BURKE'S LINK

Every so often on 'Burke's Law', Captain Amos Burke threatened to fire his Asian man-servant, but Henry always knew that it was just a bluff.

In "Who Killed Carrie Cornell?", Captain Burke snapped at his chauffeur: "I'll give you back to Charlie Chan!"

He could have done it, too. The legendary Chinese-American detective was played by J. Carroll Naish in 'The New Adventures Of Charlie Chan' in 1957.

So if we take that threat of Burke's at face value, then it's possible that he hired Henry away from Charlie Chan!

BCnU!
Toby O'B

WIN SCOTT ECHO*

On this date in 1847, Winfield Scott captured Mexico City during the Mexican-American War.

Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786 – May 29, 1866) was a United States Army general, diplomat, and presidential candidate. Known as "Old Fuss and Feathers" and the "Grand Old Man of the Army", he served on active duty as a general longer than any other man in American history and most historians rate him the ablest American commander of his time. Over the course of his fifty-year career, he commanded forces in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Black Hawk War, the Second Seminole War, and, briefly, the American Civil War, conceiving the Union strategy known as the Anaconda Plan that would be used to defeat the Confederacy.

A national hero after the Mexican-American War, he served as military governor of Mexico City. Such was his stature that, in 1852, the United States Whig Party passed over its own incumbent President of the United States, Millard Fillmore, to nominate Scott in the United States presidential election. Scott lost to Democrat Franklin Pierce in the general election, but remained a popular national figure, receiving a brevet promotion in 1856 to the rank of lieutenant general, becoming the first American since George Washington to hold that rank.

Thank you, Wikipedia.

General Winfield Scott could be best known in a fictional sense as played by Sidney Greenstreet in "They Died With Their Boots On" in 1941. But in Toobworld, there have been several actors to play Scott which means that several of them would have to be delegated to alternate TV dimensions.

Burgess Meredith gave voice to Winfield Scott for the 1992 documentary "Lincoln", while Nigel Bennett portrayed him in the docu-drama "War Of 1812".

For the tele-movie about Abraham Lincoln with Sam Waterston as the President and Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Todd Lincoln, John Houseman appeared as the General. As there are so many portrayals of Lincoln on television, and because Ford Rainey is the official portrayal of Lincoln for Toobworld, this production based on Gore Vidal's book is to be found in one of the alternate TV dimensions.

For the main Toobworld, it would probably be Stuart Randall as the face of General Winfield Scott, thanks to his appearance in an episode of 'Riverboat'. Army Sgt. Dan Phillips was trying to fill "The Quota" for new recruits in his platoon by conking them over the head as his chief tool of persuasion. Before he was able to "recruit" Enterprise crewman Phelps, General Winfield Scott apparently stepped in to halt the practice.

In this episode of 'Riverboat', Scott was played by character actor Stuart Randall.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

*I know one of my blogmates will get that "game of the name"......

MORNING WOOD

It's funny how, over the course of Time, phrases can take on a whole new meaning......

This morning I watched "Who Killed Carrie Cornell?", an episode of 'Burke's Law'. Captain Burke and Detective Tilson were interviewing a guitar maker named El Greco, who had contempt for the murder victim and the way she treated the wood in the guitars he made.

He said: "Carrie Cornell could kill all kinds of wood."

If she hadn't died back in the early 1960s, I could have sworn I dated her......

BCnU!
Toby O'B

DUB-DUB THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

During that episode of 'The Middleman' dealing with "The Vampire Puppet Lamentations", Wendy Watson was looking forward to going all Buffy on the vampire's ass - before she found out that it was a puppet.

This was a reference to Buffy Summers, formerly of Sunnydale, California, who was chosen to be a Slayer in the fight against vampires and demons. Buffy had her own show, subltly called 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer', and has since gone on to become one of the darlings of the Multiverse. She began "life" in a movie starring Kristy Swanson, appears in several tie-in novels, had a proposed cartoon series pilot produced, and is currently starring in a comic book series, which has gone mega-hot recently!

Still, we're just concerned with the TV Universe, which Buffy should be sharing with Dub-Dub (who, by the way, began "life" in the Comic Book Universe with her Bossman).

