EDGAR... RHYS... BURRAGE

While visiting a website dedicated to the old Western series 'The Rifleman', I learned that at least six different actors appeared on the program as Doc Burrage, supposedly the town of North Fork's only medico.

At least three of the actors playing the role may be familiar to you, dear reader. At least I recognized three, but then I delve into this stuff more than you might. (For me, it's Numbers One [Edgar Buchanan], Three [Rhys Williams], and Four [Jack Kruschen]).)

The other three official Doc Burrages were played by Robert Burton, Ralph Moody, and Fay Roope. (Two other men showed up as a doctor in that series, but whether or not they were playing Doc Burrage, or some other resident sawbones in town, I don't know.)
At any rate, the actors all look too different from each other for there to ever be any kind of splainin that might keep them all being the same man. I don't think he's a Gallifreyan Doctor - especially not the one we know! - so the theory of Time Lord regeneration is out. Besides, the residents of North Fork would surely have noticed and commented about it in one episode or another.

So I'm leaning toward leaping. As in 'Quantum Leap'.

We know that the concept of leaping outlasts Dr. Sam Beckett. We saw in several episodes of 'Quantum Leap' that other leapers from his future were jumping into the same timelines he was in and futzing with his missions.

So it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that leaping technology can now take a person back farther than their own lifetime, much farther. (Actually we've seen that it can - on 'The 4400'.)

It could be that the first Doc Burrage, as played by Edgar Buchanan, is the true Doc Burrage, and all those who followed are various leapers from the future.

It must have been some important project for all of those men to get involved in the life of Doc Burrage. He must have proven to be somebody vital to the needs of the Futurekind and so they leapt into his life to make sure certain actions were taken. Perhaps they utilized some medical technique unknown in the 19th Century to ensure one of his patients survived to live out the destiny planned for him/her.

And because this would all be based on leaper technology from the Future, nobody else in North Fork ever noticed that Doc Burrage no longer looked like the original. They would all see a character played by Edgar Buchanan, while we saw the actor currently playing the role.

(Of course, if there's an episode where one of those other Doc Burrages looks into a mirror and doesn't see Edgar Buchanan looking back at him, well my theory gets REALLY shaky!)

I'd like to think they were all there to make sure that Mark McCain grew up to follow his destiny in Hollywood. We saw that happen in the fourth "Gambler" movie, "The Luck Of The Draw" - Mark was working on a movie shoot in California when he was called in at the last second to play the lead. (For Toobworld, it was a fictional portrayal of a "real life" Western legend - the Lone Ranger!)

Since the writers' strike began, I've been giving some thought to how the WGA might be portrayed in Toobworld. Plenty of TV shows have given us writers of fictional TV shows, and I'm sure all of them were members in good standing in the Guild.

But wouldn't it be something if an elderly Mark McCain had been one of the founding fathers of the WGA's televersion?

Why that would be important to the shapers of the Future, ya got me.

It certainly begs the question, "What's up, Docs?"

Sorry about that, Chief.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

[My thanks to the Cowgirl for the pictures I rustled. If you like those old Western TV shows like I do, you'll love her site - lots of great stuff!]

SATURDAY STRIKE POST

Here's a clip from Ken Levine's blog post from Friday:

My guess is a lot of today’s shows will also be around in 30 years. We may be watching them on chips implanted in our heads but they’ll be there. And the writers of those shows deserve the same security and compensation that we 'MASH' writers have enjoyed.

Keep up the fight. It’s worth it.

Another thing I’ll never take off my resume: I’m a union man.

In an earlier post yesterday, he told those anonymous commenters who are supporting the AMPTP to stuff it. If they're not brave enough to sign their names, he'll delete their posts.

Good for him! Stick it to those weasels! (They're probably all coming from Nick Counter's steno pool anyway.....)

Ken Levine's always a great read and you'll find the link to his blog over there among the other Link to the Lefties.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

SECOND OF MAYA

Above is a picture of Catherine Tate and Billie Piper from an upcoming episode of 'Doctor Who'. (At least I was led to believe that from the website I stole it from! Sorry, Rob....) From the rumor mill, I've heard that it will be an episode in which four Companions team up as "Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves" after the Doctor is severely injured by that week's boogeyman. (Please, Lord, I'm on my knees, figuratively - no more Daleks or Cybermen.)

The four Companions, all women, would be Rose Tyler (Piper), Donna Noble (Tate), Dr. Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), and the legendary Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) - my first and a member this year of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

Man..... How I wish they could have thrown Romana into the mix - even if they had to recast/regenerate!

(Do you think RTD might have been inspired for this idea by "Shrek The Third"?)

At any rate, I looked at that above picture and I saw a chance for a session on the casting couch:

Should the producers of 'The 4400' ever want to do an episode that is set in the future (provided the AMPTP can do the right thing and come to terms with the WGA), then I think they should come up with the coin to bring Billie Piper over from the UK to play Maya Rutledge Skouris all grown up.

