be the only one wondering what happened next.

BEST SPIN-OFF
‘Schooled’ from ‘The Goldbergs’

BEST SEQUEL
“Deadwood: The Movie”

BEST PROMO
‘The Twilight Zone’

 

BEST PILOT
‘Stumptown’
“Forget It, Dex.  It’s Stumptown”
That first four minutes was like a mini-Tarantino movie.  It’s been a fun ride since.

 

BEST EPISODE TITLE
'Watchmen'
“If You Don’t Like My Story, Write Your Own”
It practically stands as a declaration by Damon Lindelof and luckily his challenge stood up to any possible criticism.  (That title could be a reference for Alan Moore as well, I suppose.)

BEST HISTORICAL RECREATION
‘The Watchmen’
The Tulsa, Oklahoma, massacre of 1921
Before this episode, I had never even heard of this horrific event.

BEST SERIES REVIVAL/REVAMPING
‘Murphy Brown’
It may not have been successful, but the revisit to Murphy’s world acknowledged the passage of time for the characters, the medium, and current history of our world.

WORST SERIES REVIVAL/REVAMPING
‘Jeopardy!’
Champion Teams Week
Maybe it was a minor adjustment, but the show should be like kabuki theater.  Everything has to be just so.  This format threw that out and I think it suffered for it.

BEST CLASSIC TV EXPERIENCE
‘Perry Mason’ & ‘Maverick’
Now that I’m retired, I have the time to give over to classic comfort series.  That helps when Perry Mason airs four times a day!

BEST CATCH-UP
‘The Outlander’
In January I first saw this show, beginning with the last few episodes of the fourth season.  It was off to the library and I sped through the first three seasons.  Then Starz reran the fourth in a marathon.  Wow.

BEST CROSSOVER
“Crisis On Infinite Earths”
Can there be any doubt?  And we’ve only seen three/fifths of the crossover so far.  A lot of potential inductees into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame will come out of this.

BEST CROSSOVER PLOTLINE
“Crisis On Multiple Earths”
Hands down.

BEST MULTIVERSAL CROSSOVER
EARTH PRIME-TIME & THE CINEVERSE
It’s a ‘Goldbergs’ tie!

‘The Goldbergs’ (“The Wedding Singer”)
“The Wedding Singer”
The sitcom blended their cast members into the Adam Sandler movie from 20 years ago or so.  Instead a simple mesh of scenes took place.  They didn’t actually interact with the characters played by Sandler, Drew Barrymore, and Billy Idol, but Barry and Lainie were on the plane, watching the romantic final scene from across the aisle.  And all Sandberg had to do to make this crossover possible was to okay it – he produces ‘The Goldbergs’.

‘The Goldbergs’ ("Animal House")
“National Lampoon’s Animal House”
With this we get a look at two characters from the movie as to how they looked twenty years after the events of the film – Hoover and Otter. Played by James Widdoes and Tim Matheson.

FIRST CROSSOVER OF THE YEAR
‘Young Sheldon’ with ‘ALF’
Missy Cooper wrote a fan letter to Alf, the main character of the eponymous sitcom.  But as we saw in “A Race Of Superhumans And A Letter To Alf”, Alf was not just a puppet in a sitcom as he appeared here in the Real World.  He is a living being of Toobworld. This links ‘Young Sheldon’ not just with ‘ALF’ but also with ‘Matlock’.

Sorry, ‘Schooled’.  And Coach Mellor and Beverly Goldberg as well.  You were six days too late.  And being a spin-off is kind of a cheat. But crossing over with a show that has no previous connection and one with a puppet alien?  You never stood a chance.

LAST CROSSOVER OF THE YEAR
As far as I can tell, “Crisis On Multiple Earths” is the last crossover for 2019.  Who would want to follow that?

BEST COMMERCIAL CROSSOVER
Walmart Grocery Pick-up – “Famous Cars”

BEST COMMERCIAL CROSSOVER WITH A DIFFERENT MEDIUM
THE CINEVERSE AND TOOBWORLD
Stella Artois
Crossing over with “The Big Lebowski” & ‘Sex And The  City’
Again, in the same commercial, Jeff Bridges showed up as The Dude.  He even got to deliver the most famous line from the movie.

