The couch gags in opening credits of 'The Simpsons' don't always have to be considered part of the show's continuity, but I think this special presentation could be seen as a legitimate prequel.
Hey, anything goes in the Tooniverse!
And it's special because the concept was dreamed up by noted animator Bill Plympton. And even though his artistic style is radically different from that of Matt Groening, they're both part of the same TV dimension. (Those differences may be seen by us, but not by the inhabitants of the Tooniverse.)
I never realized this was a running bit on 'All In The Family' - of course, only four occurrences in 208 episodes isn't exactly a major theme, but still funny as all hell when gathered together like this:
I have many friends who have made contributions to the citizenry of Toobworld, most of whom have done so with characters in various TV shows. Actors with whom I went to UConn with, like Dan Lauria, Mary Cadorette, Shirley Jordan, Bill Marcus...... The late Brad Williams added puppet people, as seen in 'Pinwheel' on Nickelodeon.
And then there are others who have, like me, joined the League of Themselves and created televersions of their lives back home in the Trueniverse.
One of those would be Maggie Bilder Cooke. And like me, she is qualified to join the TV Crossover Hall of Fame because of her appearances. I don't have any video of her hosting duties for a computer show that was once on CNet, but here are two of the other examples of her televersion......
First up, her appearance on '$10,000.00 Pyramid', in keeping with our remembrances of Dick Clark, in which she was partnered with Sal Viscuso......
And now that you know what she looks like, here she is as she shows off her skills as a serlinguist. (But here's a hint for those with short term memory loss - "No more barbecue!")
With the passing of Dick Clark last week, we're still not done taking a look at the life on Toobworld for this member of the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame.
Here's a scene from his hosting chores on 'The $10,000.00 Pyramid' which never made it on the air....
In his blog several years ago, George R.R. Martin shared this fan-made film from 2005 that used epic footage from various fantasy movies to show what a film about the "Song Of Ice And Fire" series would look like....
Winterfell, southern progression of battlefields in Westeros, on Mondas
From the "Game Of Thrones Wiki":
Robb Stark is a major character in the first and second seasons. He is played by starring cast member Richard Madden and debuts in the series premiere. Robb Stark is the King in the North, the ruler of the North. Following the death of his father, Lord Eddard Stark, at the order of Joffrey Baratheon, the King on the Iron Throne, Robb became the head of House Stark and the Lord of Winterfell. He was declared King by the forces of House Stark and its bannermen and allies after Eddard's execution. He is leading these forces in a rebellion against Joffrey, designed to break the North away from the control of the Iron Throne. He has adopted the direwolf named Grey Wind.
Robb is the eldest son of Eddard Stark by his wife, Catelyn. His father is the head of House Stark, the Lord of Winterfell, the lord paramount and Warden of the North. He has two younger trueborn brothers, Bran and Rickon, and two sisters, Sansa and Arya. He is also close to his bastard half-brother, Jon Snow, and to his father's ward, Theon Greyjoy, whom he counts as his best friend outside of the family. He has been trained from childhood to wield a sword and wear armor by Winterfell's Master-at-Arms Rodrik Cassel, and is highly proficient with both for his young age. He lives at Winterfell with his family.
Liz Lemon revealed that she walked in on Jenna Maroney as she was making love to the harmonica player from Blues Traveler. And that he was still wearing his harmonica holder.
This means Jenna was boinking John Popper.
Here's the thumbnail biography from Wikipedia:
John Popper (born March 29, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter.
He is most famous for his role as frontman of rock band Blues Traveler performing harmonica, guitar and vocals. He is widely considered a harmonica virtuoso, and is listed by harmonica manufacturer Hohner as a "Featured Artist", an accolade reserved for only the best and most successful harmonica players.
Popper won a 2008 Toobits Award for Best League of Themselves Appearance, mostly because he enthusiastically threw himself into playing a real sleazebag version of himself. This happened over several episodes of 'Z Rock', where he made it his life mission to bed Dina, the manager for the band. (And he eventually succeeded.)
Even though he wasn't seen in this episode of '30 Rock' (and unlike Kevin Sorbo, not even named), this still counts towards his televersion tally in the League of Themselves.
And that means 'Z Rock' and '30 Rock' can be linked together in Toobworld.
We're coming down to the last few showcases for 'Game Of Thrones' in the "As Seen On TV" feature, and today the spotlight goes to my least favorite character in the whole series.....
