NEW @ TOOBWORLD CENTRAL

Sitting on my doorstep last night, waiting patiently for my retrieval as I left for work, was a package from Amazon, containing my latest additions to the DVD library here at Toobworld Central:

"The Borrowers", based on the books by Mary Norton and starring Eddie Albert, Tammy Grimes, and Edith Evans.

"The Littlest Angel" starring Johnny Whitaker, Fred Gwynne, Cab Calloway, Tony Randall, Connie Stevens, James Coco, John McGiver, Mary Jo Catlett, Lu Leonard, and EG Marshall.

and....

"The Pixar Short Films Collection" which contains all of the greats and then some - "Tin Toy" (my fave!), "Knick Knack" (a close second), "Luxo, Jr." "Geri's Game" and more!

BCnU!
Toby OB

TVXOHOF, MAY 2008: AND UP ROSE EMILY

Traditionally, May is the month during which we honor the women of Toobworld in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame. Queen of the May and all that, you see. And this May we want to pay tribute to a sultry sitcom star who passed away earlier this year. In another role, Suzanne Pleshette was the Queen of Mean, but as Emily Hartley she ruled equally with Bob Newhart in his eponymous series.

And with single appearances of perhaps just two minutes duration each, Emily Hartley was able to claim an entire sitcom and an episode of a variety show for herself to qualify for the Hall of Fame.

In the final episode of 'Newhart', we learned that the entire run of that sitcom was no more than a dream by Dr. Bob Hartley brought on by eating Japanese food late in the evening. And after Bob Newhart hosted 'Saturday Night Live' for a second time, we found out that actually it had been another dream by Dr. Hartley in which he capitalized on his resemblance to the comedian with the buttoned-down mind.

Both times Bob Hartley woke up from these experiences to find himself back home in his bed in Chicago, beside his beautiful wife Emily.

One added bonus, we got to meet Emily again in an off-year reunion special in which the old gang got together to reminisce. Although it was presented as a clip show in which they just had to be themselves and tape off the top of their head anecdotes, instead the actors stayed in character.

And that's all it takes to make Suzanne Pleshette's character a member of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

From there, we can make hypothetical links for her charater outside of the Newhart-sphere. For instance, we could make the claim that when Emily Harrison (her maiden name) was at college studying to become a teacher, one of her classmates was John Novak (James Franciscus in 'Mr. Novak'). And then there are all the possibilities to be found in Chicago, characters that she may have known.....

It may not be the greatest of tributes to such a lovely person, but 'twill serve......

BCnU!
Toby OB

RAT FICCER!

And now for something completely different for this month's "Fanficcer's Friend" - a picture from the news, rather than from old movies......

This is a picture of a greater dwarf cloud rat which was believed to live in the Philippines, high up in the canopies of their tall trees which may be their only natural habitat. It's probably what kept them safe from predators. I find it fascinating that they may never have touched the earth below!

However, the greater dwarf cloud rat had not been seen for the last 112 years.

According to Lawrence Heaney, who is the mammals curator at the Field Museum (and who lead the team that rediscovered the beastie):

"This beautiful little animal was seen by biologists only once previously — by a British researcher in 1896 who was given several specimens by local people, so he knew almost nothing about the ecology of the species Since then, the species has been a mystery, in part because there is virtually no forest left on Mt. Data, where it was first found."

Heaney's associate William Stanley (collections manager of mammals) said, "Finding this animal again gives us hope for the conservation of one of the most diverse and threatened mammal faunas of the world."

So why am I including this picture when "Fanficcer's Friend" is supposed to be supplying inspiration for stories about favorite TV characters? (Yeah, yeah, I know - big no-no! Big whoop.)

Here's the idea: What if the greater dwarf cloud rat had become extinct? If so, where did this one come from?

Taking a page from "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", maybe somebody went back in Time to bring them back into our time period.

Although the team featured in the series 'Prehistoric Park' did this sort of thing with dinosaurs and extinct mammals, maybe that same technology was employed for other animals. Maybe they were working in conjunction with the Time Agents of 'Voyagers!'. (It's the Toobworld contention that until otherwise contradicted, Jack Harkness and John Hart of 'Torchwood' were members of this organization.)

However, the Gallifreyan Time Lord known as the Doctor may have opposed this plan, as the extinction of the greater dwarf cloud rat could have been fixed in the timeline. And it wouldn't have to be the current Doctor, the tenth incarnation. The first Doctor was adamant that "One can not change History, not one line!"
So there you go, Fanficcers! Plenty of characters from TV shows to cross over and some at cross-purposes with each other. And something different for the plotline. (It looks like 'Doctor Who' will be actually dealing with a similar situation this season, what with all these mentions about the real-life disappearance of the honeybees.....)

