JON SNOW'S TRAINING VIDEO

Not quite ready to let go of 'Game of Thrones' for this year.  Can't believe the ten weeks of the third season went by that quickly!

So here's an '80s exercise video to get your blood pumping this Saturday morning!

BLAIR WHO PROJECT

Here's your 'Doctor Who' related content for the day.

In Skitlandia, even members of the League of Themselves can be Gallifreyans.....

BLIPVERTS: OF MOO COWS AND MAD MEN

It's time to pay the bills.....

I'm glad the commercial had that coda - otherwise people might think that Milky Way chocolate kills.  (It probably does in our obese country, but not by pushing somebody off the top of a building!)

Speculative Television Mythography is my game and as such, I have a theory to expand the world of this blipvert.....

The company that made that billboard advertisement was Sterling Cooper.  And the artist who designed it was named Jonathan.

And Jonathan can tie this Mars commercial for Milky Way to Steven Spielberg's series 'Amazing Stories'.

During "The Mission", a World War II bombing run, Jonathan was a gunner in the belly of the plane.  During this particular mission, Jonathan was trapped in his "nest" and would most certainly die once the plane made a belly flop landing back at their home base airstrip in England.

But Jonathan had an ace up his sleeve.  Or rather, he had a hidden advantage due to his genetic heritage.  It appears that he was descended from the demi-god Evander, a boy with the power to create things out of his imagination.  And this power was passed down through the generations to others in his family once he procreated with humans.

Among his other descendants were Anthony Fremont ('The Twilight Zone' - "It's A Good Life" and "It's Still A Good Life"), Gregory West ('The Twilight Zone' - "A World Of His Own"), and Walter Kellogg ('The People Next Door').

Jonathan used his power to bring his artwork to life by drawing huge cartoonish wheels that buffered the landing of the aircraft and saved his life.

It's my contention that during his war service, Jonathan met Roger Sterling - who invited him to come work in the art department of the ad agency founded by Roger's father and Bert Cooper.

But he may not have lasted long because of complications caused by his powers.  And the near death of this poor schmuck who put up that billboard may have been the tipping point.

I'm also going to claim that Jonathan's last name was "Korman", and that he was the father of Jim Korman.  Jim grew up to become a comic book artist who inherited the powers handed down through the ages from Evander.  

(But that was another "Korman's Kalamity", as seen in 'Tales From The Crypt'.)

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking with it.....

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES HAT SQUAD - JAMES GANDOLFINI

(CNN) -- James Gandolfini, best known for his role as an anxiety-ridden mob boss on HBO's "The Sopranos," died Wednesday while on vacation in Italy. He was 51.

The exact cause of death is not known, but his managers said it was possibly a heart attack.

His body is in a hospital morgue in Rome. Once the U.S. Embassy issues a death certificate, Gandolfini's remains can be returned to the United States.

JAMES GANDOLFINI

From Wikipedia:

James Joseph Gandolfini, Jr. (September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor best known for his role in 'The Sopranos' as Tony Soprano, a troubled crime boss struggling to balance his family life and career in the Mafia. Gandolfini garnered enormous praise for this role, winning both the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series three times.

Gandolfini's other roles include the woman-beating mob henchman Virgil in "True Romance", enforcer/stuntman Bear in "Get Shorty", and the impulsive Wild Thing Carol in "Where the Wild Things Are".

Gandolfini produced the 2007 documentary "Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq", in which he interviewed 10 injured Iraq War veterans. His second documentary was released in 2010; "Wartorn: 1861-2010" analyzes post-traumatic stress disorder and its impact on soldiers and families through several wars in American history, from 1861 to 2010. TV Guide ranked him 28 on its "50 Sexiest Stars of All Time" list in 2005.

AS SEEN IN:

'Sesame Street'

Episode 33.52 (2002)

SYNOPSIS:

When Zoe was scared by the sound of something crashing, she was lucky to have Gandolfini nearby to help calm her down.  He did so by telling her the three things that scared him:

1] The Dark

2] Getting A Haircut

3] Large Talking Vegetables

Hey!  Who isn't?

Good night and may God bless.....

SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE - ANDREW BROOK

There's no way I could know everything about the crossover potentials in the TV Universe.  Luckily for me, I know several other enthusiasts of the form who find many of the things I would otherwise never know about.

