TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: 'POIROT' & THE "G-MEN"

The Jimmy Cagney movie "G-Men" was released in the United States on May 4, 1935. If business held true to form when it came to overseas distribution, then it probably began playing in the UK six months to a year later.

Hercule Poirot and his friends Captain Hastings and Inspector Japp went to see the movie (of which Poirot highly disapproved) in the 'Poirot' episode "The Mystery Of The Cheap Flat". As the theater seemed to have full attendance, I think it may have been close to the date it opened in London.

The people seen in the streets in this episode are always bundled up, and yet there is no sign of snow. Therefore, I think "The Mystery Of The Cheap Flat" may have occurred in November of 1935.

Alas, the IMDb.com, as well as other sites, failed to produce a date for release of "G-Men" in Great Britain; so that's the best I can narrow it down.

BCnU!
Toby OB

"LOST" IN MR. MONK'S BANK

In "Mr. Monk Goes To The Bank", Adrian 'Monk' was trapped in the WestBay Trust bank vault with his assistant Natalie, Captain Stottlemeyer, and Lt. Disher. After several hours, Randy Disher warned the others not to go near safe deposit box #444. O'Bviously he had relieved himself in it.

So there's another combination from the 'Lost' numbers; this time all three digits are the same - "4", the first number in the sequence.

BCnU!
Toby OB

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: PLYMOUTH EXPRESS TIMELINE

We know when the 'Poirot' mystery known as "The Plymouth Express" takes place, thanks to a newspaper headline:

Sir Malcolm Campbell broke the land speed record before 7 am on Tuesday September 3, 1935, at the Bonneville Salt Flats, reaching a speed of 304 MPH. Therefore, since Hercule Poirot was looking at these newspapers the following day, the murder of the young woman aboard the Plymouth Express train happened on the same day.

BCnU!
Toby OB

THE HAT SQUAD: SUZANNE PLESHETTE

When I was in my teens and I first saw "The Birds" in a high school film class, it pissed me off that Suzanne Pleshette's character of Annie died yet Tippi Hedren's character lived. Hedren was a cold fish to me, but Suzanne was smoking hot!

I think Walt Disney knew what he was doing when he cast her in movies like "The Ugly Dachshund", "Blackbeard's Ghost", and "The Adventures Of Bullwhip Griffin". She was an asset that would be sure to keep hold of the boys in his target audience as they matured.

As Emily Hartley on 'The Bob Newhart Show', the Hartleys' relationship was one of the few "adult" ones in sitcoms of that time. And you knew Dr. Bob was an incredibly lucky man in all aspects. Okay, yeah. I'm talking about great sex with his wife.

Other highlights for me in her Toobworld career included the pilot for 'The Wild, Wild West' and an episode of 'The Single Guy' in which she played Jonathan Silverman's mother - and he accidentally stabbed her with a knife while they were making dinner. And as the estranged wife of James Garner's character when he was brought in to help bolster '8 Simple Rules...' after the death of John Ritter, Ms. Pleshette showed that the rapport between her and Garner in "Support Your Local Gunfighter" was the real deal.

Suzanne Pleshette died yesterday at the age of 70 due to respiratory failure; less than two weeks before her birthday and less than a year after her husband Tom Poston.

Expect to see more about Suzanne and her character of Emily Hartley this coming May.....
THE EMILY HARTLEY COLLECTION
"The Bob Newhart Show" .... Emily Hartley
"Newhart"
- The Last Newhart .... Emily Hartley
The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special .... Emily Hartley
"Saturday Night Live - Bob Newhart/Des'ree .... Emily Hartley (uncredited)

TV SERIES
"The Bob Newhart Show" .... Emily Hartley
"Suzanne Pleshette Is Maggie Briggs" .... Maggie Briggs
"Bridges to Cross" .... Tracy Bridges
"Nightingales" .... Christine Broderick
"The Boys Are Back".... Jackie Hansen

PREQUELS & SEQUELS
Richie Brockelman: The Missing 24 Hours (1976) .... Elizabeth Morton

Kojak: The Belarus File (1985) .... Dana Sutton
Bridges to Cross (1985) .... Tracy Bridges
Nightingales (1988) .... Christine Broderick
The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special (1991) .... Emily Hartley

RECURRING ROLES

"Will & Grace"

- Looking for Mr. Good Enough.... Lois Whitley

- Something Borrowed, Someone's Due.... Lois Whitley

- Someone Old, Someplace New.... Lois Whitley

"8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter"
- The First Thanksgiving.... Laura

