MEME 3 - SONIC FEEDBACK

At some point in last year's "Who's On First" blogathon, I coined a term for those who are always complaining about 'Doctor Who'.

"Wibbly Wobbly Timey Whiners"

And the backlash against the sonic sunglasses was a good example of those Timey-Whiners.

The sonic sunglasses kick off our next post in the next half hour...

Geronimo!

O, WHAT I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS....

Christmas was only a week ago and I already have a wish-list for a Christmas toy.  (I’m writing this up the day before the premiere of Part Two of the ‘Doctor Who’ – “Spyfall” story, so I’ve wanted this for a year now already.)

I want an Agent O action figure – not necessarily the usual five inch tall version which would work well with the Doctor figures, although it would be cool to have Sacha Dhawan as a toy.  Wait.  That didn't sound right….)

No, what I want is a tiny one set inside a normal-sized matchbox, based on the actual Agent O who was killed via tissue compression by the Master, using one of his old tricks from the classic series.

Let me know if you hear of anybody selling these….  Muwhahahaha!

MEME 2 - THE "GAME OF THRONES" CROSSOVER

Whenever a Zonk – that is, a mistake or some kind of discrepancy – shows up in a TV series, I don’t just write it off as an error.  I try to work within the reality of the series to splain it all away.

Such a discrepancy popped up as ‘Game of Thrones’ was drawing to a close.  In fact, it happened twice.

First there was that infamous coffee cup on the table at Winterfell.

Well, there was no problem with that.  Somebody provided the reason and the resolution in a handy-dandy meme….

[And why were the Doctor and Amy on the planet of Westeros?  Because it was Mondas, where the Cybermen would eventually come to reign.  And for a specific reason?  Let's say that they had to retrieve Qyburn's papers about reanimating the dead before the Rani got hold of them.  Why not?]

The trickier problem came later in the last episode, when a water bottle was left in the scene.  

I doubt this was done by the Doctor.  “Once burned, forever shy” as ‘The Prisoner’ once said.  Or was it John Drake?  No matter.  In Toobworld, they’re one and the same.  Six of one and half a dozen of the other.

But it would be in keeping with the practices by that meddlesome Monk (seen here wearing his sonic shades.)  We’ve blamed him in the past for supplying modern day products to TV characters in the di)stant past of Earth Prime-Time – like Pepsi and Bud Light in the Middle Ages; or FedEx during the Neolithic era.

How a plastic water bottle might have adversely affected the Seven Kingdoms on the planet of Mothra, I can’t say.  I can only propose the theory that the Monk was responsible for leaving it behind in King’s Landing.

At least the Doctor came back to retrieve his garbage….

BCnU!

O’Bservation:
For the type of post that is just a time-waster to fill in the half-hour breaks, I wrote way too much on this one…..

THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY - AN OBLATION OF O'BRIENS

As I write this, the second season for Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth incarnation of the Doctor has only just started with the first part of “Spyfall” airing on New Year’s Day.  (Part two airs tomorrow.)

And in that time we’ve spent in her company, we’ve had at least one good story for the companion Yaz, oftentimes in connection with Ryan.  But outside the references to his late wife who died during the first adventure with this Doctor, there hasn’t been much of a spotlight on the oldest companion, Graham O’Brien.

I’ve got a suggestion for one, however.  [O’Briens have to look out for each other.]

What if it turned out that Graham was the Great to the Nth Power Grandfather of Lady Cassandra O’Brien, the last “pure” human by the time of “The End Of The World”?  Even if she was just a stretched out tapestry of skin?

[That might not freak out Graham as much as finding out that when she was a little girl, Cassandra O’Brien was actually a little boy!]

It’s a monumental coincidence, but where would TV be without them?

BCnU!

WHO MEMES - THE DOCTOR'S BEARD

For the timey-whimey being, I think the blog posts today on the half-hour will be ‘Doctor Who’-related memes I find in Facebook and the Interwebz in general.

Let’s kick it off with this one…..