As for Carrie Bradshaw, this puts her in contention for membership in the TV Crossover Hal of Fame.

 

BEST TOONIVERSE CROSSOVER
‘Milo Murphy’s Law’ – “The Phineas & Ferb Effect”
Basically kicked off the competition for this award right out of the gate for 2019 (Jan. 5.)  It was also a great example of a basic principle for the Tooniverse – despite the difference in animation styles, the characters didn’t notice it.  From their perspective, everybody is the same.  (Phineas and Ferb have now had their own series, appeared in another and interacted with the tooniversions of Marvel’s Avengers from their cartoon series.  I think you’ll see them in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame soon enow.

BEST MULTIVERSAL SPOOF
“Hamilton” as seen on ‘Tonight’

 

BEST RECASTAWAY
OVERALL
‘Worzel Gummidge’
Although they didn’t fully utilize the concept for recastaways, the adaptation which starred Jon Pertwee (1979-81) introduced the concept of switching heads for the living scarecrow.  While all those different heads back then were still Pertwee, we can use that splainin as to why Worzel Gummidge looks so different in this new incarnation.

FEMALE
Laurie Blake, ‘Watchmen’
It's the passage of time which helps the belief that Malin Akerman became Jean Smart after thirty plus years.  (The same could be said for Dr. Manhattan as well, but it’s his powers that make that more believable.)

MALE
Lord William Ransom, ‘Outlander’
When we first met Jamie’s illegitimate son, Willie was a newborn baby. And then  (played by Clark Butler). That was in the third season.  In the fourth season he returned with his step-father, Lord John Grey, as a twelve year old, now played by Oliver Finnegan.  It’s a long-standing tradition for Toobworld Central to accept recastaways due to aging of characters.  O’Bviously, the show couldn’t wait for Clark Butler to grow up.

WORST RECASTAWAY
Colonel George Washington, ‘Outlander’
It’s just that he was colorless.  Whether he was written that way or it was the fault of the actor, I don’t know.

BEST NEW MALE CHARACTER
Tie!
Crowley & Aziraphale, ‘Good Omens’
Really.  How could I split up the set?

BEST NEW FEMALE CHARACTER
Tie!
Dex Parios, ‘Stumptown’
Angela Abar, ‘Watchmen’

BEST NEW MALE SUPPORTING CHARACTER
Looking Glass, ‘Watchmen’
A great concept for a “superpower”, an intriguing backstory and a cool actor to play the role.  (Tim Blake Nelson)

BEST NEW SUPPORTING FEMALE CHARACTER
Dottie, ‘Bob Hearts Abishola’
Christine Ebersole was funny enough when she was first introduced.  She’s got the comedy acting chops to call on.  But once her character had the stroke, she could not be fenced in!

BEST CHARACTER ADAPTED FROM ANOTHER MEDIUM
Doctor Manhattan, ‘Watchmen’
Thanks to his powers, recasting wasn’t going to be a problem.  And the writing kept his secret well through the run of the series.  And we mustn’t forget his origins in the four color fictional universe either.

BEST CROSSOVER CHARACTERS
The Flash of Earth-90, “Crisis On Infinite Earths”

BEST GUEST FEMALE
Beverly Goldberg, ‘Schooled’
"Bevzilla" appeared in the pilot episode launching Lainie into her own series.  (I had to give it to her.  She’s a force of nature; I had to submit.)

BEST NEW CAST ENSEMBLE
Drama
‘Watchmen’ They had talent to spare - look at the contribution from Don Johnson!
Comedy
The NFL 100th Anniversary Commercial

 

BEST INTRODUCTION OF A CHARACTER
Will Davenport, ‘Grantchester’
When it comes to replacing characters, no major reasoning is needed for vicars; such a generic event happens all the time.  Yet they were still able to work in compelling drama on both sides of the replacement.

BEST HISTORICAL CHARACTER
Governor William Tryon, ‘Outlander’
The best part about this is that Tryon is not exactly the historical figure that could show up anywhere in Toobworld.  That only happens to the historicals who are easily recognized – like George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Julius Caesar in ‘Bewitched’.  And even in historical settings as found in ‘Outlander’, Tryon might have been depicted, but in a generic sense so that he’d be just listed as “Governor” in the credits.  

