SATURDAY MORNING SUPERHEROES REBOOT

So I've had to toss out my theory that Gotham City must be in the California of Toobworld because of that TV van.

'Batman'

"Batman Sets The Pace"

At the end of the episode, once the Joker had been vanquished, Commissioner Gordon urgently called Batman on the hotline.  Turns out he had heard a rumor that Batman had been asked to move to California so that he could run for governor.

Luckily for me, Gordon Long came along with some Trueniverse info:

KDKA-TV, ch. 2, is the CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh. So it could still be back east....

Wikipedia splains away how KDKA could have call letters beginning with "K":

KDKA enjoys grandfathered status as one of six remaining stations east of the Mississippi River that have call letters beginning with K. Three of them are in Pittsburgh, the other two being KDKA-FM (KDKA's sister station) and KQV, as well as KDKA's longtime sister station KYW in Philadelphia (though the KYW call sign has in the past been used in Chicago and Cleveland); KFIZ in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; and KTGG Spring Arbor, Michigan (though in that instance, it was due to a clerical error at the FCC).

So in Toobworld we'll just add in KGC as the seventh station to be grandfathered as an exception.

So where does that put Gotham City on the Toobworld map now?

It still needs to be on the ocean, so we should be looking to the Eastern seaboard now.  After all, Gordon said "out to California", not "down to" or "up to" (which could have placed Texas in the running as well as the states to be found along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico.)  

I'm also drawn to the style of architecture found in Gotham City, which strongly suggests New York.  Even back in 1966 it felt as though the infrastructure was aging which - rightly or wrongly - makes me think New Jersey is the most viable candidate for the location of Gotham City.

And I don't have to just rely on my own wish-craft for that.  The atlas of the DC Universe shows Gotham City in New Jersey.  (However, it also shows Metropolis in Delaware and I have issues with that.)  

Hopefully this will be the last time I have to relocate Gotham City on the Toobworld map......

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - FUN WITH DICK (AND CHARLIE)

'COUGAR TOWN'

"CLIMB THAT HILL"

During the episode, Laurie revealed that in the past she had sex with Richard Grieco and Charlie Sheen (as far as I know, not at the same time.)  In order to cover up the truth to protect Travis' feelings, she claimed that the Richard who was still pestering her in e-mails was her Uncle Dick.  (Jules revealed that Travis was so convinced that he was sending money to Uncle Dick.)

At one time, Richard Grieco looked to be the big breakout star from '21 Jump Street', but that was before Johnny Depp blasted into the stratosphere.  However, his character of Dennis Booker from that show is eligible to one day be inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.  

Charlie Sheen on the other hand will probably land in the TVXOHOF as a member of the League of Themselves, and just this mention of his interaction (nudge nudge wink wink) with a fictional TV character counts toward his final tally of qualifications.

They weren't the first televersions of real people to have had sex with TV characters.  They join a somewhat exclusive club that also includes Roseanne, Ellen DeGeneres, and Mandy Moore.

BCnU!

CROSSING ZONE - REMEMBERING NANCY MALONE

Eighty years ago today, Nancy Malone was born.  (We lost her last year on May 8.)

For those who only know people from their on-screen appearances, Ms. Malone might just be recognizable for her many roles in television, especially 'Naked City', 'The Long, Hot Summer' and 'Guiding Light'.  (Although as the third recastaway to assay the role of Robin Lang Bauer Bowden Fletcher, she might have been overshadowed by the other three actresses who held the role.)

But she was a true pioneer in the television field because she turned her attentions to becoming a director.  As such, she directed episodes of powerhouse shows like 'Dynasty', 'Melrose Place', 'Diagnosis Murder', 'Star Trek: Voyager', 'Dawson's Creek', and 'Picket Fences'.  She was nominated for an Emmy Award as a director for episodes of 'Sisters' and 'The Trials Of Rosie O'Neil'.  She won an Emmy for producing a Bob Hope special celebrating his 90th birthday and she produced a particular favorite TV movie "Sherlock Holmes In New York" (which takes place in an alternate TV dimension.)

