NUMBERS RUNNING - ANY OLD PORT IN THE SEQUENCE

The 'Body Of Proof' forensic medical team in Philadelphia figured out where war veterans were being butchered, thanks to a quarantined bug found among the dumped bodies. A shipment containing such bugs was being kept at Berth 23 at the Port of Philadelphia.

"23" has become my favorite in the numerical sequence that was so prevalent in the TV series 'Lost'. Having first learned of "the Numbers", I naturally gravitated to "42", because of its connection to 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy'. But "23" has been used so often since then, and it seems like such a random number, that I'm more impressed in finding that one.

BCnU!

TVXOHOF NEWS: BIG BIRD & MRS. OBAMA

From CBS News:

For the third anniversary of Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" campaign this week, Big Bird has teamed up with the first lady in two new public service announcements that encourage kids to exercise and eat better. Mrs. Obama's initiative hopes to "ensure that all our children grow up healthy and reach their full potential."

- Lindsay Boerma

The PSAs seen in the article can be included in Big Bird's tally for his membership in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, which will take place this April. They also serve as the second requirement for First Lady Michelle Obama's qualifications to eventually join the Hall of Fame. She already has the appearance on 'iCarly', as seen in today's "League Of Themselves" post.

You can see the videos and read more about the story here.

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - THE FIRST LADY

Today we feature Barack's Better Half.....

MICHELLE OBAMA

From Wikipedia:

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is the wife of the 44th and current President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the first African-American First Lady of the United States. Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Obama attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School before returning to Chicago to work at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met her future husband. Subsequently, she worked as part of the staff of Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, and for the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Throughout 2007 and 2008, she helped campaign for her husband's presidential bid. She delivered a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and also spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. She is the mother of daughters, Malia and Sasha. As the wife of a Senator, and later the First Lady, she has become a fashion icon and role model for women, and an advocate for poverty awareness, nutrition, and healthy eating.

AS SEEN IN:

'iCarly'

["iMeet The First Lady"]

From the 'iCarly' wiki:

First Lady Obama guest-starred as herself in [the 'iCarly'] season 4 episode "iMeet The First Lady". The episode was written by series creator, writer and executive producer Dan Schneider specifically for Mrs. Obama and her Joining Forces initiative. Joining Forces is a comprehensive national initiative launched by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to mobilize all sectors of society to give American service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned. She appears in the episode lauding Carly, Sam and Freddie for their love and support of Carly's father Colonel Steven Shay.

BCnU!

MEET THE BROWNS: DIBS, SON OF FATS

James Howard "Fats" Brown, the legendary pool player, spent fifteen years in Purgatory to expunge his sins from Life. He did so by going back to Earth in order to play every claimant to his crown as the ultimate pool champion. The reason he had to pay such a penance was simple - by being so fixated on billiards in Life, he neglected everything else, including his own family.

And because they didn't have a firm father figure in their lives, at least one of his kids grew up to live his own life on the wrong side of the law.

That son was Dibs Brown. He became so notorious as "Dibs" that when he was on trial, the jury knew him - and exonerated him - as Dibs Brown, not by his given name.

That time he was lucky, because he had Carlton Rood as his defense attorney. But the next time he would have a harder time of it because by then, Rood was dead.....

SPLAININ TO DO:

'The Saint' episode was broadcast three years after the episode of 'The Twilight Zone', but the son looks older than the father.  Remember, Fats Brown had been dead for 15 years.  And when he died, he was an old man.  But in his ghostly form, Fats looked as he did at the height of his fame as the world's billiards champion.  When he died as an old man, his son Dibs was already middle-aged.

SHOWS CITED:

• 'The Twilight Zone' - "A Game Of Pool"
• 'The Saint' - "Element Of Doubt"

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - SENATOR OBAMA

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA

AS SEEN IN:

'Saturday Night Live'

["The Halloween Party Sketch"

On November 3rd, 2007, Senator Obama made a cameo appearance as himself in the opening sketch for the 'Saturday Night Live' which was hosted by Brian Williams (and which featured Feist as the musical guest.)

TV DIMENSION:

Skitlandia

From the Saturday Night Live Transcripts page:

Hillary Clinton (Amy Poehler) throws a Halloween costume party for her fellow contenders for the Democratic nomination, including Barack Obama who comes disguised as himself.

