TIP O' THE HAT SQUAD: "OUR LITTLE BUDDY"

MIKE:
'Gilligan's Island' is on every day at three-thirty...
Whether I watch it or not.
JASON:
What's the point?
MIKE:
Dad, it's not on for me. It's just - on!
'Growing Pains'

I was asked as to why I had not acknowledged the passing of Bob Denver yet here at "Inner Toob".

I wanted to wait until today, which marks the anniversary of the debut for his signature show 'Gilligan's Island', because I wanted to make the tribute as special in every way possible.

Say what you will about 'Gilligan's Island'; I may even agree with you on a lot of it.

But taking a page from David Bianculli's book "Tele-Literacy", I want you to try this little experiment.......

Quote (from memory - don't cheat and look it up first!) the "To Be Or Not To Be" soliloquy from "Hamlet".

Now quote the lyrics to the 'Gilligan's Island' theme song.

For good or ill, you can't deny what an impact the show has had on our lives. Right up there with 'Star Trek' and 'The Twilight Zone', 'Gilligan's Island' is a major source of Zonk!s; blasting holes into the integrity of the TV Universe because so many TV shows make reference to it as a TV show.

Luckily, many of these Zonk!s can be splained away, since the actual shipwreck and the eventual rescue of the castaways was major news in Toobworld. It's when they refer to actual episodes of the show, or when TV characters dream of the show, that we get into Zonk!ish trouble.

To me, Gilligan is an icon of Toobworld, a true descendant of the noble tradition of the Fool. Silly, true; but the Fool can also represent situations in our lives and mirror qualities in ourselves. Although I'm no psychologist or sociologist, I think it could be argued that Gilligan does just that.

Dr. Will Miller even wrote a book about conquering personal roadblocks to achieving success and titled it "Killing Your Inner Gilligan"... which just about sums up the role Gilligan played on the island.

(In one of my favorite Zonk!s, Rebecca Howe's father is watching the show for the first time with Norm at the bar 'Cheers'. The retired Navy man was dumbfounded by what he saw, in comparison to Life as he knew it. As far as he was concerned, if only the other castaways had shot Gilligan, they would have been off the island in a week's time.)

Further proof of how much Bob Denver meant to us in the framework of Toobworld lies in the fact that he contributed two major characters of iconic stature who were totally dissimilar from each other.

Many another actor can lay claim to several different characters who proved to be giants in the pantheon of Toobworld citizens. But I think most of those would prove to be just reiterations of what the actors did before. That's the nature of the medium - as Fred Allen said, imitation is the sincerest form of Television. If it worked once, keep doing it.

But besides Gilligan, Denver also gave life to Maynard G. Krebs in 'The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis'. (The "G." stands for "Walter".)

It's been said that the perfect picture to illustrate the mid-1970s lifestyle would be of John Travolta wearing Tony Manero's white suit in "Saturday Night Fever". I think nothing sums up the Toobworld image of the Beat Generation in the 1950s better than Denver as Maynard.

Bob Denver will be one of the few actors to be represented in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame by two citizens of Toobworld. Gilligan was already inducted years ago, but Maynard will one day join the ranks as well.

In similar fashion to the pervasive effect of Gilligan, Denver's portrayal of Maynard was still felt years later in Toobworld. The undead zombie Lurch, who worked as a butler for 'The Addams Family', also used the same introductory phrase as Maynard: "You rang?".

Working within Toobworld's inner reality, the reasoning could be that in life Lurch had been Maynard's bongo-brother among the Beats. And even though "work" is a four-letter word to Mr. Krebs, this theory works for me.

Here's a rundown of Bob Denver's TV credits, courtesy of the IMDb.com:

TV SERIES
"Twilight Theater" (1982) TV Series .... Various Characters
"Far Out Space Nuts" (1975) TV Series .... Junior
"Dusty's Trail" (1973) TV Series .... Dusty
"The Good Guys" (1968) TV Series .... Rufus Butterworth
"Gilligan's Island" (1964) TV Series .... Willie Gilligan (1964-1967)
Gilligan's Island: Marooned (1964) (TV pilot) .... Gilligan
"The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" (1959) TV Series .... Maynard G. Krebs

TV MOVIES
Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis (1988) (TV) .... Maynard G. Krebs
High School U.S.A. (1983) (TV) .... Milton Feld
The Invisible Woman (1983) (TV) .... Dr. Dudley Plunkett
Scamps (1982) (TV) .... Oliver Hopkins

