RAYMOND WEST, RECASTAWAY

Dame Joan Hickson is not the first actress to play Miss Jane Marple on television, but because she was the first to do so on a somewhat regular basis, she is the official portrayal of Miss Marple in Earth Prime-Time.  If you're interested in where all of the others are situated, you can click here and here.

Once Dame Joan retired from the role, Geraldine McEwan was cast in the part to be followed by Julia MacKenzie when she retired.  And with each of those major Recastaways, the new adaptations were moved off to other TV dimensions (each to a Toobworld where two incarnations of another three-time Recastaway were waiting for both of them.)

But I thought it best to find some other splainin for other recastaways in the first series with Joan Hickson rather than splintering her full collection into other dimensions.

A case in point would be Miss Marple's nephew, Raymond West.

From Wikipedia:

Miss Marple never married and her closest living relatives are her nephews and nieces. Her nephew, the well-known author Raymond West and his wife Joan (initially Joyce) crop up most commonly in her stories. 

Raymond West is a fictional character who appears in several of Agatha Christie's novels featuring Jane Marple. He is a well known author and Marple's nephew. He is not interested in Marple's cases. But in some novels (like "A Caribbean Mystery" and "At Bertram's Hotel") he supports Marple financially. His wife Joan (née Lemprière), an artist, is also sympathetic to Marple.

In "The Thirteen Problems", his future wife's name was given as Joyce, not Joan. Raymond's mother was one of three girls, with Marple being the eldest and his mother having another sister. This other sister had a daughter, Raymond's cousin Mabel Denham, who was accused of murdering her husband, Geoffrey ("The Thirteen Problems").

Raymond and Joan had two sons.

And that's the way it is in BookWorld.

With the TV adaptations, Joan West only appears in one of the three episodes which feature Raymond West.  So there would have been no problem with that first name - Joyce or Joan - which Dame Agatha created.  (If I were in the "Splainin To Do" business with regards to BookWorld, I would just say Joyce was a previous fiancee and for whatever reason, they were no longer together and so Raymond eventually married Joan.)

Her husband Raymond is another kettle of fish.....

In the Joan Hickson series of "Marple" episodes, he was played by two different actors:

Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder (1987) 

Played by David McAlister

Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery (1989) 

Played by T.R. Bowen

Miss Marple: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (1992) 

Played by T.R. Bowen 

Even though McAlister was the original Raymond West, and Toobworld Central usually dictates that the first is the official version, T.R. Bowen played the role more, even if by only one episode.  I'm determined to keep all of these episodes in Earth Prime-Time, so I'm not about to jettison either the first one or the last two into some alternate TV dimension.  Another splainin will have to be found.

There have always been options for Recastaways when it comes to splainins - quantum leaping, android and alien replacements, magic, and plastic surgery.  Even though plastic surgery is the more believable splainin for a show rooted in a mundane believability, as you can see there doesn't seem to be a valid basis for plastic surgery; the change in bone structure alone would have been too radical.  

And while those other three splainins are too far out, I'm going to go with an even more outrageous as to how Raymond West was transformed.

It was all due to that cosmic reboot of the TV timeline as seen in the first season finale of 'Primeval'.  

In Episode Six of the series, Helen Cutter stepped through an anomaly and did something in the remote past to have changed Earth Prime-Time, including with the way people looked.  Some people and events were wiped out of existence including President Henry Ford McNeil and the Chicago Cubs/Boston Red Sox World Series from the early 1970s.  ('Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea' and 'Kolchak: The Night Stalker' respectively.)  And as we have seen in 'Journeyman', a change in the timeline could cause a different person being born - in his new timeline, Dan Vasser lost his son Zack who was replaced by a daughter, Caroline.  It's all about which of those plucky little swimmers reaches the egg first.

And that's what happened in the case of Raymond West.  In the new timeline, Miss Marple's sister and her husband Mr. West, altered their love-making by just enough so that it was a different sperm that fertilized the egg.  He was still born a boy and given the same name Mr, & Mrs. West would have already decided upon, no matter the TV dimension.  But he no longer looked as he once did in the original timeline.

And that, Inspector, is Merrydew's solution.......  

(Ooops.  Mixing up the Multiversals.....!)

HAT SQUAD TVXOHOF - GEORGE MICHAEL

Michael: 

Your Uncle Gob seems to think that he saw you down at the docks today. Was that you?

George Michael: 

No. No. Maybe it was the other George Michael. 