On top of all that, she became the first vice-president of television at 20th Century Fox in 1976.  

As our tip o' the hat to Nancy Malone, I'd like to offer up this theory of relateeveety.

The theories of relateeveety work best when only one of the characters involved had been a long-running role.  And even then it's preferable if the show has already been cancelled so the character's history is basically locked in.  The other role should be a guest starring appearance so that there isn't so much history/baggage to deal with.

And that's why I'm taking Ms. Malone's best known role of Libby Kingston in fifty one episodes of 'Naked City' and connecting her to Millie Frazier, who is only known for her one-way trip into 'The Twilight Zone'.

Aside from her life as an actress - appearing in small projects, auditioning, taking classes - about all we knew about Libby's personal life was that she was romantically involved with Detective Adam Flint of the 65th Precinct.  That I believe she had a sister named Millie may not be backed up by evidence from the series, but that's not so surprising.  In real life, how often do we talk about our siblings in everyday life?  

This sister, who was practically an identical twin, was Millie Frazier.  The difference in their last names is easy to splain away: Millie was married to Bob Frazier.  Even if it turned out that she acted alone in that episode of 'The Twilight Zone' as Millie Frazier, there still wouldn't have been a Zonk.  After all, being an aspiring actress, Libby might have changed her name to Kingston so that it had more potential on a marquee, or because there was already a Libby Frazier in AFTRA and SAG.

Bob and Millie Frazier made a "Stopover In A Quiet Town" which turned out to be a toy model village on board a spaceship, taking giants back to their home planet.  Millie and Bob were now to be the "pets" of a giant "little" girl.  (These giants are from the same planet as those to be found in the 'T-Zone' episodes "The Little People" and "The Invaders".  And their home planet would be 'The Land Of The Giants'.  The name of that world?  Brobdingnag of Swiftian fame, which was only accessible for humans of Earth Prime-Time via a dimensional vortex.)

Had this bizarre turn of events happened while the Trueniverse audience was still able to see Libby Kingston's life play out on their TV screens, we might have finally seen Libby mention her sister Millie; perhaps she would have asked Adam to look into the disappearance of her and her husband.  But Toobworld stopped following Libby's life one year before we saw what happened to the Fraziers.  And that's a big boon for this theory of relateeveety......

Remembering Nancy Malone on her birthday......

As Red Skelton would often say, "Good night and may God bless."

PS:

The pictures I chose to represent Nancy Malone's role of Libby Kingston are of a personal nature for me.  In the background you can see my place employment and which has since been inducted into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame for its use in 'Seinfeld', 'Becker', 'Sex And The City', and going back to 'The George Burns And Gracie Allen Show'.

MAGNUM & S.H.I.E.L.D.

'AGENTS OF SHIELD'

"WHO YOU REALLY ARE"

While hunting for clues dealing with the Kree who attacked Lady Sif, Mac called Hunter "Magnum P.I."

'Agents Of SHIELD' takes place in Comic Book Toobworld, so it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that 'Magnum P.I' could be a TV show.  Had this occurred in the main Toobworld, I'd have to justify Thomas Magnum being known to both Hunter and Mac.  Considering the work they do, that doesn't seem out of the realm of pozz'bility.

BCnU!

IN KEEPIN' WITH THE SEASON.....

'The Name Of The Game'

"The Glory Shouter"

While investigating his friend Ron Payden, an evangelist, Dan Farrell noticed the proposed completion date for a senior citizens' center being built by the Payden Foundation: 1980.

Dan then remarked that it was scheduled to be completed ten years into the future.

So we know this episode took place in 1970.  Ah... but on what day?

I'm going to say it took place at one point on March 17 - St. Patrick's Day, forty-five years ago to this day.

Why?

Well, why else would a man like Dan Farrell wear such an ugly tie and sports jacket unless he was showing his Irish pride in the wearing o' the green?

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody!

SPLAININ TO DO: THE GAYLE FORCE

When Garry Gergich, "Mayor for Life" in Pawnee Indiana, died at the age of 100 in 2048, his wife Gayle looked just as she did when we first met her back in 2012.  