2021 WHO'S ON FIRST BLOGATHON - INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the 13^th anniversary edition of the "Who's On First?" blogAthon.  For the next 24 hours, there will (hopefully) 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.   That may not be the case this year.  We'll at least get one in every 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 2021 edition of 'Who's On First'!  And as always, we begin with the frame grab from 'Robot Chicken' which has become our mascot.....  

ADDENDUM - This frakking year....  My heart just wasn't in it this year for my whovian theories.  The best I could summon when it came to enthusiasm are the memes which take up most of today's line-up.  Sorry, follks.  This may be how it goes from now on.... if I even attempt it again next year.   Who knows, with this pandemic still with us, if I'll even be here to do this for 2022.....  Toby Downer!

IT'S A CHRISTMAS HONORS FRIDAY HALL OF FAMER, CHARLIE BROWN!

 
I guess I should have consulted the calendar!  I said with the last entry into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame that it was the last inductee as a Friday Crossover Hall of Famer, but there was still the Christmas Honors member.  Well!  Christmas is on a Friday, so we get two in one!

It’s a Christmas miracle!

So we’re wrapping up this year’s theme of bringing the televersions of our own TV shows into the TVXOHOF with today’s entry.  For the last eleven months, the new members have covered all sorts of TV shows – sci-fi, detective shows, talk shows, sitcoms. a game show, and now….?

We’re going with a one-shot, a traditional holiday special.

‘Tis the season!

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

From Wikipedia:
 “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is a 1965 animated television special, and is the first TV special based on the comic strip “Peanuts”, by Charles M. Schulz. Produced by Lee Mendelson and directed by Bill Melendez, the program made its debut on CBS on December 9, 1965. In this special, Charlie Brown finds himself depressed despite the onset of the cheerful holiday season. Lucy suggests he direct a neighborhood Christmas play, but his best efforts are ignored and mocked by his peers. After Linus tells Charlie Brown about the true meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown cheers up, and the Peanuts gang unites to celebrate the Christmas season.

After the comic strip's debut in 1950, “Peanuts” had become a phenomenon worldwide by the mid-1960s. The special was commissioned and sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company, and was written over a period of several weeks, and produced on a small budget in six months. In casting the characters, the producers took an unconventional route, hiring child actors.

The program's soundtrack was similarly unorthodox, featuring a jazz score by pianist Vince Guaraldi. Its lack of a laugh track (a staple in US television animation in this period), in addition to its tone, pacing, music, and animation, led both the producers and the network to predict the project would be a disaster.

However, contrary to their collective apprehension, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” received high ratings and acclaim from critics. It has been honored with an Emmy and a Peabody Award, and has become an annual presentation in the United States, airing on broadcast television during the Christmas season. Its success paved the way for a series of “Peanuts” television specials and films. Its jazz soundtrack achieved commercial success, selling four million copies in the US. Live theatrical versions of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” have been staged.

Here are the references to the special from many shows in Earth Prime-Time.  I think the overriding reference point has to be that sad little Christmas tree.  

Mentions to be found in Skitlandia, The Tooniverse, and other alternate Toobworlds are not included.

Day by Day:
Merry Kristin
(1988)
Ross mentions the special..

Sliders:
Season's Greedings
(1996)
Quinn tells the story of a raggedy Christmas tree from his childhood, which he compares to Charlie Brown's.

NewsRadio:
Catherine Moves On
(1997)
In Bill's version of the story, everyone speaking to him sounds like the adults in the Charlie Brown world.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
Passion
(1998)
Willow goes over at Christmas, and likes to watch Xander do "The Snoopy Dance", which was introduced in "A Charlie Brown Christmas"..

Friends:
The One with the Routine
(1999)
Rachel calls Chandler "Linus" after he says that finding the presents early is not what Christmas is all about.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
The Replacement
(2000)
Lame Xander: "Every Christmas, we watch Charlie Brown together, and I do the Snoopy Dance."

Popular:
Are You There God? It's Me Ann-Margret
(2000)
Harrison mentions the animated movie.

