TWO SHADES OF GREY

Earlier this week, our ASOTV showcase featured two ghostly figures played by Joel Grey - the Ghost of Christmas Past from the Patrick Stewart version of "A Christmas Carol" and Adam, from the series finale for the original 'Dallas'. It was our contention that they were the same character.....

Here are video clips of them both (although the Ghost of Christmas Past is among other versions of the character, including Muppet and Disney toon versions.....)

A WORZEL GUMMIDGE CHRISTMAS

Since it's the Christmas season, I thought we might as well enjoy the Christmas episode of 'Worzel Gummidge', today's ASOTV showcase.....

AS SEEN ON TV: WORZEL GUMMIDGE

WORZEL GUMMIDGE

AS SEEN IN:
'Worzel Gummidge'
&
'Worzel Gummidge Down Under'

CREATED BY:
Barbara Euphan Todd

PORTRAYED BY:
Jon Pertwee
(The Third Doctor)

TV DIMENSION:
Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:
Worzel Gummidge is a character in British children's fiction who originally appeared in a series of books by the novelist Barbara Euphan Todd. A walking, talking scarecrow, Gummidge has a set of interchangeable turnip, mangel worzel and swede heads, each of which suit a particular occasion or endow him with a specific skill.

Worzel Gummidge was a scarecrow that could come to life on Scatterbrook Farm. Worzel spent more time trying to win the affections of Aunt Sally than actually protecting the farm from crows. Aunt Sally was a fairground doll who Worzel fell in love with. He also befriended John and Susan, two children who often had to cover up after him and help him get out of trouble. Worzel had a collection of interchangeable heads; each suiting a particular occasion or allowing him to perform a certain task. More often than not Worzel's plans and adventures ended in mishap for all involved.

The books were adapted for radio and television a number of times, most successfully with former 'Doctor Who' actor Jon Pertwee taking the lead role from 1979 to 1981 on ITV; originally produced in the UK, but later in New Zealand.  Southern Television's production for ITV was written by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, and starred Jon Pertwee as Worzel, with Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally, a life-size fairground doll and Worzel's femme fatale. This was a significant change from the original books, where Aunt Sally is, in fact, Worzel's aunt.

The Crowman, who made Worzel and some of his other scarecrow friends, was played by Geoffrey Bayldon better known for his starring role as the title character of Catweazle. Bill Maynard also appeared as a scarecrow called Sergeant Beetroot.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: "THE FAMOUS FIVE"

More literary TV goodness with Patrick Troughton!

AS SEEN ON TV II: THE LITERARY TROUGHTON

Just because I've chosen certain literary characters for each of the actors who played the lead role in 'Doctor Who', that doesn't mean those were the only literary characters they portrayed. (Well, for some, maybe.....)

For example:

• Christopher Eccleston was in an episode of 'Poirot', while Paul McGann appeared in an episode of 'Marple'.
• Peter Davison had the lead role in 'All Creatures Great And Small' and was featured earlier this year for his portrayal of Albert Campion.
• And although it's in the Cineverse, Sylvester McCoy can be currently seen on the big screen as Radagast the Brown in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (even though the character appears in "The Lord Of The Rings".)

But of them all, I think Patrick Troughton had the greatest number of literary TV characters to his credit, from lead roles to co-starring roles to guest appearances. And some of those were in shows that were only loosely based on the original source from BookWorld.

Here's a list of his other literary TV characters (besides today's ASOTV feature), and I doubt that it even comes close to a full account......