CAST:

• John Edwards.....Will Forte
• Hillary Clinton.....Amy Poehler
• Bill Clinton.....Darrell Hammond
• Bill Richardson.....Horatio Sanz
• Joe Biden.....Jason Sudeikis
• Chris Dodd.....Bill Hader
• Mike Gravel.....Fred Armisen
• Barack Obama.....Himself

EXCERPT:

Bill Clinton: Hey! Great Obama mask!

Hillary Clinton: Yeah!

Hillary Clinton: Who is that under there?

[ The man removes his mask to reveal that he really is Barack Obama ]

Barack Obama: Hello, Hillary. Hello, Bill.

Bill Clinton: Nice to see you.

Hillary Clinton: Yes, nice to see you, Barack. So, you're dressed as yourself?

Barack Obama: Well, you know, Hillary, I have nothing to hide. I enjoy being myself. I'm not going to change just because it's Halloween.

Hillary Clinton: Well, that's.... that's great..

Barack Obama: And, may I say, you make a lovely bride.

Bill Clinton: She's a witch!

Hillary Clinton: Bill!! Please, excuse my husband, Barack. Now, were you saying something?

Barack Obama: Yes. I just wanted to let the American people know that.. "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

For the full transcript, click here.

BCnU!

PRIME-TIME PRIME MINISTER

This past weekend, BBC-America played the entire mini-series of 'House Of Cards' throughout the day. This was most likely done to cash in on the new, Americanized version which is now available for streaming via Netflix, starring Kevin Spacey in the role of Frank Underwood. (Frank is based on Francis Urquhart, played by Ian Richardson, who starred in the original 'House Of Cards', as well as its two sequels - 'To Play The King' and 'The Final Cut'.)

I realize that 'House Of Cards' is now 23 years old (and it shows in the computer technology used throughout the mini-series!) However, as it was my first time seeing it, there may still be others out there who have yet to watch this brilliant satire on politics. Therefore let these opening paragraphs serve as your spoiler alert should I let spill any details that should have remained hush hush and on the Q.T.......

As I watched the mini-series unfurl, and reveled in the performance by Ian Richardson as the snake-like manipulator Urquhart, I mourned the loss of this series to the main Toobworld, Earth Prime-Time. It wasn't so much because of this opening salvo in the Urquhart trilogy - even though for most of the episodes there was a fictional British Prime Minister succeeding Margaret Thatcher (Henry Collingridge) rather than John Major as happened in the real world and should have been reflected in Toobworld (as is the case with American presidents.) And Collingridge was going to be succeeded by Francis Urquhart.

But by the second series, Prime Minister Urquhart was going to spar with the King of England. God bless the old frump, but the Queen still rules Brittania to this day, and Prince Charles still awaits in the wings. And the King of the second series isn't necessarily supposed to be Charles. He's only referred to as "the King", and is played by Michael Kitchen (Foyle of 'Foyle's War') who doesn't even make a go at impersonating the jug-eared Heir Apparent.

As far as I'm concerned, Kitchen was playing the British sovereign of an alternate TV dimension.

I have yet to see 'To Play The King', but I sense that somehow Urquhart emerges victorious in that head to uneasy head that wears the crown confrontation with the King, to the detriment of His Majesty's mortality. (By 'The Final Cut' there is a new player in the game - listed in the credits as "the Young King".)

Definitely not the stuff of Earth Prime-Time......

But it seemed such a shame to lose Francis Urquhart, Mr. Grey Poupon himself, to an alternate - and therefore, little visited - TV dimension, when he could be such a jewel in the crown for the main Toobworld. After all, Urquhart stands in the pantheon of ten greatest TV villains of all Time - up there with Dr. Loveless, J.R. Ewing, the Riddler, the Master and Khan Noonian Singh.

And so it was during my brisk walk back from the subway this morning that I decided Toobworld would not lose such a great character because of outside elements that would otherwise prove too Zonk-heavy for inclusion in Earth Prime-Time.

However, it did mean Toobworld would have to share his presence......

Basically the only thing that stood in the way for Urquhart to be considered a member of the main Toobworld was Henry Collingridge and then Urquhart himself as the Prime Minister. But the real world was reflected in having Margaret Thatcher as the previous Prime Minister, and references to her Majesty the Queen as the monarch at Buckingham Palace. Although she is never referred to by name, only as "She", I think it's safe to assume that it could - and should! - be Elizabeth II. It was the same situation in 'The West Wing', even though that classic series had a fictional succession of American Presidents going back to just after Richard M. Nixon.