And speaking of bees,

BCnU!
Toby OB

QUINTOOBLETS: THE CAECILLIAN SECTION

"Everybody knows in a second life,
We all come back sooner or later.

As anything from a pussycat
To a man-eating alligator."

Yes, that's right! As those lyrics to 'My Mother The Car' would indicate, this is yet another "Born To Rerun" post about reincarnation in Toobworld.

In the TV dimension, it's possible for the karma of two souls to be so intertwined, that they are reincarnated together over and over again throughout History. We know this was true for the souls of Rick and AJ Simon ('Simon And Simon'), and it's our belief that it happened to 'Dharma & Greg' as well.

But now I'm thinking that it could happen when even more souls are involved......

During the "Fires Of Pompeii" episode of 'Doctor Who', we were introduced to the family of marble merchant Caecillius - his wife Metella, their daughter Evelina and son Quintus. If we were dealing with the fictional universe of literature, then this would have constituted a crossover! Not only are there hundreds of tie-in novels about the Doctor, but Caecillius and his family are the featured "stars" of the Cambridge Latin Course books! (However, in the Cambridge Latin Course books, there is no daughter in the family and only Quintus survives the explosion of Vesuvius.

Of course, the books are supposedly narrated by Caecillius after his death, so we have to allow for artistic license in his accounts!)

I watched the episode hoping to see some allusions to the classic Britcom 'Up Pompeii' which starred Frankie Howerd. But instead, there were routines from "Mary Poppins" ("Positions!"), and an in-joke reference to 'Only Fools And Horses' with the Stallholder who sold off the TARDIS, ten minutes after the Doctor and Donna landed.

And that could mean that the Stallholder would one day be reincarnated as Del Boy Trotter, and even his phrasing of "lovely, jubly" carried over with him into the new life!

However, as I watched it a second time, it occurred to me that the souls of Caecillius and his family could have been reincarnated together into a well-established family in British sitcoms - the Harpers of 'My Family'.

Caecillius = Ben Harper
Metella = Susan Harper
Evelina = Janey Harper
Quintus = Michael Harper

[This may be a bit of a stretch, but Caecillius sculpted marble; Ben is a dentist who could be said to sculpt/chisel away at teeth instead of stone. If you don't like the idea, perhaps you're an anti-dentite!]

The only one missing from that equation is Nick, the oldest of the Harper children and who's a bit thick-headed. (I think the character of Quintus better matches up with Michael, who was even smarter than his dad.) It could be that the Caecillian family had an elder son, but that he, like Nick in 'My Family', had already moved away. Nothing says that they would have had to mention him at all during the 'Doctor Who' episode, what with all the chaos about them. And for all we know, they may have done so, especially while huddled together near the end, but we weren't allowed to hear him mentioned.

There could be Fate involved in all of this; that the Doctor was destined to meet this family of Pompeii because he was traveling with Donna. Donna Noble is from Chiswick, and so is the Harper family.

Here's one more possibility for reincarnation, an intermediary link between both shows......

The name "Quincy" indicates "an estate belonging to Quintus". The last time we saw 'Quincy, M.D.' was in 1983. The actor who played Michael Harper (Gabriel Thompson) was born in 1986.....

Even though Jack Klugman is still alive, could it be possible that his character of Dr. Quincy died sometime after his last appearance on TV and was then reincarnated as Michael Harper? (Thus bringing together the Caecillian family once again in new forms.) And Dr. Quincy could have been the reincarnated link between Quintus, who was studying to be a doctor, and Michael, who was smart enough to grow up to be a doctor (and whose father was a dentist.)

Maybe.... nothing is set in stone!

SHOWS CITED:
'My Mother The Car'
'Doctor Who'
'My Family'
'Quincy, M.D.'
'Only Fools And Horses'
'Up Pompeii'
'Studio One' - "Mary Poppins"
'Dharma & Greg'
'Simon & Simon'
'Seinfeld'

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: EDITED FOR YOUR DISPLEASURE

For those in the United States who watched last night's 'Doctor Who' episode, here are the two major scenes you missed because the Sci-Fi channel snipped away at "The Fires Of Pompeii" to make more room for commercial drivel:

Between the time Donna and the Doctor tried to outrace the cloud of volcanic ash hurtling towards the city and when they got back to the TARDIS in Caecillus' home, Donna tried to save people she encountered in the streets of Pompeii. She had a chance with a little boy, but his mother scooped him up and got away from her.
(And if I'm not mistaken, we saw the merchant who sold off the TARDIS at the beginning of the show during this scene.)