BEST NEW ALIEN CHARACTER
The Worry Monsters for POM  
Here's one of them:

BEST NEW PUPPET CHARACTERS
Grandma & Otis, Dean’s Stoves & Spa

What gave them the edge?  They are puppets living in Connecticut.  It’s the Connecticut of Toobworld, but they were seen out in it.  And they were seen interacting with a human.  Everything needed to show that in Toobworld puppets are alive, and all in 30 seconds.

BEST LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES APPEARANCE
Robert Picardo, ‘Schooled’
In the Real World, Picardo graduated from the William Penn Charter School in 1971, but in Toobworld, he graduated from William Penn Academy.  He came back to help drum up support for the school’s drama department but when he heard that a few alumni were also coming back to support the athletic department, he took off.  Picardo didn’t want to endure their hazing again.

BEST LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES APPEARANCE IN ALT-TOOBWORLD
Peter Frampton, ‘Madam Secretary’
Unfortunately, it’s not the main Toobworld, but hey!  We got to hear him play a house concert.

BEST LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES APPEARANCE IN A COMMERCIAL
Harrison Ford and his Boston Terrier, Amazon/Alexa

   

BEST CHARACTER RETURN
Zachariah, ‘Supernatural’
He was able to make it back for the 300th episode, even though an angel blade was driven right through his skull.  Now, that’s dedication!

BEST CHARACTER RETURN IN SKITLANDIA:
It’s a tie!
Gumby
Mr. Robinson
Velvet Jones
Buckwheat
“Saturday Night Live”
With the final episode of 2019 for ‘Saturday Night Live’, host Eddie Murphy brought back four of the characters he embodied during his time as a regular on the series back in the early 1980s.  (Here’s hoping he’ll come back for a Christmas show again, so that we can see more of Kiddle Diddles the Elf.)

BEST NEW MALE VILLAIN
Captain Stephen Bonnet, ‘Outlander’
And because of his inherently evil tendencies to get all rapey, we can depend on him for plenty of theories of relateeveety for Ed Speleers characters.

BEST NEW FEMALE VILLAIN
Dr. Trieu, ‘Watchmen’

BEST EXIT FOR A CHARACTER
TOOBWORLD
Lainie, ‘The Goldbergs’
She and Barry broke up in 1980-something and she moved to California to find herself.  This helped to set her up for her own show, ‘Schooled’, which debuted after her exit episode.

Young Ian Fraser, ‘Outlander’
The door was left open that we might see him again in the future.

SADDEST DEATH SCENE
WORST (GRISLIEST) DEATH SCENE
Father Alexandre Fernigault & Johiehon, ‘Outlander’
This is a double-header as the Mohawks put the priest to the stake and were slowly torturing him with fire.  Roger threw a barrel of fire-water on the flames to put him out of his misery.  The Mohawk woman who loved the priest and bore his child left her baby behind and willingly climbed into the flames to join him.

MOST SURPRISING DEATH SCENE
Dick Grayson, “Crisis On Infinite Earths”
I didn’t think they’d have the guts to do it.

FIRST MAJOR TV CHARACTER TO DIE
Lewis Archer, ‘Coronation Street’
It seems to be a tradition for this show to kill off a major character on New Year’s Day.  This year it was the rogue Lewis Archer who supposedly turned over a new leaf.  He died from stress about proposing to the woman whose family he wronged.  She found him with the engagement ring in his hand.

BEST NEW CHARACTER NAME

WORST NEW CHARACTER NAME
Dex Parios, ‘Stumptown’
As it stands, fine.  But her first name is Dexedrine? Blerg.

BEST NEW ALIAS
It's a tie!"Looking Glass" AKA Wade Tillman – ‘Watchmen’ 
“Otter Tooth” AKA Robert Singer, ‘Outlander’

BEST LINE
“The wealthiest camel has the biggest hump.” – NerdWallet commercial.

It reminds me of those signs found in the Village in ‘The Prisoner’

BEST NEW TOOBWORLD LOCATION
Hindafing in Bavaria, ‘Hindafing’
The show is two years old, and apparently only six episodes deep.  I suppose I should count it as a miniseries.  But at the least, Hindafing is here to stay on the Toobworld map.