- Goodbye: Part 1.... Laura

- Goodbye: Part 2.... Laura

"Good Morning, Miami"

- I'm with Stupid.... Claire Arnold

- The Heart Is a Lonely Apartment Hunter.... Claire Arnold

- Pilot.... Claire Arnold

- Power Failure.... Claire Arnold
"The Single Guy"

- The Deepest Cut.... Sarah Eliot

- Like Father,....Sarah Eliot

- Mother Love....Sarah Eliot

GUEST APPEARANCES
"Newhart"
- The Last Newhart .... Emily Hartley

"Bonanza"
- A Place to Hide.... Rose Becket/Katie Summers/Mrs. Ransom

"Ironside"
- But When She Was Bad.... Shelly Kingman

"Medical Center"
- Conspiracy.... Mary

Columbo: Dead Weight .... Helen Stewart

"The Name of the Game"
- A Capitol Affair.... Hallie Manville

- The Skin Game.... Amy Averlin

- The Suntan Mob.... Geneva Rogers

"The F.B.I."

- The Inheritors.... Temple Alexander

- The Mercenary.... Marie Zimmerman

- List for a Firing Squad.... Marya Pazmany

"The Courtship of Eddie's Father"

- Hello, Miss Bessinger, Goodbye.... Valerie Bessinger

"Marcus Welby, M.D."
- Daisy in the Shadows.... Ann Logan

"Gunsmoke"

- Stark.... Glory Bramley

"Love, American Style"

- Love and the Fly
"It Takes a Thief"

- A Sour Note .... Angela

"The Invaders"

- The Pursued.... Anne Gibbs

- The Mutation.... Vikki
"Cimarron Strip"

- Till the End of Night.... Sarah Lou Burke

"Run for Your Life"

- Baby, the World's on Fire .... Susan Church

"Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre"

- After the Lion, Jackals.... Adrian Harris

- Corridor 400.... Anita King

"The Fugitive"

- All the Scared Rabbits.... Peggy Franklin

- World's End.... Ellie Burnett
"The Wild Wild West"

- The Night of the Inferno.... Lydia Monteran
"Dr. Kildare"

- Goodbye Mr Jersey.... Ellen Adams

- The Soul Killer.... Cathy Benjamin

- A Shining Image.... Julie Lawler

"Channing"
- The Potato Bash World.... Lori Moore

"Wagon Train"
- The Myra Marshall Story.... Myra Marshall
"Alcoa Premiere"

- The Contenders.... Carla Hammond

"The Dick Powell Show"
- Days of Glory.... Marta Van Meer
"Ben Casey"
- Behold a Pale Horse.... Carolyn Stanley

"Route 66"
- Blue Murder.... Blossom Bludge

- The Strengthening Angels.... Lotti Montana

"General Electric Theater"
- Love Is a Lion's Roar.... Renee Fontaine

- The World's Greatest Quarterback

"Target: The Corruptors"

- Viva Vegas
"The Tab Hunter Show"

- Weekend on Ice.... Julie Carroll

"Hong Kong"

- Lesson in Fear.... Diane Dooley

"The Islanders"

- Forbidden Cargo.... Iris

"Naked City"

- The Pedigree Sheet .... Nora Condon

"Riverboat"

- The Two Faces of Grey Holden.... Marie Tourette

"Play of the Week"
- The House of Bernarda Alba

"Alfred Hitchcock Presents"

- Hitch Hike.... Anne

"Adventures in Paradise"

- The Lady from South Chicago.... Minette

"Sunday Showcase"

- Murder and the Android.... Mari Sutton

"Black Saddle"
- The Long Rider.... Nedda Logan

"Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond"
- Delusion.... Marta"Playhouse 90"
- Diary of a Nurse

"The Third Man"

- Listen for the Sound of a Witch.... Caroline Humphrey

"Have Gun - Will Travel"
- Death of a Gunfighter.... Maria
"Decoy"
- The Sound of Tears.... Wendy Jenkins

"Harbourmaster"

- Night Rescue.... Barbara Benson

TV MOVIES
Summer of Decision (1959) .... Susan

Wings of Fire (1967).... Kitty Sanborn
Flesh and Blood (1968) .... Nona

Hunters Are for Killing (1970) .... Barbara Soline
Along Came a Spider (1970) .... Anne Banning/Janet Furie
In Broad Daylight (1971) .... Kate Todd
River of Gold (1971) .... Anna

The Legend of Valentino (1975) .... June Mathis

Law and Order (1976) .... Karen Day
Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid (1978) .... Kate Bliss