You know, the singer-songwriter.

Michael: 

Yeah, that makes sense.

'Arrested Development'

From the BBC:

Singer George Michael has died aged 53, his publicist has said.

The star, who launched his career with Wham! in the 1980s and later continued his success as a solo performer, is said to have "passed away peacefully at home".

Thames Valley Police said South Central Ambulance Service attended a property in Goring in Oxfordshire at 13:42 GMT.

Police say they were treating the death as unexplained but there were no suspicious circumstances.

I was hoping the memorial tributes for departed members of the League of Themselves in 2016 would have ended with Zsa Zsa Gabor.  So far, I'm holding out hope that I won't need to post the induction I now have ready for Carrie Fisher.  But I never could have expected George Michael would go so soon......

Here are the greatest moments for the fictional televersion of the British pop singer:

Extras
- The Extra Special Series Finale (2007) 

At a park, Andy sits on a bench and meets Bunny (Gerard Kelly), who tells Andy this is a bench to meet gay men. George Michael stops by for a short visit. When a photographer appears, Andy sends him off George Michael before giving up on the bench and leaving.

George Michael - Ricky Gervais Extra-Christmas by matricule1967

Eli Stone

- Pilot (2008) 
Lawyer Eli Stone begins to see visions, including George Michael singing in his living room, and street cars in the lobby of his office building. 

Eli Stone: 

"Stress gives you premature grays, it doesn't make legendary British pop stars sing their greatest hits live from your couch."

Eli Stone: 

What do I do if George Michael comes back?
Nathan Stone: 

Get an autograph.

- Heal the Pain (2008) 

- I Want Your Sex (2008)
Eli sues a high school at George Michael's request because the principal expelled a girl who played one of his songs at assembly.  

O'BSERVATION: 

With this episode, George Michael appeared as himself rather than as just a vision.  

- Soul Free (2008)

Beautiful People  

- How I Got My Gash (2009)
(Seen only in photo, uncredited)

The [BBC news report] about George Michael shown later is a genuine report from 1998, revealing what BBC news actually looked like at the time.

2011 Comic Relief

Besides these actual appearances, he was mentioned in the following TV series which confirms his presence in Earth Prime-Time:

• '30 Rock'
• 'Misfits'
• 'Hot In Cleveland'
• 'The Office'
• 'Good Morning, Miami'
• 'Full House'
• 'Gilmore Girls'
• 'Arrested Development' (See the header quote)

Plus he was mentioned in shows from other TV dimensions:

• 'Castle'
• 'God, The Bob, and The Devil'
• 'Little Britain'

Good night and may God bless, George Michael......

VIDEO CHRISTMAS SUNDAY II - HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

What the Hey Now!  Might as well share a few more TV moments of Queen Elizabeth II....

Monty Python: The Royal Episode

Antiques Roadshow

Doctor Who

The 2012 Olympics Opening

Merry Christmas!

VIDEO SUNDAY - THE QUEEN'S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE THROUGH THE YEARS

Christmas falls on a Sunday... which I now realize you probably already knew before you arrived here at this post.

Anyway, we usually run a "Video Sunday" feature so that Ye Olde Caretaker of Toobworld has to do as little work as possible.

So on this holiday stuffed with traditions, why mess with Tradition?

Earlier today we inducted Queen Elizabeth II into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, choosing Christmas Day as the proper time since she has broadcast a televised Christmas message since 1957.  With that in mind, here are a selection of those broadcasts, beginning with that first one and finishing up with last year's.  (Lucky for you I didn't seek out all 58 of them!)

You're on, Your Majesty:

1957

1968

1970

1971

1974

1984

1987

1992

2004

2015

Merry Christmas!

THE CHRISTMAS TVXOHOF - HRH ELIZABETH II

Just as the Queen of England has her Christmas Honors List, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame also honors someone at Christmas time who has united several shows by their presence.  We do this every month, of course, but on Christmas Day it's usually someone who has a connection to the holiday.  In the past we have honored several Santa Clauses of different TV dimensions as well as the Spirit of Christmas, Ebenezer Scrooge and his author Charles Dickens, Mrs. Claus, Frosty the Snowman, the North Pole, the Misfit Toys, and entertainers like Bob Hope, Andy Williams, and Red Skelton with Freddie the Freeloader.  (Of course there were the occasional oddities like Mr. Spock, Mr. Freeze, ADA Jack McCoy, John Steed, and The Penguin!)