So here's my claim - 'House Of Cards' takes place in the main Toobworld, with 'To Play The King' and 'The Final Cut' continuing the story of Urquhart's counterpart in an alternate TV dimension. That Urquhart's storyline would be the same as what happened in 'House Of Cards', but it can be assumed that the Queen in that dimension is not Elizabeth II, leading to a King who is not Charles.

We've seen this situation play out in the past, where a TV show begins in the main Toobworld, but ends up being the version to be found in some other TV dimension:

• 'Alias Smith And Jones'
• 'The Doris Day Show' (about five different TV dimensions in all!)
• 'The Dead Zone'
• 'Stargate SG-1'
• From 'That's So Raven' to 'Cory In The House'

There's still the niggling problem of both Collingridge and Urquhart as the Prime Minister in a world which should reflect those positions as held in the real world.

Still, it has been 23 years since the mini-series first aired. And maybe it's the Ugly American in me, but somehow I don't think the position of British Prime Minister should remain as inflexible even in the past as would be the case for the line of succession of the POTUS. (After all, I want to find a way to keep Harriet Jones of 'Doctor Who' in that office as well.) Collingridge, in the grand scheme of things, really wasn't in office at Number 10 Downing Street for very long. With Urquhart's manipulations, he probably only lasted out the year.

And as for Urquhart?

Remember when I said at the beginning of this post that there would be spoilers? If you haven't seen 'House Of Cards', maybe you should leave antechamber now.....

At the end of 'House Of Cards', reporter Mattie Storrin finally sorted it out that all along she had been used by Urquhart to further his own ends and destroy his enemies and rivals in the Press. She found this out too late of course - for even though they had become lovers, the soon-to-be Prime Minister now saw her as a liability to his ambitions. Without the slightest moment of hesitation, "Daddy" scooped her up and tossed her off the roof of the House of Parliament. She fell to her death, smashing in the roof of a car parked below.

 

Urquhart immediately began rehearsing what he would say upon being greeted by the police and the Press once he got back downstairs. But little did he know that there was one vital detail he had overlooked - as she always did, Matty had her tape recorder running in her purse to catch her conversation with her lover. We saw a hand reach down and pick up that recorder, which still had the recording light on.

I don't know how this might have been addressed in the beginning of 'To Play The King', but Toobworld Central has already declared that mini-series to be a continuation in another TV dimension.

Since we no longer see the main Toobworld version of Chief Whip Francis Urquhart, I think it's safe to say the back-bencher never became the Earth Prime-Time Prime Minister. That recording was like the manuscript of memoirs left behind in the jail cell by Louis Mazzini in "Kind Hearts And Coronets" or Rorschach's journal mailed to that third-rate newspaper in "The Watchmen". That recording would prove to be Urquhart's undoing.

As was the case with the too abrupt endings for 'Coronet Blue' and 'Now And Again', what happened is left to speculation. (Remember, we're ignoring 'To Play The King' and 'The Final Cut' as they belong to a different dimension.)

DCI Tennyson at the scene of Mattie Storrin's death?

Personally, I think Mattie Storrin's tape recording would find its way to DCI Jane Tennyson of the Met. The timeline works - Thatcher steps down in November of 1990, Henry Collingridge serves for about a year, Jane Tennyson is in charge of her squad by the Spring of 1991. The death of Mattie Storrin could have happened while the weather was still warm, a possibility in November, I think? But if need be, we could stretch out Henry Collingridge's tenure in office to the Spring of 1992 and still be within the 18 month time-span between the first and second series for 'Prime Suspect', which is where I think the arrest of Urquhart by DCI Tennyson would land on the Toobworld timeline.

And with his arrest, Francis Urquhart would become just a momentary blip on the political radar in Great Britain. John Major would finally emerge to take the role he was destined to play, only a year and a half later than he did in the real world. (He would still finish up his term in office at the same time as he did in the Trueniverse, in 1997.)

And this way, the main Toobworld gets to keep a version of Francis Urquhart, only without the ending to his career which he was expecting......

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - SAMMY DAVIS, JR.

Arguably the most famous appearance by a member of the League of Themselves.....

SAMMY DAVIS, JR.