Have no fear, Toob Believers! At Middle HQ, Ida would have had a complete dossier on Buffy Summers; in fact, she'd have files on all of the Slayers and their Watchers - just in case their paths crossed one day. The Middleman would have insisted that Wendy study these files in order to be prepared for such a possibility.

And thus, no Zonk.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

TODAY'S TWD: HYPNO-TOLD

Unbeknownst to his assistant Natalie or his therapist Dr. Bell, Adrian Monk snuck off to see a hypnotherapist in the 'Monk' episode "Mr. Monk Gets Hypnotized".

We've seen TV characters get hypnotized in the past, usually for comedic purposes. My personal favorite is when Rob Petrie was hypnotized to act drunk whenever a bell rang on 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'.

Here's what my old TWD standby Wikipedia has to begin their article on hypnotherapy:

Hypnotherapy is therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis.

The word "hypnosis" (from the Greek hypnos, "sleep") is an abbreviation of James Braid's (1843) term "neuro-hypnotism", meaning "sleep of the nervous system".

A person who is hypnotized displays certain unusual characteristics and propensities, compared with a non-hypnotized subject, most notably hyper-suggestibility, which some authorities have considered a sine qua non of hypnosis.

For example, Clark L. Hull, probably the first major empirical researcher in the field, wrote,

If a subject after submitting to the hypnotic procedure shows no genuine increase in susceptibility to any suggestions whatever, there seems no point in calling him hypnotised [...]

(C.L. Hull, Hypnosis & Suggestion, 1933: 392)

Hypnotherapy is often applied in order to modify a subject's behavior, emotional content, and attitudes, as well as a wide range of conditions including dysfunctional habits, anxiety, stress-related illness, pain management, and personal development.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

MON ONCLE, THE MONOCLE

One of the arch-enemies for 'The Middleman' was known as "The Monocle".

It could be that The Monocle was the son of Fritz the Monocle, the villain of the two-hour pilot for 'Tales Of The Gold Monkey' back in 1983.

'Tales Of The Gold Monkey' took place in the years before World War II broke out. So even if Fritz the Monocle had survived the conclusion of the pilot episode, it's doubtful he would have been alive nearly seventy years later. Especially as he was pretty much in his sixties by that point anyway.

And I don't think he would have access to a cryogenic chamber there in the Indonesian jungles....

In fact, I'm thinking that the current Monocle would have to be at least a grandson, if not great-grandson, of Fritz the Monocle. Perhaps even a great grand nephew (if only to justify my subject heading).

And O'Bviously, evil is in the genes.....

BCnU!
Toby O'B

STAKING OUT A ZONK

Blade was a vampire hunter who was part vampire himself. He began "life" in the comic book "Tomb Of Dracula", created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan. The movie "Blade", based on the Marvel comic book, first came out in 1998, followed over the years by two sequels. Pop culture picked up on the story of the half-blood vampire and Toobworld began to see its characters refer to the film.

In the "Revelations" episode of 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer', the question was raised: "Who do you think you are? Blade?" And that was later in the same year.

Tommy was assured by Merton in the 'Big Wolf On Campus' episode of "Everybody Fang Chung Tonight" that it was was okay to admit that "Blade" was one of his favorite movies.

And overseas, in the German show 'Tatort', a poster for the movie was seen plastered under a bridge in the episode "Kinder der Gewalt".

Just this summer, the movies were mentioned again, this time by Wendy Watson, sidekick and apprentice to 'The Middleman' when they fought Vladdie the vampiric hand puppet in the episode "The Vampire Puppet Lamentations". "I've seen every one of the 'Blade' films," she said. "I know my way around suck-heads." (This was Blade's favorite slang term for vampires.)

So by 2008, all three "Blade" movies were out. This might not be a problem... if there hadn't been a TV show about Blade in 2006.

However, still not a problem. A splainin can be supplied so that the situation doesn't suck.

'Blade' picked up the story of the vampire hunter already in progress. There was no origin episode and no real indication as to how long he had been part vampire hunting those who ruined his life. So it's possible, within the confines of Toobworld reality, that the story of Blade had become legend by the late 1990s, and that legend reached the notice of a Hollywood producer who quickly cashed in with a movie exploiting Blade's story.