That '70s Show:
An Eric Forman Christmas
(2001)
Episode title and Fez' quote "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown" near the end of the episode

Weeds:
Cooking with Jesus
(2006)
A dead weed plant is described as "The Charlie Brown Christmas Tree"

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip:
The Christmas Show
(2006)
Matt brings in a "Charlie Brown"-type Christmas tree and Andy responds with "What are you? Linus?"

Elmo's Christmas Countdown
(2007 TV Movie)
Stan the Snowball mentions "that round-headed kid who picked out that crummy tree."

Kyle XY:
I've Had the Time of My Life
(2008)
Amanda compares the decorated gym to Charlie Brown''s Christmas tree.

Psych:
Christmas Joy
(2008)
Shawn says, "We just saved Christmas!" and begins to dance like Snoopy as some jazz music similar to the Charlie Brown theme is heard.

iCarly:
iChristmas
(2008)
The ending, with Carly saying that the tree needs a little love, saying that Spencer's not normal but he made a nice tree, and the cast gathering around "oo oo oooing" to "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," is a take off of the ending to A Charlie Brown Christmas.

The Big Bang Theory:
The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis
(2008)
After Sheldon's story about the origin of Christmas, Howard remarks, "And that, Charlie Brown, is what boredom is all about."

The Office:
Broke
(2009)
Kelley imitates the sound of the grownups in the "Peanuts" world.

The Office:
Classy Christmas
(2010)
While shopping for Christmas trees with Pam and Darryl, Andy wonders aloud: "What if we got a really beat-up one, like on 'Charlie Brown,' and we just loved it for what it is?"

The Big Bang Theory:
The Rhinitis Revelation
(2011)
Howard says, "I watch the 'Charlie Brown Christmas' special every year."

Eureka:
Do You See What I See
(2011)
Everybody momentarily turns into Peanuts characters.

The Office:
Christmas Wishes
(2011)
"Christmas Time Is Here" from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" plays at the Christmas party.

Raising Hope:
It's a Hopeful Life
(2011)
When Jimmy brings home a pathetic-looking Christmas tree, Burt says, "What'd you do? Mug Charlie Brown?"

Raising Hope:
Hogging All the Glory
(2012)
"Linus and Lucy" is heard as the Chances reenact Charlie Brown for Hope.

Dexter:
Do You See What I See?
(2012)
Charlie Brown Christmas tree mentioned

Suits:
Blind-Sided
(2013)
When Donna toys with Harvey's messages, he tells her that he's not Charlie Brown, she isn't Lucy van Pelt and that the messages aren't a football.

Parks and Recreation:
Filibuster
(2013)
Chris comments that Leslie is dancing around "like she's a character in one of those Peanuts cartoons."

The Tree That Saved Christmas
(2014 TV Movie)
Molly and Lucas refer to the sickly evergreen that Molly saves as a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend:
I'm So Happy That Josh Is So Happy!
(2015)
Paula mentions the Charlie Brown theme song.

Angel of Christmas
(2015 TV Movie)
Susan: "You're not talking about that little Charlie Brown tree, are you?"

Mom:
Horny-Goggles and a Catered Intervention
(2015)
Bonnie calls Christy "Charlie Brown".

The Good Wife:
Shoot
(2016)
Alicia compares her sad-looking slice of pizza to Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.

Transparent:
When the Battle Is Over
(2016)
"That sad Charlie Brown Christmas kale" statement is in reference to his spindly Christmas tree.

American Gods:
A Murder of Gods
(2017)
Shadow: "I got stabbed by Charlie Brown's Christmas tree!"

This Is Us:
The Pool: Part Two
(2019)
Toby mentions how Charlie Brown's mother makes nonsensical sounds: "wah-wah-wah".

Evil:
7 Swans a Singin'
(2019)
Kristen refers to Pudsy's Christmas as an edgier version of this Christmas classic.

Merry Christmas, everybody!  See you next year.

And as Tiny Toby would say, “God bless us, every one!  But especially me.”

