OUTSIDE THE BOX WISH-CRAFT: BATGIRL & THE X-FILES

The website for the great comic book mash-up project, "The Super-Team Family (The Lost Issues)",  has done it again with a Toobworld-related cover:

Both Dana Scully and Batgirl (AKA Barbara Gordon) belong in the main Toobworld of Earth Prime-Time even if the tone of their respective series - 'The X-Files' and 'Batman' respectively - differ so greatly.

BCnU!

REMEMBERING 9/11 - AN UNWANTED REPEAT

“A few excerpts from the diary of Major Skelton.

The date is Tuesday, September 11, 1864:

‘The city was ours; there was no need to destroy art,

save that which could be of use in the fight against us.

But Sherman was drunk with victory.

He himself started the awful fires,

the fires that destroyed that great citadel of grace and beauty.’”

Walter Jameson

'The Twilight Zone' - "Long Live Walter Jameson"

THE LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - THE CALIFORNIA WILDCATS

Just by the very fact that they act out fictional scenarios in Toobworld, members of the League of Themselves are not the same people they are in the Trueniverse.  But some of them as they appear in Earth Prime-Time could never exist here in the Real World.

For example:

• Emma Thompson was born and raised in Akron, Ohio.  ('Ellen')
• Vera Louise Gorman Novak was related to Art Carney. ('Alice')
• Larry Sanders slept with Roseanne Barr and Ellen DeGeneres.  ('The Larry Sanders Show')
• Jack Benny is an android ('The Jack Benny Program')
• Dennis Rodman is an extraterrestrial. ('Third Rock From The Sun')
• Tom Smothers died and was "reborn" as an angel. ('The Smothers Brothers Show')
• Jean Claude Van Damme was murdered.  ('Las Vegas')  (However, it is the Toobworld Central contention that the dead Van Damme was actually some form of replicant for he yet lives in Toobworld.)

In 1965, several professional football players appeared as themselves in "The Case Of The 12th Wildcat".  They may have been members of teams from Detroit and Cincinnatti and Chicago ("Oh my!), but in this episode they were not members of the teams for whom they played in the Real World.  Each of them was a member of the California Wildcats, a football team which connects 'Perry Mason' to 'Monk'.  

At the time of the episode, most of them were playing for the Los Angeles Rams in the real world.  The California Wildcats were located in San Francisco, and we saw the players on a train heading down to L.A. from their home base.

Here are the Wildcats to be found in the League Of Themselves:

Joe Scibelli

Joseph Albert Scibelli (April 19, 1939 in Springfield, Massachusetts – December 12, 1991 in Boston, Massachusetts) was an American football tackle and guard who played fifteen seasons in the National Football League with the Los Angeles Rams.

He helped the Rams win the 1967 and 1969 NFC Coastal Division and the 1973-75 NFC West.

During his tenure with the Rams they led the NFL in scoring in 1967 and 1973, total yards gained in 1973 and the NFC in yards rushing in 1973.

In 1965 he and several of his Ram teammates had cameo roles as football players in the 'Perry Mason' episode, "The Case of the 12th Wildcat."

He died in 1991 of cancer at the New England Baptist Hospital.

Bill Munson

William Alan Munson (August 11, 1941 - July 10, 2000) was a professional American football quarterback who played in 16 NFL seasons from 1964 through 1979 for five different teams. He was 6'2" and weighed 203 lbs. He was best known for his years as a starter for the Detroit Lions in the mid-1970s.

While with the Los Angeles Rams in 1965, he and several of his teammates played cameo roles as football players in the 'Perry Mason' episode, "The Case of the 12th Wildcat."

On July 10, 2000, Munson was found drowned in his swimming pool.
Don Chuy

Donald John Chuy (July 20, 1941 – January 6, 2014) was a professional American football player who played guard for seven seasons for the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles.

While playing for the Rams in 1965, he and several of his teammates played cameo roles as football players in the 'Perry Mason' episode, "The Case of the 12th Wildcat."

He died at his Myrtle Beach, South Carolina home in January 2014. He was 72.

Cliff Livingston

Clifford Lyman Livingston (July 2, 1930 – March 13, 2010) was a professional American football linebacker in the National Football League for the New York Giants, the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams. He was born in Compton, California, and played college football at UCLA.

In 1965 while with the Rams, he and several of his teammates appeared in cameo roles in the 'Perry Mason' episode, "The Case of the 12th Wildcat."