And the three "Blade" movies of Toobworld don't have to be exactly like those we can see in the real world. They could have been schlock productions; they could have had storylines that had nothing to do with their true counterparts.

Later in the episode, Wendy also said "I've laid eyes on at least three of the major Canadian syndicated vampire detective shows." But because she never mentions them by name, we don't have to worry about her putting a Zonk on 'Forever Knight' or 'Blood Ties'. Those were the only two vampire detective shows from Canadian TV, which points out a major difference between the Trueniverse and the TV Universe - they had three such TV shows and we only got two.

So it looks like all of those blood-sucking Zonks have been staked through their hearts.

BCnU!

Toby O'B

A TOUCH OF PIZZAZZ*

Watched an episode of the last incarnation of 'The Twilight Zone' called "Azoth The Avenger Is A Friend Of Mine". An abused kid summons his favorite comic book character into the "real world" (which we know to be Toobworld) in order to help him defeat his foes in Life: a violent father and a couple of playground bullies.

The kid uses some sort of magical language to call Azoth out of the TV version of the comic book universe, but there was no way he could stay long. According to the Great and Magnificent (aka the Great and Powerful), comic book characters are not allowed to cross the Forbidden Zone into Toobworld.
That's what happened when Captain Justice escaped his hometown of Pleasantville in the comic book universe so that he could inspire his creator, Abner Bevis, into pouring his full talents into the comic book once again.

The Great and Powerful sent a private eye character from another comic book across the Forbidden Zone in order to bring Captain Justice back. And so began the short happy life of 'Once A Hero' back in 1987.
No matter how they crossed over from fictional comic books to the TV Universe, I think Azoth, Captain Justice, and Gumshoe all share the same alternate world. (Although Azoth may have lived in an earlier time period. Nevertheless, I'm making the claim that the TV series 'Once A Hero' and the 'Twilight Zone' episode "Azoth The Avenger Is A Friend Of Mine" belong in the same dimension and are theoretically linked.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

*Pizzazz was the name of the comic book company that published 'Captain Justice'. And they may have been responsible for the 'Azoth The Avenger' line as well.

TODAY'S TWD: THE LATEST TV TRIVIA

The new TV season is underway (although the shows are arriving in dribs and drabs). And with their return, we are getting more trivia tidbits to enrich and expand the TV Universe.

Two summer shows about to close up shop for the season both contributed TV shows you could only find on Toobworld cable. 'Trauma Unit' is a medical drama, probably in the style of 'ER' and one of its make-up trailers was a crime scene in an episode of 'The Closer'. The studio where 'Trauma Unit' wasn't named, so I'm going to make a theoretical link to the latest season of 'Nip/Tuck'. Drs. McMahon and Troy got a lot of work through their association with another medical drama, 'Hearts And Scalpels'.

For "Mr. Monk's 100th Episode", the investigation skills of Adrian Monk were given the spotlight on a show called 'In Focus'. This was a real crime examination/re-enactment program similar to those found on Tru-TV, the Discovery Channel, and A&E, where the trend began once A&E reinvented itself from being "the Hitler Channel".

Once they go back from Jolly Olde, Booth and 'Bones' investigated a murder that took them into the TV studio where 'Busted By Bill' was produced. This was similar to Chris Hansen's 'To Catch A Predator', only 'Busted By Bill' concerned itself with catching cheating spouses in the act. As Mel Cooley would say: Smile! You're on 'Sneaky Camera'!

'Sons of Anarchy' and 'True Blood' made the map of the United States a little more crowded with the additions of Charming, California, and Bon Temps, Louisiana, respectively. Charming is probably in the same general area as Bakersfield, but it could also be farther south near the Mexican border.

As for Bon Temps, it looks to be bayou country. This vampire tale also brings us a synthetic blood drink for vampires, also called "True Blood" (I think the packaging said "Tru-Blood".) which supposedly keeps the vampires sated and less likely to attack humans.