 

 

There's a very good reason for this.  Gayle was an immortal.  Probably not the kind to be found in 'Highlander'; otherwise we would have been seeing sword-wielding maniacs in Pawnee, trying to cut her head off.  Nor do I think she was like a vampire or some life-leeching succubus.

I think she may be more like Adam and Dr. Henry Morgan of 'Forever'.  She could be killed, but she would come right back to life, naked and in water.  

As to why she married Garry and lived in Pawnee?  Pawnee was mostly a backwater town where her secret could remain safe.  As to spending that eternity with one of the hairiest TV characters since Jack Donaghy, Lou Grant, and Mork....  A doctor in Pawnee finally revealed that secret - Garry had the biggest penis he had ever seen!

BCnU!

VIDEO SUNDAY - "STRANGERS" (1980)

Here's a movie-length episode of 'Strangers' featuring this month's inductee into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, George Bulman.....

TOOBWORLD CELEBRATES EINSTEIN'S BIRTHDAY

It's Pi Day and it's Albert Einstein's birthday!

Putting the World" back into Toobworld, here is a show about the scientific genius.....

For some reason, the second part of this show can't be embedded.  I guess you'll just have to click on the link to it after watching Part One.  Oh, the agonies of the modern age!

BCnU.....

SATURDAY MORNING SUPER HEROES

CBS has released the first images of Melissa Benoist in her 'Supergirl' costume:

I've already reconciled myself to the idea that the Superman to whom she is related is not the one who died back in the 1960s in Earth Prime-Time.  And since there is a lot of online chatter that eventually she will cross over networks to team up with 'Arrow' and 'The Flash', I have also said goodbye to the idea that she would even be in the main Toobworld.

Even so, I'm pumped to see the show.

But it has got me wondering who could have played Supergirl back in the 1950s when 'The Adventures Of Superman' was on the air.  I've already posted my ideas for some of the comic book villains if only the TV show had focused more on those stories rather than on simplistic gangster plots.  (But at least that gave Ben Welden a steady income.....)

As for the villains, I've suggested RG Armstrong for Lex Luthor, Michael Ansara as Brainiac, Michael Rennie as General Zod, and Mr. Mxyzptlk could have been played by the great Billy Barty.  (Here's another one that could have worked - Ed Wynn as the Toyman.)

But those are the villains.  How about Supergirl?

I bopped around the interwebz looking for a young blonde actress from the 1950s who might fit the role and I came up with Cheryl Holdridge.  She may have been too young for the Supergirl we picture today, but a recurring role on 'The Adventures of Superman' might have groomed her for an eventual spin-off of her own.

Oh well.  Only a dream.....

Up, Up, and Away!

TOOBWORLD TIMELINE - PAWNEE 2017... AND BEYOND!

For the final season of 'Parks And Recreation', the show was set in the "future" - 2017.  It's only a jump of two years, and I'm fairly certain we won't see very many changes here in the Trueniverse.  But P&R contributed plenty of events that should be set in stone on the Toobworld timeline even if they don't happen in our world.

There have been shows in the past which were set in their own future which has since come and gone, and for the most part they have been integrated into the dimension of Earth Prime-Time.  For example - 'Land Of The Giants'.  The show was broadcast from 1968 until 1970, but the storyline began in 1984 when the sub-orbital flight of the Spindrift entered a dimensional rift that landed him on the giants' world of Brobdingnag.  Nothing about that violates life as we view it in Toobworld, especially since most of it happens off-world.  The existence of the Spindrift and its disappearance and that of its crew can be easily absorbed into a world where lunar expeditions have been happening since the 1950s.

Speaking of the Moon, another example is 'Space: 1999'.  This was a show that would be a major Zonk to the dynamic of Toobworld, considering it's established in the first episode that the Moon was ripped out of its orbit and sent hurtling into space.  Such a cataclysmic event meant that the Earth was severely damaged by the loss of its satellite's gravity.  There is no way that could ever be incorporated into Toobworld.  So I came up with a different splainin: when the nuclear fuel dumps exploded on the far side of the Moon, the explosion left Commander Koenig in a coma.  Everything we saw in the show, including the existence of shape-changer Maya, was part of the dream Koenig had in his coma.  (He may still be in that coma at this point.)