This year we inducted Dean Martin at the beginning of December; he was good for at least three Christmas specials and sadly he even died on Christmas Day.  But for the Christmas Honors List of the TVXOHOF, we are inducting someone who has a TV "Christmas Special" every year since 1957 when they were first televised:

Queen Elizabeth and her annual Christmas Message.

In a post later today I will share a hefty selection of them, beginning with that first one from 1957 and ending with last year's (which the Queen - and Pope Francis! - called the Final Christmas.  Hrmmmm.... Bleep you, 2016!)

But there's more than just 59 Christmas messages to count towards the Queen's qualifications for membership.  Since this is the year in which we celebrated the League of Themselves, then I'm not including any televersions in which Elizabeth II was portrayed by another actress.  Mostly thanks to archival footage and conversational references, the real Queen is a part of Earth Prime-Time.  And in 2012, her Royal Televersion actually interacted with one of the greatest of Multiversal characters - Bond.  James Bond.....

So here are a few other times in which the "actual" Queen played out her life in Toobworld:

'All Creatures Great and Small'
- The Course of True Love (1989) 
It's February 1952 and everyone is saddened by the sudden death of King George VI.  The main characters toast the health of the new Queen.  Elizabeth II is seen in news footage while the credits roll.

- Out with the New (1990) 
Everyone in Darrowby is preparing for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Tristan has taken himself off to London to take in the event live. Siegfried Farnon was hoping to see the Queen actually crowned on his TV but at the key moment he was called away to tend a sick sheep,

O'BSERVATION: With both episodes, her appearances on the show were relegated to news footage of the times.

'Doctor Who'
- The Idiot's Lantern (2006) 
In 1950s London, the police are hunting down strange, mute creatures. The people of Britain gather around their new-fangled "tele-vision" sets to celebrate the new Queen's coronation - but is something affecting the signal?

O'BSERVATION: Again we see the soon-to-be-crowned Queen on various TV sets, but there are quite a few different moments depicted in the news footage.

'The Jackie Gleason Show'
- Manager of the Baseball Team (1953)

O'BSERVATION:

I'm not exactly sure why the Queen is listed in this episode.  For alls I know, it's a prank by somebody who wanted to plant a fake item in an IMDb entry.  (Anybody can edit the bloody thing.)  But the show was a variety program which probably covered a lot of bases like 'The Ed Sullivan Show'.  There was even a ten minute sketch of 'The Honeymooners' included.  I think that if the Queen was seen during the program, it was in newsreel footage of her life as the Queen as she approached her first anniversary as the Monarch.  (The episode aired in May of 1953.)

"Till Death Us Do Part" (1966)

In the movie version of the classic Britcom, the Garnett Family are watching the finals for the 1966 World Cup match between England and West Germany.  That England was facing off against their enemies from both World Wars sent Alf into a series of flashbacks about the family's life during the war.  The Queen is seen in footage awarding the Rimet Trophy to the English team.

O'BSERVATIONS: 

1]  This is The film version of '"Till Death Do Us Part" (1965). iT tells the story of Alf Garnett and his family living through the London Blitz.  The story played out in flashbacks which were triggered by the 1966 World Cup, which was between England and West Germany.  The flashbacs began with Neville Chamberlain announding that England was at war. 

2]   Toobworld Central has absorbed this movie out of the Cineverse and made it part of Earth Prime-Time.

'Hot Metal'
- The Twilight Zone (1988)
Bright young hope Maggie Troon may yet achieve some real investigative journalism for the Daily Crucible, increasing Richard Lipton's hopes of cleaning up the paper. But Twiggy and Russell Spam decide that his war on Page Three calls for devious counter-measures.

"XXX Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony" (2012)

O'BSERVATION: 

This is probably the most interesting involvement by the Queen's televersion in Toobworld - rather than being seen in archive footage, she actively participated.  Accompanied by the secret agent currently assuming the code name "James Bond", the Queen takes a helicopter to the opening ceremonies for the 2012 summer Olympics in London.  Bond then had to jump out of the helicopter and parachute down.

'Antiques Roadshow'
- Hillsborough Castle 1 (2015) 
The show returns for a 35th year with a visit to the Queen's official residence in Northern Ireland. Fiona Bruce introduces members of the team to Her Majesty and Prince Philip.

O'BSERVATION:

'Antiques Roadshow' has a fictional counterpart in Toobworld and has been mentioned by several TV characters in other shows.  The Crane Family of 'Frasier' even appeared on an episode of the American version.  So this episode at Hillsborough Castle is eligible for consideration in her tally.

