VIDEO SATURDAY: READY TO SERVE

Thanks to the inspiration of my Greek-spoutin', tele-bloggin' buddy MediumRob from across the water, I've got a quick and easy selection for the Video Saturday portion of Video Weekend: a collection of classic - and quite often, rare - TV show intros and themes.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

On this date in 1502, Christopher Columbus landed at Costa Rica on his fourth voyage (which would also be his last to the New World).

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

AS SEEN IN:
'Christopher Columbus'

AS PLAYED BY:
Gabriel Byrne
BCnU!

SKED ALERT - BILL MAHER TONIGHT

Here's a quickie sked alert from HBO:

Real Time With Bill Maher (TONIGHT at 10pm)Trailer & Rant:

http://www.billmaheroutreach.com

"MY BOYS" - AN APPRECIATION

I was sorry to hear that TBS had cancelled the sitcom 'My Boys' after the fourth season ended last Sunday night. The show boasted one of the best ensemble casts among the current sitcoms. What I especially liked was the rhythm to the dialogue, with its throwaway lines and reaction shots serving as the punch lines.

At least this season - now series - ender had some small sense of closure to it. Stephanie and Kenny were leaving for a three-month working trip (for Steff, anyway) in London; Brando bought Crowley's bar; Mike and Marcia got married; and PJ accepted the fact that she wasn't cut out to be the top sports reporter at her paper. Her life, her friends, and her relationship with Bobby held the top priority. (As for Bobby, we already knew what the Future held for him - law school.) I'm particuarly sorry we won't get to see a full season of Rachael Harris as Marcia. Just based on the three episodes we saw of her, Marcia looked to be a worthy successor to Andy (who moved away to China at some point before the fourth season began.) I'll bet Marcia would have proven to be a shark at the poker table. (Being of an unknown quality, she'd be easier to accept as a player than Steff!)

In my Toobworld fantasy, it didn't ring true that we never saw characters from other New York-based sitcoms having lunch at Monk's Diner or enjoying the floor show at the Tropicana. (At least a few sitcom characters did show up in Central Perk.) How come we never saw a character from 'Rhoda' hail a cab driven by Tony Banta? (Okay, I give you that a Tony Danza character did hail a cab driven by Simka Gravas.) NYC sitcoms should be colliding all the time in Toobworld.

But with 'My Boys', we got a breath of fresh air (relatively speaking) with Chicago as its locale. They were able to capitalize on the landmarks, as well as spin a fantasy version of the Windy City found only in Toobworld. (Especially all of the quirky bars and restaurants the gang would visit whenever they felt the need to wander away from Crowley's.)

So... the show is ended, but within the reality of Earth Prime-Time, they'll live on - just unseen by us.

I'd like to think it might still have some influence on any future series set in Chicago, though. Because of the (past) wealth of Bobby's family, there must be a Newman Building in Chicago. Maybe several Newman wings on museums, perhaps a Newman school, and Newman grants and Newman scholarships. Would it be too much to ask for 'The Good Wife' to slip such a reference in every so often?

And please! Can some other Chicago sitcom at least mention the presence of Crowley's?

I'll miss you, guys.....

BCnU!

SUPER SIX: KEEPING COMPANY WITH "THE WEST WING"

Those of you who understand the Toobworld concept knows that we had to invoke 'Sliders' and put the instant classic 'The West Wing' into its own TV dimension because the President of the United States - the central character of the series! - differed from the one established in Earth Prime-Time. Toobworld has to have the same POTUS as the real world; too many shows will end up referencing the current holder of the office. (This week's season-ending episode of 'The Closer' is a good example with their mention of Obama.)

But 'The West Wing' doesn't have to reside in its TV dimension all by its lonesome. Here's a Super Six list of shows that would fit in nicely with the administration of Matt Santos (whom I assume is still the Commander in Chief of that world....)

1] 'MR. STERLING'
Although it never came up in the show, and could have benefitted from a crossover, this series was meant to be considered as being part of the 'West Wing' world.