Flesh & Blood (1979) .... Kate Fallon

If Things Were Different (1980) .... Janet Langford

The Star Maker (1981) .... Margot Murray
Help Wanted: Male (1982) .... Laura Bingham
Fantasies (1982) .... Carla Webber
Dixie: Changing Habits (1983) .... Dixie Cabot
One Cooks, the Other Doesn't (1983) .... Joanne Boone
For Love or Money (1984) .... Joanna Piper
A Stranger Waits (1987) .... Kate Bennington

Alone in the Neon Jungle (1988) .... Capt. Janet Hamilton
Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean (1990) .... Leona Helmsley

Battling for Baby (1992) .... Marie Peters
A Twist of the Knife (1993) .... Dr. Rachel Walters

BCnU and May God Bless......
Toby OB

MONK'S CHASE

Back in 2004, Jonathan Chase appeared in an episode of 'Monk' ("Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine") as a "College Boy".

Chase was also in this past week's episode, "Mr. Monk Goes To The Bank". This time he played that "silver bastard" (as Lt. Disher called him), the living statue who worked the small park outside the WestBay Trust.

Easy enough to make the assumption that both characters are one and the same. About three years on, he must be out of college and putting his degree to good use with his performance art.

By the way, I'm referring to Jonathan Chase the actor, not Jonathan Chase the TV character who's also known as 'The Manimal'.

BCnU!
Toby OB

THE GAME OF THE NAME: A TINY MATTER

After watching "Mr. Monk Goes To The Bank" the other night, I went to the USA Network website to check out the guest cast. There was no need to look up who played the pawnshop owner - Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, offered up a very amusing cameo.

But what struck me was that his character actually had a name listed: "Tiny Werner".

I admire the writer of that episode. The character's name was never really going to be mentioned in the show; so why not succumb to the temptation and make the name "Tiny Weiner"?

BCnU!
Toby OB

THE HAT SQUAD: ALLAN MELVIN

When Dabbs Greer died last year, it made me take stock of my favorite character actors working in Toobworld. So many had passed away - Phil Leeds, Vito Scotti, Herb Vigran.... And with the death of Dabbs, I was thinking that I only had Allan Melvin left of that upper echelon.

And now, he too is gone.

Allan Melvin was 84 when he passed away from cancer at his home; he had been retired for about ten years.

Among the shows he's most famous for are 'Sgt. Bilko' ('You'll Never Get Rich') as Cpl. Steve Henshaw, Bilko's right-hand man, Barney Hefner on 'All In The Family' and 'Archie Bunker's Place', the voices of 'Magilla Gorilla' and Drooper of 'The Banana Splits', Sol Pomeroy on 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', several different nemeses for Barney Fife on 'The Andy Griffith Show', and of course, Sam "the Butcher" Franklin on 'The Brady Bunch'.
I thought of him just yesterday while watching the 'Poirot' episode "The Million Dollar Bond Robbery". A United States Customs Agent named Tom Franklin was searching the Queen Mary for the stolen bearer bonds on May 31st, 1936, and I thought I might be able to make the argument that he could have been the father of Sam the Butcher.

Here's how much of an impact Mr. Melvin had with that role of Sam the Butcher: There are actors who make a very strong impression in a production with very little involvement.

The Marx Brothers in several of their films only rack up about 20 minutes of screen time in each.

Michael Keaton is only in seventeen minutes of 'Beetlejuice'.

Michael Dunn appeared in only nine episodes of 'The Wild, Wild West' as Dr. Loveless, who is not only my favorite TV character of all time but the centerpiece of my Toobworld mosaic.

Out of about 117 episodes of 'The Brady Bunch', Allan Melvin only appeared in eight as Sam the Butcher!

My favorite 'Brady Bunch' memory of Sam the Butcher wasn't even a part of an episode of the show but did concern one. I saw a comic once on Comedy Central - sorry, guy, can't remember your name! - and during his riff on the Hawaiian episodes of 'The Brady Bunch', he held up a duplicate of that Tiki idol that cursed the family.

He asked the crowd if they remembered the figurine and then reminded them of how Alice threw out her back while learning how to dance the hula.

Yeah, right, said the comic. She threw out her back from all of that meat Sam the Butcher was slipping her.....

"Sam the Butcher". That's the type of character name you'd only find today in an episode of 'Supernatural' or 'Criminal Minds'......

Someday I have to figure out a good splainin as to why Mr. Melvin's character of Rob Petrie's old Army buddy on 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' not only had four different names, but shared two of them with two other actors (Marty Ingels as Sol Pomeroy and Henry Calvin as Sam Pomerantz).