He died at his home in the affluent neighborhood of Southern Highlands in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 13, 2010.
Marlin McKeever

Marlin Thomas McKeever (January 1, 1940 – October 27, 2006) was an American football defensive end, fullback and punter at the University of Southern California and a tight end and linebacker during his 13-year National Football League (NFL) career. He was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Marlin appeared with several of his Los Angeles Rams teammates as football players in the 1965 'Perry Mason' episode, "The Case of the 12th Wildcat."  On August 18, 1966, Marlin was a passenger in Roman Gabriel's car and lost a finger when Gabriel crashed into a parked car.  On October 26, 2006, he fell at his home and slipped into a coma shortly thereafter. Doctors in the intensive care unit at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, California, reported a blood clot on his brain. He died from his injuries the next day. His interment was in Culver City's Holy Cross Cemetery.

Roman Gabriel

Roman Ildonzo Gabriel, Jr. (born August 5, 1940) is a former American football player. The son of a Filipino immigrant, he was the first Asian-American to start as an NFL quarterback and is considered by many to have been one of the best players at that position during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was the second overall pick in the 1962 NFL Draft and played for the Los Angeles Rams for eleven seasons, then five seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Gabriel had previously appeared as a headhunter in the November 14, 1966 "Topsy-Turvey" episode of CBS' 'Gilligan's Island'. Together with several of his Ram teammates, he made a cameo appearance as a football player in the 1965 'Perry Mason' episode, "The Case of the 12th Wildcat." And in 1970 in an 'Ironside' episode, "Blackout".

(All biographies are from Wikipedia.)

BCnU!

Football season officially begins today.......

ALTERNATEEVEE - EVIL JIM ROCKFORD

One of the alternate TV dimensions that has been explored several times has been "the evil mirror universe", or Evil Toobworld as it is classified for the TwD.  It probably began with "Mirror, Mirror", an episode of the classic 'Star Trek' series and then was expanded during the run of 'Deep Space Nine'.

But other shows visited there as well.  Over the years we've met the Evil Willow from 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' and even Evil Abed from a couple of episodes of 'Community'.  

The earliest known visit to the Evil Toobworld from the perspective of the Toobworld timeline would have been back during the Age of Legend (as seen in 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'.)  There we met not only the evil Hercules, but the exact opposite of Ares, God of War - Ares, the God of Love.

So it stands to reason that many other TV characters have counterparts in Evil Toobworld.  We just never got to see them.  But every so often, a picture might surface which shows us what might have been.....

EVIL JIM ROCKFORD

Here's how I think it plays out: Jim Rockford was a crook in that world, but he gets sent up to prison for the one crime he didn't commit.  (Probably he was framed by the Evil Sgt. Dennis Becker in a bid to move up the ladder in the department.) 

What could have been the crime for which Rockford was accused?  I'm going to go with the murder of Angel Martinez.  (Evil Toobworld would have been the perfect world for Angel of Earth Prime-Time.  But for the Angel of Evil Toobworld?  He was probably a holier-than-thou innocent, destined to get screwed over by the Universe.)

Somehow Evil Jimbo got out of prison.  But instead of becoming a private eye, he became a hit man.  His going rate for a contract killing was $200.00 plus expenses.  He may have worked cheap, but he made up for it in volume.

And as for the relationship with his father?  I think it would have been an abusive one when Jim was growing up, always getting beaten by his drunken (and of course, EVIL) dad; Joe Rockford wasn't called "Rocky" in that world just because of his last name.  And that's how things probably stood at least until Evil Jimmy had a growth spurt to tower over his dad and filled out with some muscles.  

All in all, I think it's better to just know the Jim Rockford of the main Toobworld, don't you?

BCnU!

Thanks go out to "The Official James Garner Fan Page" on Facebook for sharing the original photo.  (I cropped it for the purposes of this post.)

TUESDAY NEWS DAY - GAIMAN'S "AMERICAN GODS"

Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" has been at home in 
BookWorld since 2001, but Starz will be making sure that it will have a counterpart in the Toobworld Dynamic.  Production on the series will begin just as soon as they can lock down the casting for Shadow Moon.

Here's a description of the fantasy novel from Wikipedia:

"American Gods" is a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel by Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on the mysterious and taciturn Shadow. Several of the themes touched upon in the book were previously glimpsed in "The Sandman" graphic novels.

The central premise of the novel is that gods and mythological creatures exist because people believe in them (a form ofthoughtform). Immigrants to the United States brought with them spirits and gods. However, the power of these mythological beings has diminished as people's beliefs wane. New gods have arisen, reflecting America's obsessions with media, celebrity, technology, and drugs, among others.

