BLIPVERTS IN SPACE!

Okay, watch this blipvert for KFC, and then I'll share my thoughts about it.......

These weren't the original actors, but very good look-alikes aided by some prosthetics. However the voices were of the original actors involved. So I'm willing to accept that this actually happened in orbit around Earth Prime-Time. As far as Toobworld Central is concerned, this is part of 'Star Trek' lore.

But here's the thing - the people working at the KFC are in the uniforms worn by KFC employees in the 1990's. (In the comments section for this YouTube clip, it was filmed either in 1991 to tie into "The Undiscovered Country" or in 1994.) And the equipment seen in that KFC restaurant is of that time period as well.

So it can't be a KFC from Earth Prime-Time in Kirk's era. I suppose it could be on a planet similar to Earth but which is only up to the 1960's style era, sort of like that Roman era planet in "Bread And Circuses" or the Nazi world, or the planet that emulated 1920's Chicago in "A Piece Of The Action".

As you can see, the idea was done to death in the original series. I think a better splainin is that the Enterprise was once again shunted back in Time, this time to the 1990's. They visited the Earth in the 1960's for the episodes "All Our Yesterdays" and "Assignment: Earth" and I would have preferred to have this happen just before the Enterprise left that time period after either adventure. But again, the uniforms are wrong - in the 1960's, the workers in KFC looked more like they were wearing old-fashioned ice cream parlor outfits of red and white striped shirts.

And as the Enterprise crew themselves are of the same age as they looked when the show was broadcast, this couldn't have happened during their time on Earth in the 1980's as seen in the movie "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home". They were much older by then, plus they were wearing the latest in Starfleet fashion. On top of that, they were traveling, as Chekov would say, a Klingon "wessel".

So it would have to be after that time period, but before they actually went back to the 1980's. We only have available the denouement to an untelevised adventure for the crew of the starship Enterprise, which occurred at some point in the Toobworld timeline from 1991 to 1994.

As for the small differences in the looks of the crew? Something O'Bviously shorted out the time differential which caused the alterations to their looks. (This bit of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff was splained away in the "Children In Need" telethon special, "Time Crash".)

BCnU!

THE MAN WHO LOVED CATS TALKING

We're still in the video cats mode, and this one has proven popular with my interns, Nucky and Leela.....

They're not so crazy about the video translation however....

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ANTI-GRAV CATS

Why was internet video created if it wasn't for the sharing of cat videos?

Here's an old instructional film showing the effects of weightlessness on the pooh widdle kittie cats....

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SPUNK'D

Because the second season premiere of 'Hot In Cleveland' invoked this classic scene, I needed to share it again with the visitors to Inner Toob.

Forty years on, and it still holds up.......

BCnU!

THE BIRTH OF BERTIE

Only six chapters of the 1975 mini-series 'Edward The King' are available on YouTube, ending with Bertie's recovery from typhoid and the Queen's rejection of the idea that he should serve as the Viceroy of Ireland.

Here's the beginning of the first chapter, in which Queen Victoria reveals she is pregnant with the future King of England.....

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AS SEEN ON TV: PRINCE "BERTIE"

On this date in 1901, Edward VII was proclaimed King after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria........

PRINCE ALBERT EDWARD
(FUTURE KING EDWARD VII)

AS SEEN IN:
'Edward The King'

AS PLAYED BY:
Timothy West

From Wikipedia:
When Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, Edward became King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India and, in an innovation, King of the British Dominions. He chose to reign under the name Edward VII, instead of Albert Edward—the name his mother had intended for him to use, declaring that he did not wish to "undervalue the name of Albert" and diminish the status of his father with whom among royalty the name Albert should stand alone. The number VII was occasionally omitted in Scotland, even by the national church, in deference to protests that the previous Edwards were English kings who had "been excluded from Scotland by battle".

J. B. Priestley recalled, "I was only a child when he succeeded Victoria in 1901, but I can testify to his extraordinary popularity. He was in fact the most popular king England had known since the earlier 1660s." Only six chapters of the mini-series 'Edward The King' are available on YouTube, so I wasn't able to get the appropriate segment to represent this historical event. (I've ordered the full series from Netflix - after all, there are plenty of historical figures represented! - and will have some screen captchas soon.)

Here is the description of the opening moments in Chapter Eleven ("King At Last"):

Episode XI. King at Last (1902-1902)
Scene I. The New Sovereign.