From Wikipedia:

Samuel George "Sammy" Davis, Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American entertainer. Primarily a dancer and singer, he was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities.

Davis started as a child vaudevillian who became known for his performances on Broadway and Las Vegas. He went on to become a world famous recording artist, television and film star. Davis was also a member of Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack".

SYNOPSIS:

"Sammy's Visit," first broadcast in February 1972, is a particularly notable ["All In The Family"] episode, whose famous episode-ending scene produced the longest sustained audience laughter in the history of the show. Guest star Sammy Davis, Jr. plays himself in the episode.

Davis leaves a briefcase behind in Archie's taxi (Archie is moonlighting as a cab driver) and goes to the Bunker home to pick it up. After hearing Archie's racist remarks, Davis asks for a photograph with him. At the moment the picture is taken, Davis suddenly kisses a stunned Archie on the cheek. The ensuing laughter went on for so long that it had to be severely edited for network broadcast, as Carroll O'Connor still had one line ("Well, what the hell — he said it was in his contract!") to deliver after the kiss. (The line is usually cut in syndication.)

BCnU!

WHEAT THINKS

Dr. Rachel Albert was a Canadian agronomist in the 1960's who was kidnapped by Turkish spy Karafatma while Dr. Albert was at a conference in Mexico City. (But Alexander Scott passed himself off as Dr. Whitfield, another agronomist, and foiled the plot.)

Dr. Albert's experiments with wheat may have proven just as successful as the experiments conducted by the real Dr. Whitfield. It's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble that her work with wheat was so ground-breaking that centuries later it would serve as the basis for the development of quadrotriticale. This super multi-grain helpd the Federation of Planets secure the rights to Sherman's Planet.

Memory Alpha helps to support that theory:

Quadrotriticale (pronounced "quádro-tríti-kay-lee") was a high-yield, perennial, four-lobed grain, genetically engineered hybrid of wheat and rye with a bluish color. The root grain, triticale, could trace its ancestry back to 20th century Canada.

Of course, Ensign Pavel Chekov would disagree with its origins. He claimed it was developed in Russia.....

SHOWS CITED:

• 'I Spy' - "Turkish Delight"
• 'Star Trek' - "The Trouble With Tribbles"

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - CARL WEATHERS

CARL WEATHERS

From Wikipedia:

Carl Weathers (born January 14, 1948), is an American actor, as well as former professional football player in the United States and Canada. He is best known for playing Apollo Creed in the "Rocky" series of films. He also played Dillon in "Predator", Chubbs Peterson in "Happy Gilmore" and "Little Nicky", and an exaggeratedly frugal fictionalized version of himself in the television series 'Arrested Development'.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!

There’s still plenty of meat on that bone. 

Now you take this home, throw it in a pot, add some broth, a potato......

Baby, you’ve got a stew going!”

Carl Weathers

O'BSERVATIONS:

Carl Weathers is one of those members in the League of Themselves who are not afraid to cast a less than flattering light on their televersions, marking a difference between Toobworld and the Real World. In this case, Carl Weathers is amazingly cheap!

Here's a list of examples from the 'Arrested Development' Wikia:

• Carl takes a shuttle to the airport rather than a taxi or his own car. 
• Carl scams the airline by exploiting a loophole that gives you $300 if you are bumped from a flight. 
• Carl takes Tobias to Rud to exploid Lindsay's discount. 
• Carl buys all his automobiles at police auctions. 
• Carl tries to get a drink on Lindsay's tab. 
• As a brawl breaks out, he shares a bottle of wine with Lucille off some random table.
  
• When interviewed after the fight at the restaurant, he is holding a doggy bag and indicates that he will be suing for $50,000 in medical damage. 

• He makes stew from old chicken bones and leftovers. 
• He eats all his meals off the craft services table and pockets his per diem. 
• He gets a product placement with Burger King. 
• Carl gets his fill of free drink refills at Burger King.

BCnU!

REALI-TEEVEE: ALAINE GRIFFIN

One  of my brother's friends, a fellow journalist, has added to her Toobworld resume in the reali-teevee division.  Alaine Griffin and Josh Povner worked on a joint 'Frontline'/'Hartford Courant investigation into the life of Adam Lanza, the Newtown/Sandy Hook School killer.....

The 'Today' show covered the story today.  The special airs tonight on PBS.....