Among the characters along with Shadow Moon is Mr. Wednesday, who could be Odin All-Father of Norse mythology.  Technically Odin already exists in a TV dimension as the Marvel movies are absorbed into Comic Book Toobworld.  Other gods from other mythologies could be involved, so there's another reason why this couldn't be allowed into the main Toobworld, where so many of those demi-gods have already been portrayed.  So I'm thinking this will be taking place in a Borderland in much the same way as happened with "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell".

Expect to see "American Gods" on Starz in 2016.  Hopefully.....

BCnU!

MINUTIAE MONDAYS - THE TELEVERSION OF GLENDA JACKSON

'CHARLIE'S ANGELS'

"BULLSEYE"

KELLY GARRETT:

"How did I do?"

JILL MUNROE:

"Glenda Jackson couldn't have done it better."

From Wikipedia:

Glenda May Jackson, CBE (born 9 May 1936) is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She first became a Member of Parliament (MP) in 1992, and represented Hampstead and Kilburn until 2015.

As a professional actress from the late 1950s, she spent four years as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1964, being particularly associated with the work of director Peter Brook. During her film career, she won two Academy Awards for Best Actress: for "Women in Love" (1970) and "A Touch of Class" (1973). Other award-winning performances include Alex in the film "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (1971) and the BBC television serial 'Elizabeth R' (also 1971); for the latter she received an Emmy.

So this means that there definitely is a televersion for Glenda Jackson.  Her only TV appearance as herself (apart from talk shows, variety programs, and news specials) that technically qualifies as being a part of Earth Prime-Time would be when she appeared on 'The Muppet Show' in its fifth season.  She proclaimed herself to be the dread pirate Black Jackson and proceeded to take over the theater as though it was a galleon.

(When she contradicted Kermit the Frog at the end to claim that she really was a pirate, it could be that she was momentarily possessed by the spirit of her ancestory.)

At any rate, she is acknowledged as a great acting legend in both Toobworld and the Trueniverse.

BCnU!

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - FAY WRAY

I'm sure that whenever anyone thinks of Fay Wray, they think of "King Kong".  But she had a lengthy career in films and moved easily into television, where she created characters for such shows as:

• 'Perry Mason'
• 'Hawaiian Eye'
• 'Wagon Train'
• '77 Sunset Strip'
• 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'

and the TV movie "Gideon's Trumpet" which starred Henry Fonda, Jose Ferrer, and John Houseman.

But she also cemented her televersion in Earth Prime-Time with more than just appearances in talk shows and retrospectives like 'This Is Your Life'.  Miss Wray played herself in an episode of 'The Real McCoys' starring Walter Brennan.

From the IMDb:
Amos is not thrilled that Luke offers the McCoy barn for a Grange fund raising play but Amos' resistance softens when he learns Fay Wray will join the production but then becomes envious of George's lead opposite the actress.

BCnU!

SATURDAY MORNING SUPER-HEROES: A TIP OF THE HAT TO YVONNE CRAIG

Ross Piersall has done it again with a TV-based comic book cover with two heroes who were never destined to meet......

Batgirl & The Greatest American Hero

And it looks to have been created in record time - it showed up on August 20th in his blog "Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues", just two days after the sad passing of Yvonne Craig, Toobworld's Batgirl.

O'BSERVATIONS:

The pilot episode for 'The Greatest American Hero' debuted in March of 1981.  Batgirl was seen on our television sets beginning in September of 1967, but there really isn't any timeline discrepancy in this cover.  Fourteen years isn't that long a time to have passed and I think the pert and loverly Barbara Gordon could still have looked as young in 1981 as she did back in 1967.  And the fact that she was using a long-tressed red-haired wig would have helped with any illusion needed.

Good night and may God bless Yvonne Craig......

TVXOHOF, 09/2015 - THE OTHER GREAT BIRD OF THE GALAXY

For the month of September, the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame honors people of the Trueniverse who have been responsible behind the scenes for some of the great crossovers and other expansions of the TV Universe.  This being the British Invasion theme year, we are going to honor the man responsible for a series that can be nexus for hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of crossovers - 'Doctor Who'

In the past we honored Russell T. Davies, the man responsible for reviving this science fiction colossus.  I take the blame for not honoring this man first.

From Wikipedia:

Sydney Cecil Newman, OC (April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, Newman was appointed Acting Director of the Broadcast Programs Branch for the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) and then head of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). He also occupied senior positions at the Canadian Film Development Corporation, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and acted as an advisor to the Secretary of State for Canada.

During his time in Britain in the 1950s and 60s, he worked first with the Associated British Corporation, or ABC (now Thames Television), before moving across to the BBC in 1962, holding the role of Head of Drama with both organisations. During this phase of his career, he was responsible for initiating two hugely popular television programmes, the spy-fi series 'The Avengers' and the science-fiction series 'Doctor Who', as well as overseeing the production of groundbreaking social realist drama series such as 'Armchair Theatre' and 'The Wednesday Play'.