LEAD ROLES

Dr. Manette - 'A Tale Of Two Cities'

Daniel Quilp - 'The Old Curiousity Shop'

Sir Andrew ffoulkes - 'The Scarlet Pimpernel'

CO-STARRING ROLES

Israel Hands - 'Treasure Island'

Councillor Doone - 'Lorna Doone'

Uncle Cap - 'Hawkeye, The Pathfinder'

Mr. March - 'Little Women'

Hindley - "Wuthering Heights"

Alan Breck - 'Kidnapped'

Captain Luke Settle - 'The Splendid Spur'

Simon Kenton - 'The Cabin In The Clearing'

GUEST APPEARANCES

George Jackson - 'Inspector Morse' ("The Dead Of Jericho")

The Pawnbroker - 'David Copperfield ("The Long Journey")

Mr. Bronckhurst - 'The Indian Tales Of Rudyard Kipling' ("The Bronckhurst Divorce Case")

Luigi Carvossa - 'The Third Man' ("A Question Of Ice")

Mr. Stick - 'The Famous Five' ("Five Run Away Together")

Judge Jeffreys - 'Lorna Doone' ("A Summons To London")

[This was a different, earlier production than the one mentioned above.]

Gaston Meurant - 'Maigret' ("Raise Your Right Hand")

Vignole - 'Ivanhoe' ("The Kidnapping")

Inspector Gambetti - 'The Saint' ("Interlude In Venice")

Pete - 'The New Adventures Of Charlie Chan' ("Something Old, Something New")

Roddy - 'All Creatures Great And Small' ("Hair Of The Dog")

Frank Belfield - 'Thorndyke' ("The Old Lag")

Vito - 'The Four Just Men' ("The Moment Of Truth")

Inspector Nardi - 'The Four Just Men' ("The Night Of The Precious Stones")

Vickers - 'The Invisible Man' ("Strange Partners")

Mortimer Tregennis - 'Sherlock Holmes' ("The Devil's Foot")

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: COLE HAWLINGS

The first of our Christmas-themed entries in this last theme for the 2012 "ASOTV" showcase.....

COLE HAWLINGS

AS SEEN IN:

'The Box Of Delights'

CREATED BY:

John Masefield

PORTRAYED BY:

Patrick Troughton
(The Second Doctor)

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

"The Box of Delights" is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield. It is a sequel to "The Midnight Folk", and was first published in 1935.

The central character is Kay Harker who, on returning from boarding school, finds himself mixed up in a battle to possess a magical box, which allows the owner to go small (shrink) and go swift (fly), experience magical wonders contained within the box and go into the past.

The owner of the box is an old Punch and Judy man called Cole Hawlings, whom Kay meets at a railway station. They develop an instant rapport, and this leads Cole to confide that he is being chased by a man called Abner Brown and his gang. For safety, Cole entrusts the box to Kay, who then goes on to have many adventures.

"The Box of Delights" was adapted for television by the BBC in 1984, featuring Patrick Troughton and Robert Stephens. It was broadcast November–December, in six parts, with the last episode transmitted on Christmas Eve. Starring Devin Stanfield as Kay and directed by Renny Rye, it used an innovative mixture of live action and animation, with Quantel Paintbox and chroma key effects to bring the adventure alive. Noted for its yuletide atmosphere (it is set during Christmas), the series has become something of a nostalgic treat for followers of cult TV.

The seasonal theme music is Victor Hely-Hutchinson's orchestral arrangement of "The First Nowell" from his "Carol Symphony".

The novel contains more magical adventures or events than appeared in the BBC version. This was presumably because of budgeting and special effect constraints; however, the BBC did not otherwise alter the plot significantly. The novel describes Kay as using the box on more occasions than those depicted in the television adaptation. The following incidents occur only in the novel:

• After the Punch and Judy show the children are shown various magic tricks that include a miniature army of soldiers that walk out of the wainscot and drill.
• Kay Harker and the Jones children take refuge from Abner's men in a tree by a river bank. They are also shown around the tree and the various animal and insect dwellings within it. There is also a scene where the children dance with fairies.
• Kay is taken to witness a medieval jousting match.
• More detail is provided as to how the Box of Delights found its way into the possession of Cole Hawlings. The novel states that the Box came to England as an antiquity and found its way into the hands of a Countess. Cole Hawlings then discovered the hiding place of the Box. Abner Brown also discovered the Box's location but only after Cole had taken it. The BBC adaptation suggests that Cole was given the box by its creator Arnold of Todi.
• Arnold of Todi is convinced to come back out of the past. However, he has no interest in re-claiming the box. He attends the Midnight Service towards the end of the book.