I think the resemblance is there. And besides, think of the ratings boost, thanks to the fan wanker adulation. It would be the closest they'd ever get to a crossover of 'The 4400' with 'Doctor Who'. (If Toobworld was perfect, the Doctor should have been investigating the temporal signature of whomever was behind those abductions from the Future.)

I throw this idea out freely to the producers of 'The 4400'. Besides, it's not like anybody actually takes me seriously around here anyway, and it's a good thing too! I'd hate to have to start acting responsibly....

BCnU!
Toby OB

FRIENDS AND MONKS

I should have made an announcement about this yesterday, but it slipped what little there is left of me mind......

My friend Tom O'Leary had a featured role in the 2007 Christmas episode of 'Monk' last night. He was pretty good in a role that might have been played by James Milhollin back in the early 1960s - as a menswear clerk. (I guess I'm thinking of Milhollin in that 'Twilight Zone' episode with Anne Francis, "After Hours".....)

Mr. Humphries came to mind as well, but only because of the profession.

Tom used to play the Phantom on Broadway. If you want to see how he did in his 'Monk' role, check out the schedule below and find a telecast that's right for you:

'MONK'
"MR. MONK AND THE MAN WHO SHOT SANTA"

DEC 09 10:00 PM

DEC 15 07:00 PM

DEC 17 01:00 AM

DEC 22 09:00 AM

DEC 25 09:00 AM
DEC 25 06:00 PM

DEC 25 02:00 AM (Probably supposed to be DEC 26)

HoHoHo O'Leary!
Toby OB

SHOE'S VIEWS

My friend and little buddy, Sean Shoe Hand, fellow Iddiot and father to my god-daughter, wrote to me from Taiwan with this observation of the finale to Volume Two of 'Heroes':

Watching the season finale, "Powerless", I noticed two small maybe clues to a larger Heroes story. Micah already, albeit jokingly, referred to his cousin Monica Dawson, as "just like Saint Joan" the hero on the cover of issue 10 of 9th Wonders...

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if she turns out to be, but what I find interesting is that in Issac Mendez's drawing she's holding a knife that bears a striking resemblance to the one on display in the vault, among the Company's treasures.

Looks like a lot of folks noticed that as well, based on my googling of 'St. Joan', 'Heroes', and 'knife'.....

Well, I didn't notice it at all. In fact, I never saw the playing cards or the black pyramid or the key in that vault. All I saw was the brain. And all I could think was "Braiiiiinnnnnssssss".

Made me hungry......

Thanks for pointing it out, Sean! I can't catch everything.

BCnU!
Toby OB

"REAPER" SHE ZONKED

In a recent 'Reaper' episode, Bert "Sock" Wysocki used 'Murder, She Wrote' as his alibi. For the audience viewing at home, O'Bviously it was supposed to be a reference to the TV show starring Angela Lansbury.

But that doesn't work for Toobworld. Even though the two shows are wildly different in tone and subject matter, 'Murder, She Wrote' and 'Reaper' share the same TV world.

There's an easy splainin, however. (I wish I had an Easy Button for splainins!)

For Sock, "Murder, She Wrote" is not a TV show. It's a biography of Jessica Fletcher (a member of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, by the way). Mrs. Fletcher has been around long enough as a best-selling author, and one who solved almost 200 murders at that, to warrant such scrutiny. (Hopefully it hasn't been in her memory!)

And that closes the book on that Zonk!
BCnU!
Toby OB

GOLDEN WHITE

Betty White appeared as herself in this week's episode of 'Ugly Betty' - but don't look for any connection between the show's title and the guest star!

Ms. White's got quite a resume of appearances as part of the League of Themselves in Earth Prime-Time. Not only in the main Toobworld, but in the Tooniverse (with two appearances in 'The Simpsons' and one for 'Family Guy') and in Earth Prime-Time/MOTW as well.

Never heard of that one? Earth Prime-Time/MOTW is the world of the TV movies of the week in which there is a line of succession in the United States Presidency that is far different from the one shared by the real world and most of the TV dimensions.

Betty White appeared as herself in a great two-part TV movie back in the early 1970s, "Vanished" which was based on the book by Fletcher Knebel. Richard Widmark appeared as President Roudebusch whose administration was plagued by the mysterious disappearance of one of his top aides. (I'm hoping someday somebody will finally release this on DVD - jam-packed with great character actors!)