Charles Carrington and Francis Knollys talk about Bertie who they say has waited nearly 60 years to be king. They note that Balfour and Lansdowne are after Lord Salisbury already. Balfour tells Salisbury that it is time to insist on constitutional reform. And the king should not interfere in government. Bertie comes in and gives a little speech to the assembled group. He says that he wants to be known as Edmund VII.

There is an official announcement of the new King Edward VIII. God save the King!

For a full episode guide to 'Edward The King', click here.

BCnU!

TOOBWORLD CENTRAL VIDNEWS

Tomorrow's going to be a big experiment for the Inner Toob Video Weekend. It looks as though YouTube has created a new type of embed code for its videos, so I'll have to see if they really work on this blog. The codes seem to be simplified, but that's all I usually need to bleep something up......

One thing looks certain - the new code lets you see which video you grabbed for posting. So that's definitely an improvement.

We shall see what we shall view.....

BCnU!

TOOB TOPS

At the end of this week's episode of 'Community' ("Asian Population Studies"), Jeff visited Rich - a doctor whom Jeff despises for being so perfect - and asked him to transform Jeff into a better person. (But only so that Jeff can abuse that to his own advantage, so what's the point?)

Rich decided to help Jeff anyway and invited him into the apartment. When Jeff smelled the enticing aroma wafting in from the kitchen, Rich revealed that he was baking muffin tops.

Not just muffins. Muffin tops.

It's a knee-jerk reaction to think of that 'Seinfeld' episode called "The Muffin Tops", in which Elaine's former boss Mr. Lippmann opened a muffin tops only shop. But Iit doesn't serve as a link between 'Community' and 'Seinfeld'. Muffin tops have always been more popular than the muffin stumps, and it would be somebody like Dr. Rich who would go to the trouble of baking only the popular tops.

Top of the muffin to you!

BCnU!

MTM ZONKS - NOT IN CLEVELAND

Because Mary Tyler Moore made a special guest appearance in the season premiere of 'Hot In Cleveland' - and in a scene with Betty White to boot - the writers couldn't resist tossing in a few references to 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' in which Betty White was a co-star.

To set the scene.....

Betty's character was in jail for the stash of stolen goods in her storm cellar. (Her late husband had been a fence for the mob.) And she was sharing the jail cell with a mob wife (played by Mayr) whom Elke had not seen in 33 years.

The mob wife used chalk to draw a stylized letter "M" on the wall above her bunk, and it was basically the same font as the wooden "M" which hung in the apartments of Mary Richards. When Elke asked what it stood for, she was told it was for "Murder". That's not what the mob wife was in for; but it was all she could think about once Elke started playing the harmonica.

When the mob wife found out that Elke once sold off a stolen Faberge egg and used the money to establish an animal shelter, she admitted that Elke's scheme took a lot of spunk. And then she added the classic follow-up line first heard in the pilot episode of 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' - "I HATE spunk!"

(Not that it was related to the MTM show, but that Faberge Animal Shelter was a reference to Betty White's well-known love and protection of animals.)

When the mob wife was finally taken away by the guards, Elke urged that they not wait another 33 years before they see each other again. This one was a bit more subtle - the final episode of 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' was the last time these TV legends worked together, and it had been 33 years since it was broadcast.

None of these references can be considered Zonks, because 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' was never mentioned by name. They're all just coincidences, something that happens a lot in the TV Universe.

BCnU!

SWEATER JEST

Earlier tonight, Malcolm Jamal Warner guest-starred on the "Asian Population Studies" episode of 'Community' as Shirley's ex-husband Andre. It looks like he'll be a recurring character because he appears to have changed his ways and will definitely be back in Shirley's life.

We got a sense of his new course in life while he was outside the library talking to Jeff. And during that revelatory conversation, they were also able to squeeze in a pop culture reference!

When Jeff complimented Andre about his sweater, Andre said, "Thanks. My father gave it to me."

Within the reality of the sitcom, that's all it was - a statement as to where Andre got the sweater, from his Dad. But for the audience in the Trueniverse, the 'Community' writers wanted them to recognize the reference to 'The Cosby Show', in which Malcolm Jamal Warner played the song of Bill Cosby. And Cosby's character of Dr. Huxtable was known for the colorful sweaters he would wear......

But since 'The Cosby Show' was never mentioned, we have no worries bout a Zonk to be disabled!

BCnU!