2] 'SMALLVILLE'
Why shouldn't a world with Jed Bartlet also have Clark Kent as well? But if Superman did exist in the 'West Wing' world, couldn't he have saved that ship that was lost at sea during a hurricane? This is why 'Smallville' is the TV version of the Superman mythos that best suits 'The West Wing'. Clark Kent was still learning about his Kryptonian powers and had not asssumed the identity of the Man of Steel while Bartlet was in office.

3] 'CASTLE'
Their New York City has a black mayor named Bill. Thanks to 'Law & Order', '30 Rock', and a Muppets Christmas special, real world NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg also holds that post in the main Toobworld. 'Castle' might even be bumped from the world of 'The West Wing' if they end up mentioning Obama as the President.

4] 'BATTLESTAR GALACTICA' (THE REBOOT)
It doesn't matter that the remake of the sci-fi original was considered the better series. The first 'Battlestar Galactica' made more connections with other series in the Great Link - with 'McCloud', 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman', and with its own spin-off, 'Galactica 1980'. As the reboot landed on Earth in the prehistoric past, it doesn't interfere with the history played out during Bartlet's term.

5] 'HUMAN TARGET' (THE REBOOT)
I once harbored hopes that both versions of 'Human Target' could exist in the main Toobworld. But that was before they introduced a different Queen Elizabeth of England - with a daughter who was the Princess of Wales and next in line for the throne.

But that would work perfectly for 'The West Wing' dimension. Lionel Tribbey mentioned that he had met with that world's Queen Elizabeth and at the time it was probably just assumed that he was talking about the same woman who sits on the throne in the real world and the main Toobworld. But now we can assume that he was referring to the woman seen in an episode of this series....

6] 'MISS MARPLE' & HERCULE POIROT
Just as 'The West Wing' dimension should have its own Superman, so too should it have its own versions of Agatha Christie's most famous sleuths. Joan Hickson will be the official Jane Marple of the main Toobworld, but Geraldine McEwan, her successor, would fit in nicely with the quality of the 'West Wing' world. (No need to wonder just yet as to where Julia McKenzie's version might end up.)

As for the Belgian detective, there can be no other than David Suchet's portrayal to exercise his little grey cells in Toobworld. But Peter Ustinov portrayed Poirot in at least one TV movie - and he could bring along those big screen outings from the Cineverse. After all, the movie universe already has Albert Finney's version (and Tony Randall's to boot!)

What shows would you suggest for the world of 'The West Wing'?

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

AS SEEN IN:
"Great Americans: Benjamin Franklin"

This was an educational short which played on public television, I think.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: EDMUND KEAN

EDMUND KEAN

AS SEEN IN:
"Edmund Kean"

AS PLAYED BY:
Ben Kingsley

From Wikipedia:
Edmund Kean (17 March 1789 – 15 May 1833) was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever.

His opening at Drury Lane on 26 January 1814 as Shylock roused the audience to almost uncontrollable enthusiasm. Successive appearances in Richard III, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and King Lear demonstrated his mastery of the range of tragic emotion. His triumph was so great that he himself said on one occasion, "I could not feel the stage under me." On 29 November 1820 Kean appeared for the first time in New York as Richard III. The success of his visit to America was unequivocal, although he fell into a vexatious dispute with the press. On 4 June 1821 he returned to England.

It was in the impersonation of the great creations of Shakespeare’s genius that the varied beauty and grandeur of the acting of Kean were displayed in their highest form, although probably his most powerful character was Sir Giles Overreach in Philip Massinger’s A New Way to Pay Old Debts, the effect of his first performance of which was such that the pit rose en masse, and even the actors and actresses themselves were overcome by the terrific dramatic illusion. His main disadvantage as an actor was his small stature. Coleridge said, “Seeing him act was like reading Shakespeare by flashes of lightning.”If the range of character in which Kean attained supreme excellence was narrow, no one except David Garrick was so successful in so many great roles. Unlike Garrick, Kean had no true talent for comedy, but in the expression of biting and saturnine wit, of grim and ghostly gaiety he was unsurpassed.