HER MAJESTY IN SKITLANDIA

Aside from her many portrayals by other actresses in comedy sketches around the world (I'm particularly thinking of a recurring sketch on 'Saturday Night Live' in which Fred Armisen played a coarse and vulgar Elizabeth II.), footage of the Queen was used in several British comedy shows.  So Her Majesty has a presence in Skitlandia as well:

'The Benny Hill Show'
- Knicker's World (1968)

'Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus'

O'BSERVATION:

This was the version of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' which was produced specifically for the German market.  But there was at least one episode of the original series in which the cast was anticipating the moment when the Queen would be tuning into the program.  When she did, everyone rose to their feet, including the studio audience.  "The Royal Episode" serves as a crossover, since they show the news presenter of ITV's 'News At Ten' doing the same thing when she switches over to the news.

'The Benny Hill Show'
- News at Ten with Reginald Boozenquet (1971) 

O'BSERVATION: 

That's a play on the name of news presenter Reginald Bosenquet, who played himself on 'Monty Python's Flying Circus'

And so there you have it - Queen Elizabeth II has finally found a home where she can rub elbows with the likes of Lucy Ricardo, Bugs Bunny, and Frankenstein's Creatures.  I hope she enjoys her stay.

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, TEAM TOOBWORLD!

"SATURDAY'S COMICS" will not be seen this week in order for us to bring you the following Christmas message.....

(This has always been my favorite.)

Have a very Happy Christmas!

MISSING LINKS - THE SCEPTER OF KOROB

Here it is, the last post about 'The Librarians' for the week......

'THE LIBRARIANS'

"AND THE TEARS OF A CLOWN"

Nothing was really jumping out at me about this episode which I felt could be linked to some other TV series.  At best it was reminding me of Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes".  

But then I found this in the IMDb:

There's a scene where Jenkins is listing the historical magical artifacts that can transmute matter, and he mentions the scepter of Korob. This is a reference to the "Catspaw" episode (S2 E7) of 'Star Trek', where aliens Korob and Sylvia use a transmuter in the form of a scepter to capture and hold members of the crew.

Colonel Eve Baird:

An artifact that can turn a run-of-the-mill children's magician 

into someone who can transform matter, control minds? 

Jenkins:

They're here: The Scepter of Korob, the Fontainebleau Diadem. 

They're here, stored in the Library.

That the Library has the Scepter of Korob in its inventory is a pretty neat trick, considering Korob had it in his possession nearly four hundred years later in that "Catspaw" episode of 'Star Trek'.

Without the power of the scepter's transmuter, Korob and Sylvia died in their true forms - as Ornithoids from another galaxy.  (They had been sent by the Old Ones as explorers to this galaxy.)

But it was the destruction of the scepter which caused their deaths, because they lost access to its power as a transmuter.  Just being separated from it would not have hampered them.

I think Korob was the only one of these two Ornithoids who visited Earth, whenever it was in the Past that he lost the scepter.  Had Sylvia come along, she would have been overwhelmed by the exhilaration of sensations from all the humans around her.  (This is why I also think Korob did not bring her along when he finally retrieved the scepter from the Library.)

Why wasn't Korob as affected by sensations and emotions like Sylvia was?  Perhaps he was... in the beginning.  But long exposure to humans eventually built up his immunity.  Perhaps....

Because of Korob's general appearance, I think he may have visited Earth during the Pharaonic Period of ancient Egypt (32nd Century BC to 332 BC).  And it would have been during that time when he lost the scepter to a Librarian, perhaps even to Judson himself.

Korob's retrieval of the scepter will more than likely be an untelevised adventure of 'The Librarians'.  But he will have it back long before his encounter with the crew of the Enterprise.  I think Korob remained on Earth for centuries, until he finally had retrieved the scepter.  So even though it was out of his possession, he could still draw upon its power.  Therefore - as long as they didn't die - any TV character played by Theo Marcuse, no matter the time period, could have been Korob in disguise, amusing himself with diversionary pursuits until he could take back his scepter.

It wouldn't be until after he had the scepter back in his possession that the Old Ones finally assigned Sylvia to work with him.  By that point he had gone to the planet Pyris VII.

I don't think Korob and Sylvia were the only Ornithoids who were in the employ of the Old Ones.  Their entire species could have been subjugated to the will of the Old Ones to serve out various functions.  (Look how many "Shadows" served the Old Ones in 'Babylon 5'.)  