Allan Melvin was so busy creating characters for Toobworld and providing so many voices for characters in the Tooniverse, that he only made one movie - "With Six, You Get Eggroll". That's the movie universe's loss and Toobworld's gain.

Here's to you, Allan Melvin. As Red Skelton would say, "May God Bless......"

BCnU....
Toby OB

"I've enjoyed the stuff I've done.
But the one you're getting paid for?
That's what you enjoy most."
Allan Melvin

VERA DUCKWORTH

Great Britain lost one of its great ladies in Toobworld last night with the death of Vera Duckworth on 'Coronation Street'. As I don't watch the show myself over here in the States, here's the description from "Corrie Blog":

Double episode written by Peter Whalley and Lucy Gannon
Jack and Vera had had a nice trip to Blackpool to see their new home and measure for curtains. Jack gave Tyrone some money to put a bet on before they went. When they got home, Paul had left a present for them - a framed photo of them when they were young and carefree and afraid of nothing. Vera told Jack she'd never loved anyone except him, and he, in his gruff way and with a bit of prompting from Vee, said he'd never loved anyone except her, and he'd go and fetch her slippers. Then he went for a swift half at t'Rovers, like he'd done so often over the years.

But this time, when Jack got back Vera was dead. Apparently she'd passed away peacefully in her sleep, sitting in her chair. Jack held her hand, told her not to be afraid, gently sang to her, "If you were the only girl in the world."

Apparently, 12.5 million people tuned in to see the exit for Liz Dawn's character who had been on the show for 33 years. (Ms. Dawn is retiring due to a chronic lung disease.)

BCnU!

Toby OB

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: OLD QUEEN MAYR

Hercule Poirot, the great Belgian detective, became intertwined with real world history in "The Million Dollar Bond Robbery" when he and Captain Hastings set sail for New York on the maiden voyage of the Queen Mary.

The ocean liner set forth from Southampton on May 27, 1936, and so we can place the episode during that time.

When the Queen Mary was retired, it was berthed in Long Beach, California, where it now serves as a hotel and restaurant. As such, it has served as the setting for episodes of 'Quantum Leap', 'Airwolf', and 'Arrested Development'. In fact, Vincent Chase's birthday was celebrated on board the Queen Mary with a big blowout in the 'Entourage' episode of "Less Than 30".

So it could be said that TV characters can be found at either end of the spectrum in the "life" of the Queen Mary - from Hercule Poirot to Johnny Drama......

BCnU!
Toby OB

ps:
The subject heading is not a mis-spelling.

IT'S SUMMER TIME!

Finally caught the second episode of 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' and I've come to one main conclusion.

That title has to be way shortened.

But when it comes to titles, I liked the choice of "Gnothi Seauton" for the second episode. Get down and dirty all you like, but it's nice to see some high-brow embellishments in my Sci-Fi now and again.

I like this series. A lot. And it looks like it helps that I never saw the third movie. Not that it would have mattered; with the help of Cameron, the new pixie-bot, Sarah and her son John were able to leap-frog over the events that led up to the third movie and create a new timeline.

And I think I also have no problem in usurping the first two movies and adding them into the Toobworld mix, a la the 'Star Trek' franchise. The differences between Edward Furlong and Thomas Dekker could be splained away with the excuse of SORAS (Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome); and the differences between Linda Hamilton and Lena Headey can be chalked up to plastic surgery in the past.

The only problem I can see in that casting is that Linda and Lena might get their monogrammed towels mixed up.

But best of all in the new series is the addition of Summer Glau as the Terminator model; as I described her above, a pixie-bot. I think we have the first serious candidate for a 2008 Toobit Award with this character.


I liked Ms. Glau in 'The 4400' and 'Serenity' (the order in which I saw those). Here, she reminded me of Winnie Cooper from 'The Wonder Years'.

A Winnie Cooper who can kick some serious ass.

The creators of the show did a good job aligning the timelines between the movies and the TV series with that quantum leap at the end of episode one. And they helped to expand the TV Universe with a couple of additions:

World Shopping Channel
Security/Trust of Los Angeles
LeSearch.com

And since we can't see Sonia Walger as Penny Widmore every week on 'Lost', I'm happy for the additional time spent with her here as Michelle Dixon, Charlie's wife.

Granted, this is a second season that's anemic due to the writers' strike, but I think it's safe to say that this series would have come busting out of the gate just as strongly if every other show was operating full steam.

BCnU!
Toby OB