O'BSERVATIONS:

Troughton looks so much like Robin Williams in that first picture that I think Williams would be a good choice to play the British actor if ever the need arose.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: INSPECTOR ROBERTS

INSPECTOR ROBERTS

AS SEEN IN:

'The Edgar Wallace Mysteries'

["To Have And To Hold"]

CREATED BY:

Edgar Wallace

(based on the novel "Breaking Point")

PORTRAYED BY:

William Hartnell

(The First Doctor)

TV DIMENSION:

The Borderlands (with the Cineverse)

From Wikipedia:

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was an English crime writer, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and numerous articles in newspapers and journals.

Over 160 films have been made of his novels. In the 1920s, one of Wallace's publishers claimed that a quarter of all books read in England were written by him. He is most famous today as the co-creator of "King Kong", writing the early screenplay and story for the movie, as well as a short story "King Kong" (1933) credited to him and Draycott Dell. He was known for the J. G. Reeder detective stories, "The Four Just Men", "The Ringer", and for creating the Green Archer character during his lifetime.

From the IMDb.com:

Originally, in September 1963 ["To Have And To Hold"] was first released in Great Britain as second feature to "Tamahine". It was then repackaged as an episode for export to Europe and America as a TV series.

O'BSERVATIONS:

"To Have And To Hold" was based on a novel from 1927, "Breaking Point".

Since this was a movie in one country, but treated as an episode in the anthology series for other countries, I thought it best to keep it in the Borderlands.

BCnU!

PROGRAMMING NOTE - WHO'S IN THE ASOTV GALLERY

From now until the end of the year (excluding Christmas), the literary edition of the "As Seen On TV" showcase will be running a very special theme.

Can you guess Who will be involved?

That's right, 11 out of the 12 remaining entries for this year will be literary characters portrayed by the actors who played the Time Lord of 'Doctor Who'. From the great classics, children's books, murder mysteries, adventure stories and a dusty old museum piece, the ASOTV Gallery will have an interesting entry for each of them. And three of them will be Christmas oriented!

It's all a promotional stunt to lead into the "Who's On First" marathon on New Year's Day........

Enjoy!

TVXOHOF, 12/2012: TOY STORIES

Sometimes December has two inductees into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame - the standard entry, hopefully of a holiday nature, and an Honors List inductee on Christmas Day which is supposed to be from the Multiverse.

We've got one of those for December 25th, so today we're honoring the traditional inductee. And we're taking on an entire geographical location!

No, not the North Pole.... It's been done.

THE ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS!

From Wikipedia:

The "Island of Misfit Toys", another addition to the original story, is an island sanctuary where defective and unwanted toys are sent. It is during the initial scene on the Island that Johnny Marks standard, "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year" is performed by the inhabitants. Toy versions of nearly every character from this show were produced in the 1990s. Among its inhabitants are:

• King Moonracer is voiced by Stan Francis.
• Charlie-In-The-Box is voiced by Alfie Scopp and is a misnamed, but otherwise seemingly normal jack-in-the-box who acts as the island's sentry.
• Spotted Elephant is a polka dotted elephant and also is the the King's footman.
• Dolly is voiced by Corinne Conley and is a seemingly normal girl rag doll with red hair and a red gingham dress. Her misfit problem is never explained on the special, but was possibly revealed on NPR's Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! news quiz show (broadcast December 8, 2007). The show revealed that Rudolph's producer, Arthur Rankin Jr., says Dolly's problem was psychological, caused from being abandoned by her mistress and suffering depression from feeling unloved.