FOR WOLD NEWTON DAY - VRIL

As this is Wold Newton Day (see the previous post for today), Toobworld Central likes to look at someone or something in the TV Universe which has a correlation in the Wold Newton Universe.

This year, it’s a What….

HUNTERS
(Ruth: 1:16)

Lonnie Flash found copies of a book at the homes of two fugitive Nazis and took them to a friend for her to decipher….

ANNIKA:
It seems this is a republication of a late 19th century sci-fi tale called Vril. "A master race living underground with plans to launch a fight, a revolution. Their plan: to take over the entire world. " The Nazis used Vril as a spiritual inspiration.

But this version has been updated.

Here we go. Not just inspiration, but instructions. Thus, the title, “Book of the Coming Race”. No, sorry. “Manual for the Coming Race”.

Plans of a war they swear they will fight to the death….

From Wikipedia:
“The Coming Race” is a novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, published anonymously in 1871. It has also been published as “Vril, the Power of the Coming Race”.

Some readers have believed the account of a superior subterranean master race and the energy-form called "Vril", at least in part; some theosophists, notably Helena Blavatsky, William Scott-Elliot, and Rudolf Steiner, accepted the book as based on occult truth, in part.

One 1960 book, “The Morning of the Magicians”, suggested that a secret Vril Society existed in Weimar Berlin. However, there is no evidence for the existence of such a society.

Vril Energy has been incorporated into the Wold Newton Universe with the addition of Derrick Ferguson’s adventurer Dillon and perhaps in other works.  Sean Lee Levin pointed out the Dillon connection:

Here are the crossovers in the more recent "Dillon and the Prophecy of Fire," which previously appeared on Derrick's Patreon.

Dillon brings his friends to his home in Grand, Pennsylvania. A group of villains seek the Vril energy from Dillon. The mastermind behind the Vril plot is revealed as Li Shoon, the leader of the Ui Kwoon Ah-How.
[Edited]

The Vril is from Edward Bulwer-Lytton's THE COMING RACE.

Now, the reference in “Hunters” keeps it within the covers of Bulwer-Lytton’s book, and that might make it limited to Jasper Fforde’s BookWorld universe in the Thursday Next series of books.  But there could be a way to still make it work for Toobworld.

It could be that Bulwer-Lytton took the Truth about the Vril-ya and the Vril energy and fictionalized it in his book.  As such, he could have been working as an agent of the early version of the shadow ops organization of UNReel, which took inspiration from the writings of Sherlock Holmes – UNReel helps the heroes of Toobworld to hide in plain sight by convincing the general public that those heroes are fictional.

It's easy to see why UNReel needed to “fictionalize” the underground empire of the Vril-ya, a superior race who could finally decide to take over the surface world.  While diplomats from all over that surface world negotiate with the Vril-ya to maintain the status quo, UNReel does its job to keep interlopers from trying to explore that world and disrupt the balance.

So while Annika might think Bulwer-Lytton’s work is fiction, that just proves UNReel’s plan is still working.  (Or at least it still was in 1977.)

So ‘Hunters’ introduced the concept of Vril energy into Toobworld, but left hanging the possibility that it actually exists in the TV Universe.  Perhaps energy creatures from ‘The Outer Limits’ might theoretically be connected to Vril, but that doesn’t make it definite.

Who knows?  Someday it might happen.  But for now, the Wold Newton Universe has Vril, while Toobworld will just have to wait.

And so it goes…..

Happy Wold Newton Day to all who O’Bserve!

HAPPY WOLD NEWTON DAY!

We’ve got an annual rerun today…..

Today is Wold Newton Day!

From the Introduction to Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Family by Win Scott Eckert:

The Wold Newton Family is a group of heroic and villainous literary figures that science fiction author Philip Jose Farmer postulated belonged to the same genetic family. Some of these characters are adventurers, some are detectives, some explorers and scientists, some espionage agents, and some are evil geniuses.
According to Mr. Farmer, the Wold Newton family originated when a radioactive meteor landed in Wold Newton, England, in the year 1795. The radiation caused a genetic mutation in those present, which endowed many of their descendants with extremely high intelligence and strength, as well as an exceptional capacity and drive to perform good, or, as the case may be, evil deeds.