In his earlier days, Talma said of him, “He is a magnificent uncut gem; polish and round him off and he will be a perfect tragedian.” Macready, who was much impressed by Kean’s Richard III and met the actor at supper, speaks of his “unassuming manner ... partaking in some degree of shyness” and of the “touching grace” of his singing. Kean’s delivery of the three words “I answer—No!” in the part of Sir Edward Mortimer in The Iron Chest, cast Macready into an abyss of despair at rivalling him in this role. So full of dramatic interest is the life of Edmund Kean that it formed the subject for the play "Kean" by Jean-Paul Sartre as well as a play by Alexandre Dumas, père, entitled Kean, ou Désordre et génie, in which the actor Frédérick Lemaître achieved one of his greatest triumphs.

His eccentricities at the height of his fame were numerous. Sometimes he would ride recklessly on his horse, Shylock, throughout the night. He was presented with a tame lion with which he might be found playing in his drawing-room.

BCnU!

KEVIN McCARTHY IN TOOBWORLD

Kevin McCarthy has passed away at the age of 96. I'd rank him up there as one of my favorite actors and he was a pleasure to watch in such shows as 'Murder, She Wrote', 'Dream On', 'The Wild, Wild West', and 'Columbo'. In fact, I wish he had the chance to have played the murderer on that series, (He certainly had the bearing for a 'Columbo' murderer!), but I'm happy we at least got to see him in action with Peter Falk in "Requiem For A Falling Star". My favorite role of his in Toobworld would be as Bokonon in "Between Time And Timbuktu", an adaptation of several Kurt Vonnegut stories. And there's Walter Jameson, the "immortal" he played in an episode of 'The Twilight Zone'. (On Sunday, I ran the full episode, courtesy of YouTube, here at Inner Toob.) In the movies he was best known for the original "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" as well as a cameo in the 1978 remake. But my favorite of his movie roles would be as Scrimshaw in "Innerspace", where he could really play fast and loose with the traditional villain role.

Twice during the month of August, when the overall theme was the TV Western, I had reason to write about Kevin McCarthy's contributions to the genre - about his turn playing Mark Twain in 'The Rifleman', and my theory of "relateeveety" between his role of Bokonon and James Garner's portrayal of Pappy 'Maverick'.

Better TV bloggers than I can tell you more about the man and his career. I'd just like to leave you with a few images of his TV work, of those Toobworld citizens whom he played which I have in my personal DVD collection.....

ELLIOTT DUNNING
'BURKE'S LAW'
MAJOR GENERAL WALTER KROLL
'THE WILD, WILD WEST'
ARTHUR CARESSE
'THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.'
BOKONON
"BETWEEN TIME AND TIMBUKTU"
DR. FRANK SIMMONDS
'COLUMBO'
MR. HART
"JUNE MOON"
THE GOVERNOR OF TEXAS
"ONCE UPON A TEXAS TRAIN"
RANDOLPH STERLING
'MURDER, SHE WROTE'
WALTER BOWMAN
'MURDER, SHE WROTE'

He'll be sorely missed here at Toobworld Central......

BCnU!

A SMALL TIP OF THE HAT TO HAROLD GOULD

Dependable character actor Harold Gould has left this world, but we'll always have him in Toobworld reruns. Because I'll be away for a few days, I won't be able to present a more detailed Hat Squad tribute just yet, but until then here's the bumper for one of his lesser-known TV efforts, opposite the leading lady of 20th Century cinema.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: HELEN OF SPARTA

HELEN OF SPARTA

AS SEEN IN:
'You Are There' - "The Fall Of Troy - 1185 BC"

AS PLAYED BY:
Nancy Coleman

Although we know her better today as Helen of Troy, during the "news" broadcast, she was identified as Helen of Sparta, which was the city-state of her birth.

BCnU!