We also lost the coda, picking up the family's story six months later. The father is about to embark on his new marble venture in Rome; the mother scolds their daughter for trying to go out with a skirt much too short; and their son Quintus is on his way to becoming a doctor himself.
Before he leaves home to pursue his studies, Quintus pays tribute to the household gods. And we see carved in marble the figures of Doctor and Donna and the TARDIS.

Those scenes do appear in the original broadcast in Great Britain about three weeks ago, so they're already established in Toobworld and no amount of snippage can change history. Once broadcast, forever in Toobworld.

Some scenes edited before broadcast have to be included as well, however. I've learned that during the filming of "The Shape Of Things To Come", the recent "Ben-centric" episode of 'Lost', Claire started having visions after she was rescued by Sawyer from her blowed-up-real-good home. The experience was referred to a week later in "Nice Things Back Home", so it had to have happened.

And as the producers of 'Lost' have said that Claire's storyline will have a major impact (My guess? We'll learn about the Whisperers through her.), I'm making the call that the deleted scene is canon.

BCnU!
Toby OB

PASSAGES: I'M A BAAAAAAAAD BOY....

Here's an obituary headline from the New York Times:

"Will Robinson, Top Scout, Dies At 96"

The obituary is by Bruce Weber and begins as such:

"Mr. Robinson broke racial barriers as a college basketball coach and discovered talented players as a scout for both professional basketball and football teams."

I would hope we all know what MY headline would have been.......

"Danger, Will Robinson!"

Just sayin', is all.....

BCnU.....
Toby OB

BABA WAWA: WIPPED FWUM THE HEADWINES

Barbara Walters will appear on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' Tuesday and she will reveal that she had an affair with former Massachusetts Senator Edward Brooke. It happened back in the 1970s for several years and she found him to be exciting and brilliant. She reveals to the Big O that maybe she wasn't in love, but she was certainly infatuated with him.

To me, it sounds like a great premise to launch an episode of 'Law & Order'. And I think it would be a nice way to reunite Robert Guillaume and Katherine Helmond on the TV screen!

Just sayin', is all.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

In a promotional blipvert for ESPN, the truth behind Bobby Thomson's "shot heard round the world" is revealed. At least, the "truth" for the televersion of that historical event.

Apparently a reporter was talking about food and a particular meal which "brings the heat". He had to shout to be heard over the crowds, and that particular phrase came at a point when the surrounding crowd of fans was quiet. So Thomson allegedly overheard the remark and thought it was a challenge to him.

Here's how it came about in the real world, courtesy of Wikipedia:

In baseball, the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" is the term given to the walk-off home run hit by New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds to win the National League pennant at 3:58 p.m. EST on October 3, 1951. As a result of the "shot" (baseball slang for "home run" or any hard-hit ball), the Giants won the game 5-4, defeating the Dodgers in their pennant playoff series, two games to one.

The phrase shot heard 'round the world is from a classic poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson, originally used to refer to the first clash of the American Revolutionary War and since used to apply to other dramatic moments, military and otherwise. In the case of Thomson's home run, it was particularly apt as U.S. servicemen fighting in the Korean War listened to the radio broadcast of the game.

Thomson's homer, and the Giants' victory after overcoming a double-digit lead by the Dodgers in the weeks preceding the playoff, are also sometimes known as the Miracle of Coogan's Bluff.

The play has been worked into the history of Toobworld, thanks to the TV series 'Sports Night' and 'M*A*S*H'.

Again, courtesy of Wikipedia:

The ABC television show 'Sports Night' used the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" in its episode "The Giants Win the Pennant, the Giants Win the Pennant", written by series creator Aaron Sorkin and former 'Roseanne' writer Matt Tarses. When Sports Night anchor Dan Rydell (played by Josh Charles) finds out that his boss Isaac Jaffe (played by Robert Guillaume) had been at the Giants game, he wants to use him in a feature story, despite Isaac's protests. Dan eventually learns that, as a cub reporter Jaffe did cover the game, but missed the crucial ball - he was in the bathroom washing his hands because Branca was said to be notorious for taking his time warming up before pitching.

In the 'M*A*S*H' episode "A War for all Seasons", the previously baseball-apathetic Major Charles Winchester is encouraged by Corporal Klinger to invest heavily in wagers that the Dodgers will win the pennant, and is subsequently heartbroken by the loss. He initially listens to the game on the radio, which is a recreation of Hodges' call.