 Popular characters that Philip Jose Farmer concluded were members of the Wold Newton mutant family include: Solomon Kane; Captain Blood; The Scarlet Pimpernel; Harry Flashman; Sherlock Holmes and his nemesis Professor Moriarty (aka Captain Nemo); Phileas Fogg; The Time Traveler; Allan Quatermain; Tarzan and his son Korak; A.J. Raffles; Professor Challenger; Richard Hannay; Bulldog Drummond; the evil Fu Manchu and his adversary, Sir Denis Nayland Smith; G-8; The Shadow; Sam Spade; Doc Savage, his cousin Pat Savage, and one of his five assistants, Monk Mayfair; The Spider; Nero Wolfe; Mr. Moto; The Avenger; Philip Marlowe; James Bond; Lew Archer; and Travis McGee.

As the Curator for the Toobworld Dynamic, I am a great admirer of the work done by Mr. Farmer and Mr. Eckert and Sean Lee Levin and others in detailing the lineage of these great pulp characters.  The Wold Newton Universe was an early influence on the Toobworld Dynamic.

But although there are similarities between the two shared universes, the TwD is NOT the WNU.  The main reason being that the Wold Newton meteorite is not a fixed point in the history of Earth Prime-Time.  At least, not yet.  (I have hopes one day it will be dramatized for TV.)

In the meantime, Toobworld does share many members from the original core of the Wold Newton Family listed above.  They would include:

• Sherlock Holmes
• Lord Greystoke aka Tarzan
• Nero Wolfe
• Fu Manchu
• Sir Denis Nayland Smith
• Bulldog Drummond
• Allan Quatermain
• Phileas Fogg
• Professor James Moriarty*
• Professor George Challenger
• Richard Hannay
• Philip Marlowe
• James Bond
• Travis McGee
• Lew Archer
• Harry Flashman
• Captain Nemo*

And there are others, some perhaps within the extended family, others from the Wold Newton Universe in general, who also have counterparts in the TV Universe:

• Arsene Lupin
• Lord Peter Wimsey
• Monsieur Lecoq
• Hercule Poirot
• Charlie Chan
• Dracula
• The Frankenstein Family
• Ivanhoe
• Robin Hood
• Zorro
• The Lone Ranger
• The Saint
• Father Brown
• Carnacki
• Dr. Thorndyke
• Dr. Jeckyll
• Horatio Hornblower
• Miss Marple

And plenty more who sprang from the "Glass Furnace" first.

So I'd just like to take this moment to salute my comrades across the dimensional vortex with their continuing adventures on this anniversary.

Here's to that chunk of space debris that made it all possible!

BCnU!

* O’Bservation:
Mr. Farmer’s assertion that for the WNU, Captain Nemo and Professor Moriarty are one and the same is the best indicator that Toobworld is not the Wold Newton Universe.  For Toobworld, Nemo and the Napoleon of Crime are two different men.

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS 12/11/2020 - PURELL

 
The Television Crossover Hall of Fame has inducted many products into the Hall in the past – the New York Chronicle, the New York Ledger, the LA Tribune, Playpen Magazine, Morley Cigarettes, Slush-0 and Smeat among them.  I could be wrong on this, but this may be the first time an actual product from the Trueniverse has been allowed into the TVXOHOF.  But these are strange prime-times we live in….

PURELL

From Wikipedia:
Purell is an American brand of hand sanitizer invented in 1988, and introduced to the consumer market in 1997, by GOJO Industries. Its primary component is ethyl alcohol (70% v/v), and is used by wetting one's hands thoroughly with the product, then briskly rubbing one's hands together until dry.

Purell was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2006, then reacquired by GOJO in 2010. That year, Purell Green Certified Instant Hand Sanitizer became the first hand sanitizer to meet EcoLogo CCD-170 standards.