PETYR BAELISH
"LITTLE-FINGER"
CREATED BY:
George R.R. Martin
PORTRAYED BY:
Aiden Gillen
AS SEEN IN:
'Game Of Thrones'
TV LOCATIONS:
King's Landing, Storm's End, Westeros, Mondas
From the "Game Of Thrones Wiki":
Petyr Baelish, popularly called Littlefinger, is a major character in the first and second seasons. He is played by starring cast member Aidan Gillen and debuts in "Lord Snow." Petyr Baelish is the Master of Coin on the small council. He is a skilled manipulator and uses his ownership of brothels in King's Landing to accrue intelligence on political rivals. He betrayed Eddard Stark to side with House Lannister and King Joffrey Baratheon following the death of King Robert Baratheon. Petyr Baelish is Lord of the Fingers, an extremely minor lordship, ruling over just a small area of the shores of the Vale of Arryn (known as The Fingers) as the head of the tiny House Baelish. In reference to his family's humble origin and the small size of his poor landholdings in the Fingers, he earned the derogatory nickname "Little-finger", which would stick with him throughout his life. Eventually even Baelish sarcastically embraced the nickname, due to the fact that it demonstrated how far he had risen, from a poor minor noble from the "little Finger" peninsula to one of the most powerful officials in the Seven Kingdoms. Despite this, his extreme financial acumen has seen him rise to the small council and the rank of Master of Coin, the treasurer of the Seven Kingdoms, under King Robert Baratheon. He is a friend of Lady Catelyn Stark, one of the few contacts she has at court. He was fostered with her family at Riverrun in his youth and developed unrequited feelings for her. He challenged her betrothed Brandon Stark to a duel and was severely injured. Brandon was later killed by King Aerys II Targaryen but Catelyn married his younger brother Eddard Stark in his place. He owns a number of brothels in King's Landing. Though the symbol of his family is the head of the Titan of Braavos, Petyr prefers to use a personal sigil, that of an unthreatening mockingbird.
Here we are, the month of April almost over, and we have yet to induct the intended new member into the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame. Traditionally the April inductee fits the role of the classic Fool, and this would have been no different.
But we were delayed in making this announcement by the death of Mike Wallace and as is our new custom, those who pass away who were deserving of the honor (as themselves or for a character) get inducted immediately. So I wanted enough time to pass between both choices to give them the chance to shine on their own.
And so, I'm proud to announce our April Fool 2012:
BARNEY FIFE
Don Knotts' portrayal of the jittery deputy from Mayberry deserves every accolade he gets, and the Television Academy agreed - Knotts won five Emmy Awards for the role while he was on 'The Andy Griffith Show'.
Barney and the Taylor family also made appearances in blipverts for Sanka and Post cereals in the early days, back when TV characters often continued their existence in the commercials for their sponsors.
After leaving to seek his fame and fortune in the movies and with a variety show, Knotts returned to Mayberry in the first episode of the sequel, 'Mayberry RFD', in order to stand by Andy's side as his best man.
A few years later, Barney was visiting Greenwood, North Carolina, where he ran into Mayor Andy Sawyer.
They seemed to be old friends, and yet Barney never mentions how similar Andy Sawyer looks to his cousin, Andy Taylor.
My reasonin' is that Andy Sawyer and Andy Taylor were identical cousins, and perhaps on the side of the family which had no blood connection to Barney. So they've known each other for years, but as friends not family, and that any need to mention the similarity in appearance had long since passed.
The IMDb - which as we all know, is SUCH a reliable source! - lists Barney Fife as appearing in an episode of 'The Joey Bishop Show' in its third season. But I haven't found any mention of that elsewhere on the web. So I can't say whether this is possible or not. However, 'The Joey Bishop Show' did have a continuing crossover with 'The Danny Thomas Show' when Rusty Williams moved in as a boarder while going to college, and since that was the show that launched 'The Andy Griffith Show', it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble.....
Finally, Barney made a "Return To Mayberry" in his old age to run for sheriff, only to find that Andy Taylor returned soon after with the same goal in mind. By the end of the election, Andy had won his old job back and offered Barney the chance to be his deputy once again.
(Personally, that left a bad taste for me. I would have had Andy become the new Mayor of Mayberry, and let Barney become the sheriff. I hated seeing him so disappointed by the outcome.)
Like the actor who played him, Barney is gone now. I like to think he's buried there in Mayberry and Thelma Lou still tends to his grave. But he will live on in our memories and in reruns. And I hope this little salute doesn't do too much damage to his video immortality.
As the Trickster once said, "Reality is boring, that's why I change it whenever I can."
I'm just "The Man Who Viewed Too Much", and "Inner Toob" is a blog exploring and celebrating the 'reality' of an alternate universe in which everything that ever happened on TV actually takes place.
Most of my theories about the TV Universe come from thinking inside the box and thus can't be proven. But I've never been one to shy away from a tall tale.....
Remember: "The more you watch, the more you've seen!"