The Toobworld Dynamic would be a poorer place without them.  

Here's an example from one of my compatriots....

ANDREW BROOK:

Crossovers we could have had... Poirot's sidekick Captain Hastings would have been at Eton at the same time as Lord Peter Wimsey. Fletcher (from the sitcom "Porridge") and, at least in one version, Harold Steptoe (from ["Steptoe And Son", the sitcom that became "Sanford and Son" on translation to America) both fought in the Malaya Emergency. And as regards the one crossover we did have - James Bond and John Steed were at Eton together,

In case you weren't aware, that last one does work, as James Bond is a character in Toobworld, thanks to the "Casino Royale" episode of 'Suspense'.  It gets more complicated after that, but that splainin will suffice for now....

As for the first two examples cited by Our Mister Brook, Toobworld Central has no problem in fudging the facts, by citing the Khan-Chekov Encounter:  Just because we didn't see it happen on our TV screens, that doesn't mean it never took place.

"Cathy Gale, isn't it?

I went to University with your partner, John Steed."

Of course, this pictorial representation would only work in the Borderlands, because for Toobworld, Sean Connery was only James Bond in the movies.......

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES: SUMMER GLAU

It's the first day of Summer!

SUMMER GLAU

From Wikipedia:
Summer Lyn Glau (born July 24, 1981) is an American actress. She is best known for playing River Tam in 'Firefly' and "Serenity", as well as Cameron in the 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' series.

AS SEEN IN:
'The Big Bang Theory'
"The Terminator Decoupling"

TV DIMENSIONS:
Earth Prime-Time & the Promoverse
(The picture above could have been seen only in the commercial for the episode.)

SYNOPSIS:
"The Terminator Decoupling" is an episode of the United States television series 'The Big Bang Theory' that first aired on CBS on March 9, 2009. It is the seventeenth episode of the second season of the series and the thirty-fourth episode overall. The episode features guest appearances by actress Summer Glau and cosmologist George Smoot.

On board the train, they learn that Summer Glau (played by herself) is riding the same train. Raj and Howard debate on who should approach her first. With Raj unable to talk to women except when under the influence of alcohol, he departs to find alcohol on the train. As Howard is trying to figure out the best opening line, Raj swoops in and starts talking with Summer (even using the same line Howard planned to use: "It's hot in here, it must be Summer").

Their conversation is going very well until Howard points out that Raj is drinking non-alcoholic beer. Realizing he was under a sort of placebo effect, Raj quickly departs the scene, unable to talk anymore.

Howard tries to strike a conversation but is unable to create an impression; instead he just comes off as annoying. Finally he asks to have his picture with her to which she agrees until he gets annoying again and she breaks his phone.

With the failure of both Raj and Howard, Leonard musters the courage to approach Summer, but she gets off the train as he is introducing himself.

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD - JAMES GANDOLFINI



Back in May, I ran a Super Six List about "Present Day" TV characters (but not currently on the air) who could probably be dead by now.

One of those on the list was Jersey gangster Tony Soprano.  And now we can say that the mob boss is definitely dead - for when actor James Gandolfini suddenly suffered a fatal heart attack in Italy yesterday, Tony Soprano died with him.  There could never be a recastaway for that role.

I always figured that the only thing that would stop the talk about a 'Sopranos' reunion movie would be the death of James Gandolfini or the death of David Chase.  Practically the rest of the cast and storylines were wiped out/wrapped up, but it didn't stop the persistent questions from the press and others.  That should end now - who wants to see "Meadow and AJ - The Next Generation"?

I liked the show a lot.  I LOVED the first season, and that's not just because I was crazy for the girl who loaned me the tapes.  If they ended the series with Tony actually killing his mother in the nursing home, I would have declared it the greatest mini-series in the history of the medium.  But it continued, with what I considered to be diminishing returns, and with Chase even cannibalizing one of his plot lines from 'The Rockford Files' to use in the show.

And even so, there was no denying the power of Gandolfini's performance, which galvanized the entire production as the center of its universe.

Gandolfini appeared on Broadway and in the movies, but what he really needed was another role that would have been on a par with "T".  As it is, he will be forever defined by Tony Soprano.

In the end, that's not such a bad thing, considering.  Look at the company he's in.....