The Jupiter 2 still blasted off in 1997; anything else that happened on 'Lost In Space' after that took place in another part of the galaxy and had no effect on Toobworld.

Don't get me started on the futures established by 'Star Trek', 'Babylon 5', and ......  They are set in stone as well but it's not like we'll ever be around to confirm it one way or the other.

So now that we've got all of that out of the way, let's get working on how 'Parks And Recreation' has changed the future of Toobworld......

LIFE IN 2017

Shia LaBeouf has a line of wedding dresses which he designed.  And he's also the designer of jewelry pieces.

Hey, this is a world in which Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin dealt with time travelers, and Franklin and Mark Twain actually traveled forward into the future.  In fact, Twain even went into space.  So this change in LaBeouf's career path is no big deal.  It can easily be accepted for his televersion.

Elton John owns Chick-Fil-A.

The same situation applies in this case.  In fact, despite the singer's high profile as a gay and as an advocate for gay issues, this would be under the radar in Toobworld.  Who cares about the financial holdings of celebrities unless it involves making fur coats out of dead puppies......

The Cubs will have won the World Series.

The Cubs last won the Series in 1908.  Hope schwings eternal as Wayne Campbell would say, and Baseball can be a magical world of miracles and wonder.  But I'm not about to hold my breath over this happening.  Still, Toobworld is not our world and when the Tele-Cubs win the Series either this year or next, it won't have any major impact on the world at large.  Sorry to break it to you, those who live and die by the "Show", but Baseball is not the be-all and end-all.

The "Jason Bourne" franchise has been rebooted, but this time? Kevin James is the lead.

In Toobworld, Jason Bourne was a real person, as real as he was in the Cineverse and originally in BookWorld.  So any mention of a movie about Jason Bourne would be biographical.  However, calling it a reboot could mean that the movie producers were breaking free of the limitations of "reality" and planned to do a spoof of his life.  There's no other way to justify the idea of Kevin James as Jason Bourne because I can't see him going through a massive reboot of his own physique in the same way that Chris Pratt did for "Guardians Of The Galaxy", can you?

Everybody seems to be using the Gryzzlepad as their tablet of choice.

If other shows don't have tablets with 3-D holographic screens by 2017, we can just say that Gryzzle was still beta-testing the product near their home-base only.

The latest fashion fad: diamonds embedded into the elbow area.

They could be doing this on other TV shows in 2017 as well.  But only those characters whom we never see in short sleeves.....

The televersions of the following people are guaranteed to still be alive in 2017:

• Jimmy Carter (Not seen, but mentioned and in such a way as to presume he was still alive)
• Jon Ceda
• John McCain
• Barbara Boxer
• Cory Booker
• Madeline Albright
• Kirsten Gillibrand
• Orrin G. Hatch

If they die in real life, their appearance in 2017 cameos on this show will guarantee them some extra time on Earth Prime-Time.  Additionally, Barbara Boxer was addressed as Senator and seen in what I assume was her office.  However at some point after she filmed her cameo, Senator Boxer announced that this term would be her last in office.  This can be easily splained away: she will always be addressed as "Senator Boxer" in retirement; it's a tradition.  As for her office, perhaps retired Senator Boxer rented a new office in the nation's capital and had it decorated to resembler the office she used while in office.

The televersions of Vice President Biden and his wife Jill get a guarantee of at least ten more years of life in Toobworld since Ben and Leslie were seen in their home in 2025.  The assumption for the audience was that Biden was now the President of the United States since Ben mentioned that Leslie always got a little excited when in their home.  Why would she get excited over being in someone's home, even if it was Biden's unless it was something about the house itself.  As in could they have been in the White House, the residence section?  I can't say.  I don't know where that particular scene was filmed.  But who the President is by 2025 has to be set in stone to be the same as he or she is in the real world.  If it's Biden, then fine.  No Zonk to be disabled.  But here's my splainin if needed (should I not be around then to address the situation):  They were in the private residence of the former Vice President and if it looks like the interior of the White House then the Bidens had it decorated that way.