Other toys (all voiced by Carl Banas) include a toy bird who swims instead of flies, a cowboy who rides an ostrich, a train with square wheels on its caboose, a toy boat that sinks rather than floats, a squirt gun that shoots grape jelly, an airplane that cannot fly, and a scooter with an unknown flaw.

 

And for good measure......

Although we only see Charlie in the Box during the AFLAC commercial, we can take it for granted that the other island castoffs (rather than castaways) exist just outside the frame.

I think there are plenty of bad toys to be found in Skitlandia, especially thanks to those fake 'Saturday Night Live' blipverts (Think "Big Red" and "Happy Fun Ball") that would eventually find a home on the island. 

 But in the meantime, these instances (save for the Romney "ad" of course) are all that was required to give these misfit toys a proper home.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST

'Are you the Spirit, sir, whose coming was foretold to me?' asked Scrooge.

'I am.'

The voice was soft and gentle. Singularly low, as if instead of being so close beside him, it were at a distance.

'Who, and what are you.' Scrooge demanded.

'I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.'

'Long Past.' inquired Scrooge: observant of its dwarfish stature.

'No. Your past.'"

"A Christmas Carol", [Stave 2: The First of the Three Spirits]

THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST

AS SEEN IN:

"A Christmas Carol" (1999)

CREATED BY:

Charles Dickens

PORTRAYED BY:

Joel Grey

TV STATUS:

Recastaway of the Multiverse

TV DIMENSION:

TBD

From Wikipedia:

The Ghost of Christmas Past is a character in the well-known work "A Christmas Carol" by the English novelist Charles Dickens.

The Ghost of Christmas Past was the first of the three spirits (after the visitation by Jacob Marley) that haunted the miser, Ebenezer Scrooge in order to prompt him to repent. It showed him scenes from his past that occurred on or around Christmas, in order to demonstrate to him the necessity of changing his ways, as well as to show the reader how Scrooge came to be the person he was and his particular dislike for Christmas – most of the events which negatively affected Scrooge occurred around the Christmas holiday season.

According to Dickens' novel, the Ghost of Christmas Past appears to Scrooge as a white-robed, androgynous figure of indeterminate age. It had on its head a blazing light, reminiscent of a candle flame, and carried a metal cap, made in the shape of a candle extinguisher. While the ghost is often portrayed as a woman in most dramatic adaptations, Dickens describes the Ghost of Christmas Past only as “it”, and gives a curious description of it "being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body: of which dissolving parts, no outline would be visible in the dense gloom wherein they melted away."

In the 1999 made-for-television version of "A Christmas Carol", the Ghost is portrayed as a being of indeterminate age, as described in the 1843 novel.

But that would not be the last we would see of this phantasm.....

From Wikipedia

"Conundrum" is the two hour series finale of the television series 'Dallas'. The episode originally aired on CBS on May 3, 1991, and in subsequent reruns in syndication, "Conundrum" aired as two-part one hour episodes.

Nearing the point of suicide, J.R. Ewing is visited by Adam, who takes him on an "It's a Wonderful Life"-style journey to see what would have become of the Ewings, had he never existed.

After being taken through this journey J.R. is encouraged by Adam to pull the trigger and kill himself. J.R. scoffs at the idea, saying that Adam's boss would not be happy— implying that Adam is an angel. However, Adam reveals himself to be not a true spirit, but actually a demon sent by Satan himself.

O'BSERVATIONS:

Both the Ghost of Christmas Past (in this production, anyway) and Adam were played by Joel Grey........

What happens to such a ghost when their services are no longer needed? This ghost was only Scrooge's ghost, geared toward his past life. So when Scrooge died, the ghost must have ended up on the ectoplasmic dole.

Rather than fade away and/or accept a transition to the next stage of the after-life, perhaps to angelic status, this ghost found employ with the other team in another TV dimension. Taking the name of Adam (a hated name this week certainly), he would have been able to keep busy with a variety of cases, including J.R. Ewing, instead of just the one, Ebenezer Scrooge.

BCnU!