The website of the Museum of Broadcast Communications describes Newman as "the most significant agent in the development of British television drama."  Shortly after his death, his obituary in The Guardian newspaper declared that "For ten brief but glorious years, Sydney Newman ... was the most important impresario in Britain ... His death marks not just the end of an era but the laying to rest of a whole philosophy of popular art."

In 1963 he initiated the creation of the science fiction television series 'Doctor Who'. The series has been described by the British Film Institute as having "created a phenomenon unlike any other British TV programme," and by The Times newspaper as "quintessential to being British." Newman had long been a science-fiction fan: 

"[U]p to the age of 40, I don't think there was a science-fiction book I hadn't read. I love them because they're a marvellous way--and a safe way, I might add--of saying nasty things about our own society."

When Controller of BBC Television Donald Baverstock alerted Newman of the need for a programme to bridge the gap between the sports showcase 'Grandstand' and pop music programme 'Juke Box Jury' on Saturday evenings, he decided that a science-fiction drama would be the perfect vehicle for filling the gap and gaining a family audience.  Although much work on the genesis of the series was done by Donald Wilson, C. E. Webber and others, it was Newman who created the idea of a time machine larger on the inside than the out and the character of the mysterious "Doctor," both of which remain at the heart of the programme. He is also believed to have come up with the title 'Doctor Who', although actor and director Hugh David later credited this to his friend Rex Tucker, the initial "caretaker producer" of the programme.

After the series had been conceived, Newman initially approached Don Taylor and then Shaun Sutton to produce it, although both declined. He then decided on his former production assistant at ABC, Verity Lambert, who had never produced, written or directed, but she readily accepted his offer. As Lambert became the youngest—and only female—drama producer at the BBC, there were some doubts as to Newman's choice, but she became a success in the role. Even Newman clashed with her on occasion, however, particularly over the inclusion of the alien Dalek creatures on the programme. Newman had not wanted any "bug-eyed monsters" in the show, but he was placated when the creatures became a great success. Later in the show's run, in 1966 he took a more hands-on role again in the changeover between the First and Second Doctors.

In the 2007 'Doctor Who' episode "Human Nature", the Doctor (in human form as "John Smith") refers to his parents Sydney and Verity, a tribute to both Newman and Lambert. Verity Newman, a character in the 2010 episode "The End of Time", is also named after them. A similar acknowledgement had appeared in the show's original run: in "The Powerful Enemy," the first episode of the 1965 story "The Rescue", in order to hide the fact that one character is actually another character in disguise, the role is credited to the non-existent actor "Sydney Wilson," an amalgam of the names of Sydney Newman and Donald Wilson.

For the fiftieth anniversary of 'Doctor Who' in 2013, BBC television commissioned a dramatisation of the events surrounding the creation of the series, entitled "An Adventure in Space and Time" and written by Mark Gatiss. Newman was portrayed by Brian Cox.

And so Newman is one of the few creators honored with the September induction into the TVXOHOF who was also portrayed in one of the alternate Toobworlds, in this case Docu-Toobworld.

Thank you, Sir!

SUPER SIX LIST - COLUMBO AND THE LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES

SUPER SIX LIST

LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES MEMBERS 

WHO APPEARED ON 'COLUMBO'

1]  Edith Head

"Requiem For A Falling Star"

To no avail, the Oscar-winning costume designer tried to upgrade Lt. Columbo's look.  But even the tie was a no-go.

2]  Nancy Walker

"Uneasy Lies The Crown"

3]  Dick Sargent

"Uneasy Lies The Crown"

4]  Ron Cey

"Uneasy Lies The Crown"

The above three were all poker-playing buddies of Columbo's prime suspect who were able to vouch for him.

 

5]  Curtis Credel

"Troubled Waters"

Of them all, Credel's televersion is different from his life in the Trueniverse.  He was an actor but now is retired in Florida where he runs a used car company, but in this episode he was working as a cruise ship magician.

6]  Little Richard

"Columbo And The Murder Of A Rock Star"

It was this last entry that made me realize Little Richard deserves to be inducted into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  It was my brother AJ that spurred me into looking into his credentials for membership and I was amazed how many shows he can link together by appearing as his own televersion.  So look for him to be our February 2016 candidate, whether or not I dedicate the entire year to the League of Themselves.

BCnU!

PS:

These weren't the only ones - Carole Hemingway, Jeanne Wolff, and the argument could be made for Clete Roberts as the TV anchorman.  (Johnny Carson shows up on TV hosting the 'Tonight' show.)