The debut episode also provided the first crossover of the Fall TV season. A spokeswoman for a vampire rights group appeared on a segment of 'Real Time with Bill Maher' (which "coincidentally" enough, is also aired on HBO).

I'll be going into more detail about a few of these trivial additions to Toobworld later. And as I only have the two eyes - which don't always work in conjunction with each other - I'm asking for your help. If the shows you watch provide any new fictional locations, products, or TV shows, movies, and books, let me know! Thanks!
BCnU!
Toby O'B

KIDTASTIC! - ZO2 & CREW*

I just finished watching the first three episodes of 'Z Rock' from IFC, and really enjoyed this little sitcom a lot. It's about a rock band called ZO2, who perform as the Z Brothers at kid parties by day.
Three episodes in and there has been plenty to help expand Toobworld. O'Bviously the band, first of all - as well as their kid party rivals "Kidtastic". And then there are the celebrities who appear as themselves. Joan Rivers alone links the show to 'nip/tuck', 'Boston Legal', 'I'm With Her', 'America 2-Nite', '227', 'Offshore Television', and I suppose it has to be counted - 'ALF's Hit Talk Show'. (And I was surprised that she wasn't listed for appearances on 'Larry Sanders' or 'Jiminy Glick' - both faux talkers would have been perfect for her....)
It turns out that Joan is the aunt of Dina, the manager for ZO2, which puts her in the same club with other real life celebrities who are related to fictional TV characters - like Art Carney (to Vera on 'Alice') and the late Tim Russert (to Megan on 'Homicide: Life On The Street').

John Popper could link 'Z Rock' to the show that crosses the divide between Toobworld and the Tooniverse - 'Space Ghost: Coast To Coast'! Sebastian Bach has appeared in several scripted series but as other characters, not himself. So he's useless for a link to say, 'Gilmore Girls' in which he portrayed Gil.

Popper has a distinction similar to that of Joan Rivers when it comes to appearing in this show. But instead of being related to Dina, he had sex with her. This puts him the Toobworld variation on the Mile-High Club - real life televersions who had sex with fictional characters. Other members in this exclusive fraternity - Vincent Chase of 'Entourage' (Mandy Moore, probably Ali Larter and Scarlet Johannsen) and Larry Sanders (both Roseanne Barr and Ellen DeGeneres).
Popper also name-checked Lars Ulrich, the co-founder and drummer for Metallica. (Some kind of tip about eating steak and leaving the blood-juice on your fingers to soften up the cuticles, if I remember correctly.....) He was also name-checked in an episode of 'My Name Is Earl' in which Earl and Joy saw Metallica perform during their honeymoon. Afterwards, Joy got Lars to autograph her "baby-bump". Normally that would be pretty flimsy to count for a link, but it was Lars' actual signature on Joy's pregnant belly!
(Sebastian Bach also appeared as himself in the first episode.)

The very first person we saw in the series was also playing himself - George Evans, the technical director as well as a DJ at WFUV at Fordham University. George was conducting a phone interview with ZO2, which I found a bit odd as WFUV is known more for Americana and World Music than for hard-core rock. Still it was a cool gig for George Evans.... Although I have to admit I was surprised that they didn't use the legendary Vin Scelsa to do the honors. Not only is he a powerhouse name among DJs (and hosts "Idiot's Delight" on WFUV Saturday nights), but he used to be the voice-over announcer for IFC.

So far, out of the three episodes I watched, there was only one Zonk. Just before playing the demo of their new song "Aston Martin", Joey Z said that he had to address the CD. And then with a nod to Ed Norton, he said, "Hellooooo, CD!"

That would have been okay to deal with, but once again the writers don't trust their audience to get their pop culture jokes. So Joey followed up with "What? You never watch 'The Honeymooners'?"

To get around it, I'll probably whip up a splainin about how 'The Honeymooners' as a title could have been about anything, perhaps a newlywed reality show. And "Hellooooo, CD!" could have become a catch-phrase from that series. Who knows, maybe one of the honeymooners was caught on camera with a cross-dresser!

The show airs on IFC late Sunday nights and in case you're a bit prudish in nature, you should be warned that the show contains nudity and coarse language.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

*Just don't let ZO2 know that I called them "kidtastic"!