BEST FIGHT SCENE
‘Stumptown’
And that was within the first four minutes of the series!

BEST ADAPTATIONS TO ANOTHER MEDIUM
TV TO MOVIE
‘Downton Abbey’
COMIC BOOK to TV
‘Stumptown’
COMIC BOOK TO MOVIE TO TV
‘Watchmen’

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT IN A SHOW
The powers that be (lower case) moving ‘The Orville’ to HULU.  Greedy bleeps.

 

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS, 12/27/2019 - JIM LOVELL

Today marks the 51st anniversary of the splashdown of Apollo 8, with crewmembers Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders.   But of them all, it’s Lovell who’s getting inducted into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame as a member of the League of Themselves.  And this being December, he’s being inducted as a multiversal character, which includes a different actor playing him.

From Wikipedia:
James Arthur Lovell Jr. (born March 25, 1928) is a former NASA astronaut, Naval Aviator, mechanical engineer, and retired Navy captain. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became one of the first three humans to fly to and orbit the Moon. He then commanded the 1970 Apollo 13 lunar mission which, after a critical failure en route, circled around the Moon and returned safely to Earth through the efforts of the crew and mission control.

Lovell had previously flown on two Gemini missions, Gemini 7 in 1965 and Gemini 12 in 1966. He was the first person to fly into space four times.

One of 24 people to have flown to the Moon, Lovell was the first person to fly to it twice. He is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (in 1970, as one of 17 recipients in the Space Exploration group), and co-author of the 1994 book Lost Moon, on which the 1995 film Apollo 13 was based.

Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first to reach the Moon, orbit it, and return.[1][2][3] Its three-astronaut crew—Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders—were the first humans to fly to the Moon, to witness and photograph an Earthrise, and to escape the gravity of a celestial body.

Apollo 8 launched on December 21, 1968, and was the second crewed spaceflight mission flown in the United States Apollo space program after Apollo 7, which stayed in Earth orbit. Apollo 8 was the third flight and the first crewed launch of the Saturn V rocket, and was the first human spaceflight from the Kennedy Space Center, located adjacent to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Originally planned as the second crewed Apollo Lunar Module and command module test, to be flown in an elliptical medium Earth orbit in early 1969, the mission profile was changed in August 1968 to a more ambitious command-module-only lunar orbital flight to be flown in December, as the lunar module was not yet ready to make its first flight. Astronaut Jim McDivitt's crew, who were training to fly the first lunar module flight in low Earth orbit, became the crew for the Apollo 9 mission, and Borman's crew were moved to the Apollo 8 mission. This left Borman's crew with two to three months' less training and preparation time than originally planned, and replaced the planned lunar module training with translunar navigation training.

Apollo 8 took 68 hours (almost three days) to travel the distance to the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times over the course of twenty hours, during which they made a Christmas Eve television broadcast in which they read the first ten verses from the Book of Genesis. At the time, the broadcast was the most watched TV program ever. Apollo 8's successful mission paved the way for Apollo 11 to fulfill U.S. president John F. Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the 1960s. The Apollo 8 astronauts returned to Earth on December 27, 1968, when their spacecraft splashed down in the northern Pacific Ocean. The crew members were named Time magazine's "Men of the Year" for 1968 upon their return.

Jim Lovell is being inducted as a member of the League of Themselves and a Multiversal.

These are the appearancces which qualify him for membership:

LateLine
- Al Anonymous (1998)
... Himself

Mars
- Grounded (2016)
... Himself

O’Bservation: As this took place in the 2030s, Lovell was seen in archival footage.

In 1998, actor Tim Daly portrayed Lovell in portions of the HBO miniseries ‘From the Earth to the Moon’. The film depicts Lovell during his missions aboard Gemini 12, Apollo 8, and Apollo 13, though he is not seen on screen during the latter mission.
 -  Can We Do This? (1998) ... Jim Lovell
  - 1968 (199-8) ... Jim Lovell
  - For Miles and Miles (1998) ... Jim Lovell
  - The Original Wives Club (1998) ... Jim Lovell

And as flavoring for his tally, we could give this movie appearance consideration:

The Man Who Fell to Earth
Himself (Commander of Apollo 13)

Welcome to the Hall, Mr Lovell…..