Good night and may God bless........

THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY - THE O'BRIENS

'Major Crimes'
Daniel O'Brien
– "Final Cut" (2013) … Daniel O'Brien

It was a very small part for Ryan Caldwell, just an appearance at his front door while his wife was being questioned by the police.  But it provided a very satisfying theory of relateeveety.

I'm going to make the claim that his grandfather was New York lawyer Daniel J. O'Brien, the main character in 'The Trials Of O'Brien', played by one of my all-time favorite actors:

O'Brien was divorced in the series, but there's always the possibility that there were children... just never mentioned within the show.  

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - SCOTT WOLF

SCOTT WOLF

From Wikipedia:

Scott Richard Wolf (born June 4, 1968) is an American actor, known for his roles on the television series 'Party of Five', as Bailey Salinger, 'Everwood', as Dr. Jake Hartman, and in the Sci-Fi series 'V' as the morally ambiguous journalist Chad Decker.

AS SEEN IN:

'Action'

"Twelfth Step To Hell"

SYNOPSIS:

Peter turns down Scott Wolf for the lead in "Beverly Hills Gun Club" and Leonardo DiCaptrio proves uninterested. So, he pulls Holden van Dorn out of rehab and leaves him in Adam Rafkin's care. (from the IMDb)

BCnU!

MISSING LINK THEORY - "KING & MAXWELL" AND "HOUSE, M.D."

In the "Pilot" episode of 'King & Maxwell', we were introduced to the private eye team of Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, both of whom were once Secret Service agents (but not at the same time.)  While investigating the death of his friend and mentor, Sean King opened up about his past:

His Secret Service career ended when the presidential candidate he was assigned to protect was assassinated.  Sean hit rock bottom after that, falling into a never-ending bender.  But his friend pulled him out of his drunken funk, got him through law school, and then helped set him up as a private investigator.

My Toobworld-honed mind immediately asked: "Who was the presidential candidate?"

'King & Maxwell' is based on a series of novels by David Baldacci, but a TV series is quite the different beastie.  That candidate may have been named in the books, but not in the show.  (At least, not yet.....)  So the tele-version is fair game for speculation.

The timeline is going to be tight, but I do have a candidate for the candidate:

Senator Gary H. Wright

(Joe Morton)

'House, M.D.'

"Role Model"

The episode took place in April of 2005, when the Senator faced serious health issues that were first diagnosed as AIDS, then as hairy-cell leukemia, and eventually treated correctly as Epstein-Barre Virus.  Senator Wright would be okay, but he'd have to be on medication for the rest of his life.

The Senator told Dr. House that he still intended to campaign for President.  He knew he didn't have a chance to win, but hopefully he would open the door for somebody else.

And as we all know, Senator Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States in 2008, both in the real world, Earth Prime, and Earth Prime-Time.

Like I said, the timeline is tight, but it looks like somebody couldn't risk Senator Wright losing that race.

I'm going to claim that Senator Gary H. Wright was assassinated later in the year - Summer of 2005 would be my guess.  An outdoor campaign event would be the perfect venue for an assassin.

Sean King quit the Secret Service in disgrace for failing to protect his charge, and then slid into an alcohol-fueled depression for several months.  (Any longer and he could have ended up dead.)  Eventually his friend pulled him out of it and guided him into law school.  

Law school usually takes three years, so by 2010, Sean King had his degree and passed the bar.  But instead of becoming a lawyer, he set up shop to be a private eye, just like his mentor.

A couple years into his gig and Michelle Maxwell quit the Secret Service as well.  She gets her private eye licence and he takes her on as a partner.

When we met them in that first episode, it was still early days in their partnership.  Sean was still learning things about her - like how she's a slob.  And their agency had serious financial concerns, as any new business might have.

So all in all, the timeline could work to bring us up to date in 2013.

I'm sorry I had to sacrifice Joe Morton's character, but it was a one-shot and he has several others to still represent the actor in Toobworld.  One of them, a doctor at 'Mercy Point', hasn't even been born yet!

And it's not likely this claim will be contradicted on 'House', as that show is cancelled.  But it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that we may one day learn the name of the assassinated candidate in a future episode of 'King & Maxwell'.

If so, fine.  The great thing about the Toobworld Dynamic is its fluidity.

BCnU!