Here's the rundown of her League of Themselves appearances in Toobworld:

EARTH PRIME-TIME

"Ugly Betty"

- Bananas for Betty (2007) TV episode .... Herself

"I'm with Her"
- Meet the Parent (2003) TV episode .... Herself

"The John Larroquette Show"

- Here We Go Again (1996) TV episode .... Herself

"The Naked Truth"
- Star and Comet Collide! Giant Bugs Invade! (1995) TV episode .... Herself

- Elvis Is Coming! (1995) TV episode .... Herself

"Matlock"
- The Network (1987) TV episode .... Herself

"Madame's Place"

- Episode #1.19 (1982) TV episode .... Herself

"The Odd Couple"
- Password (1972) TV episode .... Herself

"O'Hara, U.S. Treasury"

- Operation: Lady Luck (1972) TV episode .... Herself

EARTH PRIME-TIME/MOTW

"Vanished" (1971) (TV) .... Herself

THE TOONIVERSE

"The Simpsons"
- Homerazzi (2007) TV episode (voice) .... Herself

- Missionary: Impossible (2000) TV episode (voice) .... Herself

"Family Guy"
- Peterotica (2006) TV episode (voice) .... Herself

That's quite a list! TV characters with far less credits are already inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, so there's something wrong with the fact that she's not in there yet herself.

Therefore, I'm letting the faithful know that in the Class of 2008, Betty White will finally enter that not-so-hallowed hall.

BCnU!
Toby OB

WGA STRIKE REMINDER

A couple of updates/news stories regarding the writers' strike:

UNITED HOLLYWOOD

DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY

Looks like the AMPTP will be playing hardball soon.

Keep strong, WGA! Right makes Might! S'right!

And to show your support, click on Stubby:

BCnU!
Toby OB

ECCE PROMO: TORCHWOOD HEROES

The UK has finally reached the conclusion of the first season of 'Heroes' ("Volume One") on BBC2 and now they can look forward to the return of 'Torchwood' in January.

To celebrate both, BBC2 broadcast a nice bit of Toobworld mash-up combining both shows for a promo that aired a few days ago.

Luckily for American televisiologists, a fan has put the blipvert up on YouTube.

I'll bet there are a lot of slash fanficcers out there who will use this to kick off their crossover porn.....
BCnU!
Toby OB

WHEN THE TARDIS IS ZONKIN'....

When 'EastEnders' showed up on the TV screen in the "Army of Ghosts" episode of 'Doctor Who', I wasn't too concerned. After all, for the time being we're watching an alternate TV dimension's Doctor, not the one from the main Toobworld. (Although the general storyline remains similar between the two versions.) So in that dimension, 'EastEnders' is just a TV show, which means the RTD version of 'Doctor Who' shares the same TV dimension as 'Hot Metal', 'Extras', and 'Gimme Gimme Gimme'.

I realize it wasn't very good, but "Children In Need" presented a crossover between 'EastEnders' and 'Doctor Who' back in 1993 which I consider canon. (Even if some 2013 aspect of Albert Square was later contradicted by 'EastEnders' itself, I'm fairly certain a splainin could be found for it.) That "Dimensions In Time" vignette serves as proof that 'EastEnders' and 'Doctor Who' can share the same TV dimension.

However, now comes word that 'EastEnders' filmed a few scenes at a fictional 'Doctor Who' exhibit supposedly at St. Paul's Cathedral. Apparently as part of their honeymoon(?), Bradley and Stacey visited "Doctor Who - The Time Lord Revisited" because Bradley is something of a 'Who' nut. When the scenes are broadcast sometime in the new year, audiences will see the couple alongside the TARDIS, Cybermen, a Dalek and even K-9.

So even though we can get around mentions of 'EastEnders' in 'Doctor Who', it gets a bit trickier if 'Doctor Who' gets mentioned in 'EastEnders' without losing the prime-time soaper to yet another TV dimension.

(Sounds like that old chocolate/peanut butter argument from the Reese's blipverts: "Hey! You got 'EastEnders' in my 'Doctor Who'!")

It's not that hard to conjure up a splainin, and in fact I've done it in the past - most references to 'Doctor Who' within another TV show which should be sharing the same reality are about the movies which starred Peter Cushing back in the 1960s. And for alls we know, there have been movies since then about "Doctor Who" in Toobworld featuring other actors. (This gives us an out in case specific actors are named.)

As to why there would be a movie about the Doctor, here's my theory: Some movie producer heard rumors of the Doctor's existence (It's not like he was hiding himself back when he visited London in the sixties and seventies.) and decided to cash in by making a movie about him. Of course, he didn't know all the specific details about the mysterious stranger and that's why the character is actually named "Doctor Who" in the movies. But he did know enough that he was able to get right such details as the Doctor zipping about in the TARDIS and having a grand-daughter (although he has two in the movie).

No need for Zonk-splainin when it comes to the presence of the Cybermen, K-9 and the Dalek at this exhibit because all of them would have been known to the general public of London due to past invasions or other encounters.

So making references to 'Doctor Who' as fiction within the world of Walford isn't a Zonk. Referring to 'EastEnders' as a soap opera while on board the TARDIS is.

Got it? Good.

BCnU!
Toby OB