(At the very end of the episode the 'M*A*S*H' people watch a Fox Movietone News replay of the game. When Thomson's home-run scene appears, along with Hodges' recorded commentary, Winchester growls insanely, slashes the screen, and, still angry with Klinger, bellows, "Where is that Lebanese mongoose?" Fade out.)

Fade out, indeed.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

OBAMA HAPPY TIME FUN FACTS

About half an hour ago, Senator Barack Obama appeared, via satellite, on 'The Late Show With David Letterman' to deliver the Top Ten List.....

THE "LATE SHOW" TOP TEN
"Surprising Facts About Barack Obama"

10. My first act as President will be to stop the fighting

between Lauren and Heidi on “The Hills.”

9. In the Illinois primary, I accidentally voted for Kucinich.

8. When I tell my kids to clean their room, I finish with,

“I’m Barack Obama and I approved this message.”

7. Throughout high school, I was consistently voted “Barackiest.”

6. Earlier today I bowled a 39.

5. I have canceled all my appearances the day the “Sex and the City” movie opens.

4. It’s the birthplace of Fred Astaire.
(Sorry, that’s a surprising fact about Omaha)

3. We are tirelessly working to get the endorsement of Kentucky Derby favorite Colonel John.

2. This has nothing to do with the Top Ten,
but what the heck is up with Paula Abdul?

1. I have not slept since October.

Dagnabbit! If Obama's bowling was just a smidgen sharper, he could have bowled a 42!

BCnU!
Toby OB

THE HAT SQUAD: JOY PAGE

Actress Joy Page has passed away at the age of 83. She is best known for her first role, as Annina Brandel, the teenaged war bride in 'Casablanca' who almost did anything she had to in order to obtain exit visas for herself and her bridegroom.

"Disneyland"
- The Swamp Fox: Brother Against Brother (1959) TV episode .... Mary Videau

- The Swamp Fox: The Birth of the Swamp Fox (1959) TV episode .... Mary Videau
"Cheyenne"
- Standoff (1958) TV episode .... Maria Vargas

- Border Affair (1957) TV episode .... Empress Carlotta
"Wagon Train"
- The Bill Tawnee Story (1958) TV episode .... Leeana
"Schlitz Playhouse of Stars"
- Rich Man, Poor Man (1957) TV episode (as Joy Paige) .... Maria
"Studio 57"
- This Land Is Mine (1956) TV episode
"Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre"
- This Land Is Mine (1956) TV episode .... Ellem Harlan
"Letter to Loretta"
- The Wise One (1956) TV episode .... Ellen
"Warner Brothers Presents"
- Explosion (1956) TV episode .... Florence Parker
"The Ford Television Theatre"
- Journey by Moonlight (1956) TV episode .... Marie
"Kings Row"

- Ellie (1955) TV episode .... Ellie "Racket Squad"
- The Case of the Matchmaker (1952) TV episode .... May Norton

"Your Show Time"

- Mademoiselle Fifi (1949) TV episode

Of those, the most interesting was her performance as the historical figure of Empress Carlotta in 'Cheyenne'. Many historic Old West figures passed through the Westerns of the fifties, mostly Doc Holliday or Billy the Kid or Jesse James, I would imagine. So having the fictional lead interact with the Empress of Mexico made for a nice change of pace.

Here's a plot description from the Classic TV Archive (as always, the link's to the left):

Cheyenne is in Mexico during the French occupation of the country in the 1860s. He meets and falls in love with the beautiful Princess Maria Felitzia. Her royal highness has just arrived from Europe to marry a man she has never met, General Dubeauchois, an officer in the French Army.

The wedding has been arranged as an affair of state and the princess has been led to believe that the General is a young, handsome and virile soldier.

She is horrified to discover that her future bridegroom is fat, middle-aged,and egotistical. In fact she'd much rather marry Cheyenne. But it is not to be. At the end of the episode Princess Maria sails back to the old world leaving Cheyenne broken-hearted standing on the dockside watching her ship sail away.
[Thanks, DWMcG!)

One of the necklaces worn by the Empress Carlotta would one day be reproduced and sold to the general public. (Unfortunately it appeared to be a monstrosity that only women could recognize.) Nearly a century after Empress Carlotta wore the jewelry, Mel Cooley's cousin sold a replica to Robert Petrie to be a gift for his wife Laura.
She hated it. Hilarity ensued.

So Joy Page's performance as the Empress Carlotta, and perhaps even the jewelry she wore in the "Border Affair" episode, links 'Cheyenne' to "Empress Carlotta's Necklace", an episode of 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'.

BCnU.....
Toby OB