Many of the Ornithoids could have been sent to infiltrate human society on Earth Prime-Time.  In this way, since they were masters of shape-shifting, we can suggest that any actor who appeared more than once in a TV series in a multitude of roles (I'm thinking Vito Scotti in 'Columbo'.) could have been several Ornithoids, all adopting the same guise.  The same could be the splainin for the occasional evil twin in a series.

And then there's this - My brother Crossoverist, Matt Hickman, had an extra idea about the Scepter of Korob.

"Ornithoids answer to the Old ones so it seems very likely the scepter of Korob could be listed in the Necronomicon."

And that provides a nice way to connect 'The Librarians' to 'Limitless' at the very least......

BCnU!

LOW-KEY ABOUT LOKI

Jenkins:

I think I know who these guys are.
 It's the Jötnar. They're frost giants.
When Von Erickson wrote "prime frost," it wasn't a "P".
It was an Elder Futhark rune, "Thurs,"
long associated with the frost giants....
A race of Norse gods, troublemakers,
their most famous ancestor being Loki.
'The Librarians'
"And The Reunion of Evil"

The knee-jerk reaction might be to link the show to the Marvel TV/Movie Universe with the mention of Loki.  But that's one of the Borderlands, at best it's Comix Toobworld.  But that version of the "Thor" mythos is not to be found in the main Toobworld.  There we rely on shows like 'The Incredible Hulk', 'Lost In Space', and 'Hercules: The Incredible Journeys'.  

Loki didn't show up in this episode of 'The Librarians', only name-checked.  But he did show up in 'Hercules':

Even if he had, there would be no problem with a recastaway as all "gods" have the ability to transform themselves.  In fact, Loki proved that in that episode "Norse by Norsevest" when he morphed into a wolf and into a little girl.

As for the Frost Giants, they do get a mention in another series.  'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' had both a school play and a battle against an Ice Giant on the same night.  So the Library is really racking up the connections to other TV series.

BCnU!

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE - A LUXOR-IOUS DIFFERENCE

Jake Stone: 

Where do you hide a massive actual pyramid? 

Cassandra Cillian:

Inside another massive actual pyramid! 

Ezekiel Jones:

The Luxor Casino in Vegas. It's genius!  

I mean, who'd ever think to look for a real Egyptian pyramid 

under a fake American one?

'The Librarians'

From Wikipedia:
Luxor Las Vegas is a hotel and casino situated on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The 30-story hotel, owned and operated by MGM Resorts International, has a 120,000-square-foot (11,000 m2) casino with over 2,000 slot machines and 87 table games.

Due to the 2008 to 2009 renovation, it has a new, highly modernized design and contains a total of 4,407 rooms, including 442 suites, lining the interior walls of a pyramid-shaped tower and within more recent twin 22-story ziggurat towers.

The hotel is named after the city of Luxor (ancient Thebes) in Egypt.  Luxor is the fifth-largest hotel in Las Vegas and the ninth-largest in the world  As of 2010, the Luxor has a 4 Key rating from the Green Key Eco-Rating Program, which evaluates "sustainable" hotel operations.

The hotel has also been featured in the television shows 'Fear Factor', 'Criss Angel Mindfreak', 'Great Hotels', and 'CSI'.

A majority of my fellow Crossoverists don't hold with using actual locations as being qualifying crossover markers.  And I agree - there has to be more to a crossover between 'Taxi' and 'Law & Order' than just the fact that both take place in New York City.  Luckily in that care, there is a true crossover - the "Terminal" episode of 'Law & Order' in which a suspect was a driver for the Sunshine Cab Company, the main setting for the 'Taxi' sitcom.

But the Luxor is a good example of what the Wold Newton people would consider "the world just outside your window".  The general public is unaware of the "fact" that an actual Egyptian pyramid can be found beneath the Luxor Hotel & Casino, but it is there in Toobworld and stands as a good example of a difference between Earth Prime-Time and Earth Prime.

(Another good example would be Fenway Stadium and its secret history as told in the "Diamond In The Rough" episode of 'Relic Hunter'.)

So I wouldn't make a big deal out of it, but if I'm watching an old episode of 'CSI' and see the Luxor in the background, I'll know there was an actual pyramid under there that whole time.  But I don't see it as being a true crossover.  It just gives 'CSI' some added flavor.....

BCnU!