There will be only eight corporations in the future.  One of these will be a merger of Verizon, Exxon, and Chipotle.

This will never happen in the real world, but I don't see anything about the idea that would have any real impact on Toobworld at large.

Ethel Beavers is still alive and will deliver a rather scandalous eulogy at the funeral for Mayor Gunderson.

Ms. Beavers is played by Helen Slayton-Hughes.  She falls into the same category as the actors from 'Star Trek'.  DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, and Leonard Nimoy have passed away, but their iconic characters are not yet even born.  So their deaths have no impact on their characters,  Gods forbid that Ms. Slayton-Hughes should die before then, but like the real life people mentioned above, it would have no impact on her character of Ethel Beavers.

With the final episode, there were time jumps all over the place as the cast took "One Last Ride" before splitting up to go their separate ways.

  

2022

The United States will run out of beef.  No reason is given for this calamity, but I'm guessing it would be some kind of virus that wipes out the herds of cattle all across the country.  Mad Cow Disease on an epic scale perhaps.  Hopefully it is a short-term disaster so that if somebody is shown eating meat in 2023 and beyond on some other show, there won't be any Zonk involved.  Perhaps in a move reminiscent of 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home', somebody went back in Time to bring forward enough herds of cattle from the past to replenish the need for beef.  Sounds like a job for the Doctor and his TARDIS, which is bigger on the inside......

  

2023

Donna's husband mentioned that Middle Korea is a beautiful place.

  

In the coming eight years, it could be that there will be some kind of conflagration between North and South Korea that leads to war, considering the nutjob in charge of North Korea.  But I think it would be only in Toobworld that a third country springs up to act as a buffer between the two.  It also could be just a geographical turn of phrase that signifies an unofficial area of either or both of the two Koreas.

Tom Haverford will publish a best-seller: "Failure: A Success Story".

Lots of TV characters have published books over the years and there is no impact between those and the real world.  And there's no reason why they should be acknowledged in Toobworld either.

A Space Haystack was being constructed around the Space Needle in Seattle.

This is a project that would have to be eliminated in order to maintain harmony in Toobworld.  At some point after the year 2023, Seattle will be seen on TV in some show or another and there won't be a Space Haystack to be seen around the Space Needle.  How to get rid of it?  Sadly, terrorism wil be an option, but I'll go with wiser heads prevailing in the City Council and the funding for the project will be rescinded.  What was already completed would be dismantled.

I have one other note from the finale but I don't think I even knew what it meant when I jotted it down: "Jack Dwyer Baby".  If anyone has a splainin for this, let me know.

2025

As mentioned earlier, Leslie always gets excited when she visits the Bidens' "home" and the scene suggests that it's taking place in the White House.  So without stating it, they seem to be claiming that by 2025, Biden would be the POTUS.  I don't think so.  But who knows?  If by 2025, Biden is NOT the President, then a splainin will have to be provided to keep P&R in the system.  As I stated earlier, I think that scene took place in the actual residence of Joe and Jill Biden and not in the White House.

2048

Mayor Garry Gergich dies at the age of 100.

God bless the luckiest man in Toobworld.  Okay, so they spelled his name wrong on the tombstone ("Girgich"), but that could never diminish what he had in life - an immortal wife who never turned him into the Undead.

Here's the big puzzler - at the graveside service for Garry, a bodyguard leaned in to the elderly Leslie and whispered that it was time to go.  Everything about the two bodyguards suggested Secret Service agents, so could it be that by 2048 Leslie Knope was the President of the United States?  Only in the alternate Toobworld which also houses 'Mr. President', 'Hail To The Chief', 'Nancy', and 'Cory In The House'.  For Earth Prime-Time, those bodyguards should be just that - bodyguards.  Perhaps they were assigned to escort the former Governor of the state of Indiana.

I think I covered it all.  Let me know if I left any future Zonks unattended....

BCnU!