In 2020, some of Purell's claims, including that it kills "99.99% of most common germs", have been met with regulatory warnings to desist the claim.

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, GOJO faced unprecedented demand for Purell products due to its reputation as a leading name-brand for hand sanitizer. Starting immediately as cases began to rise in the United States, Purell products ran out-of-stock and remained largely unavailable to the general public, with new shipments being prioritized to medical and professional customers. Purell's products were still hard to find in July 2020, despite GOJO producing more than twice the amount of hand sanitizer in 2020 than in 2019. GOJO has stated it is currently investing in further strategies to source ingredients and substantially increase manufacturing space for use by mid-2021.

It should be O’Bvious why I’m acknowledging its presence in Toobworld, but the citizens of Earth Prime-Time were using the original instead of a knock-off before the current pandemic.  Sheldon Cooper would probably be in a catatonic state if it didn’t exist; and the hand sanitizer was a major plot point throughout the latest season of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’, written and filmed before the pandmic.

Here are the shows which have mentioned it or showed it in use. There are enough references here to make it eligible for the Hall.  But if you know of others, please let me know.

The Big Bang Theory
The Launch Acceleration

[Sheldon runs outside]
Jimmy:
Uh, where is he going?
Leonard Hofstadter:
He keeps emergency Purell in the car.

The Big Bang Theory
The Meteorite Manifestation

The Big Bang Theory
The Sibling Realignment

Amy Farrah Fowler:
Okay, so each welcome bag gets a schedule of events, a map, and chocolate from me. And from Sheldon, a bottle of Purell, the number for Poison Control in case someone accidentally drinks the Purell, and a laminated table of elements because the American school system is a failure.

[Amy shuts the laptop; as she leaves, Penny takes the bottle of Purell from her gift bag]

Penny Hofstadter: [pouring it on her computer]
Oh, well... turns out this is gonna come in handy after all.

Better Things
Easter

The Good Fight
Self-Condemned

Diane Lockhart:
“Guard!  Where are the Handi-Wipes?  I need my Purell.”
&
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to get blood out of Egyptian cotton?  And now, no Purell.”

Curb Your Enthusiasm

All of Season Ten

From IndieWire

by Ryan Lattanzio:
(One of the signatures of the Latte Larry experience was a bottle of hand sanitizer at every table, along with the “no defecation” rule.)

At the end of Season 10, Latte Larry’s tragically burns to the ground after one of his employees mishandles his self-warming coffee mug devices, and one of the most harrowing images, in hindsight, is a closeup on a stockpile of Purell melting in the flames.

“All anyone thought when they saw the final episode was, ‘Oh my god, you burned all that Purell!'” Schaffer said. “It wasn’t really what we were thinking about in 2019,” which was when they were writing and filming the 10th season.

And then came the denouement, the burning-down of Latte Larry’s. The fire happens for a number of reasons, but it gets worse because of Larry’s Purell obsession. As his vast stores of Purell bottles, which he provides at every table, ignites, the entire block turns into an inferno. And when that happens, he accidentally says “fuck you” to the world, pre- and post-coronavirus.

Welcome to the Hall, Purell.  I would shake your hand, but of course you don’t have any.  

And besides, that would defeat your purpose.

O’BSERVATION

Just a quick programming note – We’re coming up to the end of the year and even in lockdown, things are going to be off-kilter for Yours Viewly here at Toobworld Central.  We still have the Christmas Honors entry to the TVXOHOF to be presented on Christmas Day, but this entry marks the last of the Friday Hall of Famers, not only for the year but forever.

I’ll still be doing the monthly showcases, plus the Birthday and Christmas Honors List, and sadly, also the memorial tributes.  (Hopefully we won’t have that many.  Actually, considering it’s 2020 and we're in a pandemic, I thought there would have been many more, thanks to COVID-19.)

I may continue inducting the Toobworld televersions of real TV shows; I enjoyed those.  But I may save those for the Birthday Honors entry.  We’ll see….