TV GUEST APPEARANCES
"The Simpsons" playing "Himself" (voice) in episode: "Simpson Tide" (episode # 9.19) 29 March 1998
"Meego" playing "Gilligan" in episode: "Mommy 'n' Meego" (episode # 1.7) 1997
"Roseanne" playing "Jackie" in episode: "Sherwood Schwartz--A Loving Tribute" (episode # 7.25) 24 May 1995
"Space Ghost Coast to Coast" playing "Himself" in episode: "Gilligan" (episode # 1.2) 22 April 1994
"Herman's Head" playing "Himself" in episode: "The Herm from Ipanema" (episode # 3.17) 17 February 1994
"Evening Shade" playing "Himself" in episode: "Saint Bobby" (episode # 3.24) 17 May 1993
"Baywatch" playing "Willy Gilligan" in episode: "Now Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale" (episode # 2.16) 24 February 1992
"ALF" playing "Gilligan" in episode: "Somewhere Over the Rerun" (episode # 2.2) 28 September 1987
"The New Gidget" playing "Gilligan" in episode: "Gilligidge Island" 19 September 1987
"Fantasy Island" playing "Tim Kearns" in episode: "Love Island/The Sisters" (episode # 6.22) 14 May 1983
"The Love Boat" playing "Norman Lomax" in episode: "A Dress to Remember" (episode # 5.28) 8 May 1982
"Fantasy Island" playing "Don Winters" in episode: "The Magic Camera/Mata Hari/Valerie" (episode # 5.12) 16 January 1982
"Fantasy Island" playing "Francis Elkins" in episode: "House of Dolls/Wuthering Heights" (episode # 5.11) 9 January 1982
"Fantasy Island" playing "Morris Binstock" in episode: "Eagleman/Children of Mentu" (episode # 3.23) 17 May 1980
"The Love Boat" playing "Jason" in episode: "Disco Baby/Alas, Poor Dwyer/After the War/Ticket to Ride/Itsy Bitsy: Part 2" (episode # 2.19) 3 February 1979
"The Love Boat" playing "Jason" in episode: "Disco Baby/Alas, Poor Dwyer/After the War/Ticket to Ride/Itsy Bitsy: Part 1" (episode # 2.18) 3 February 1979
"Love, American Style" in episode: "Love and the Eat's Cafe" (episode # 5.8b) 9 November 1973
"Love, American Style" in episode: "Love and the Baby Derby" (episode # 4.20a) 16 February 1973
"Love, American Style" in episode: "Love and the Cake" (episode # 2.17a) 22 January 1971
"Love, American Style" playing "Earl" in episode: "Love and the Hitchhiker" (episode # 1.17b) 30 January 1970
"I Dream of Jeannie" playing "Harold" in episode: "My Son the Genie" (episode # 3.13) 12 December 1967
"Make Room for Daddy" playing "Herbie" in episode: "The Persistent Cop" (episode # 11.30) 27 April 1964
"The Andy Griffith Show" playing "Dud Wash" in episode: "Divorce, Mountain Style" (episode # 4.26) 30 March 1964
"The Farmer's Daughter" playing "Lieutenant Tenner" in episode: "An Enterprising Young Man" (episode # 1.4) 11 October 1963
"Dr. Kildare" playing "Dr. Paul Garrett" in episode: "If You Can't Believe the Truth..." (episode # 3.3) 10 October 1963
"Fractured Flickers" playing "Himself" (episode # 1.22)
[This probably should have fallen into the Variety Show category and thus should have been removed from consideration, but the show was such a blast and in a way his appearance would have been somewhat fictional in the "interview" with Hans Conreid, that I wanted to include it.]

THE TOONIVERSE
"The Simpsons" playing "Himself" (voice) in episode: "Simpson Tide" (episode # 9.19) 29 March 1998
"Gilligan's Planet" (1982) TV Series (voice) .... Gilligan
"The New Adventures of Gilligan" (1974) TV Series (voice) .... Willy Gilligan

THE LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES
"The Simpsons" playing "Himself" (voice) in episode: "Simpson Tide" (episode # 9.19) 29 March 1998
"Space Ghost Coast to Coast" playing "Himself" in episode: "Gilligan" (episode # 1.2) 22 April 1994
[This show was a good example of the inter-action between Toobworld and the Tooniverse. Space Ghost interviewed the live-action Denver from the main TV Universe, even though he could have brought the animated actor right into the studio with him.]
"Herman's Head" playing "Himself" in episode: "The Herm from Ipanema" (episode # 3.17) 17 February 1994
"Evening Shade" playing "Himself" in episode: "Saint Bobby" (episode # 3.24) 17 May 1993
[The high school class was supposed to get John Denver to speak to the school, but through a mix-up, Bob Denver came instead.]

Let's take a closer look at the three main Toobworld characters of Bob Denver......

DUSTY
"Dusty's Trail" (1973) TV Series .... Dusty
The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West (1976) .... Dusty
[This was just a compilation of episodes from the TV series released as a movie.]

'Dusty's Trail' at least makes its mark in Toobworld in that a savage tribe of Indians known as the Shugs harassed the wagon train. The Shugs would also appear in at least one episode of 'F Troop', thus providing a link between the two series.

And since we never learned what Dusty's last name was, why can't we make the claim that it could have been Gilligan? At the very least, based on the nature of both their characters, it could be argued that Gilligan was the reincarnation of Dusty's soul. (Reincarnation being an established concept in the TV Universe.)

MAYNARD G. KREBS
"The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" (1959) TV Series .... Maynard G. Krebs
"Whatever Happened To Dobie Gillis?" (1977) TV series pilot.... Maynard G. Krebs
Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis (1988) (TV) .... Maynard G. Krebs

In the 1977 pilot for a proposed revival of the 'Dobie Gillis' series, Dobie (who was now running his father's grocery store) had married Zelda and had a 16 year old son named Georgie. His buddy Maynard had become a successful businessman and Chatsworth Osborne was the town banker.

But ten years later with the TV movie sequel, Georgie (now a different actor, obviously) was still a teen-ager and practically reliving his dad's life in high school. (He's chasing the beautiful, unattainable girl while being pursued himself by a girl he deems plain and average.)

And apparently, Dobie hadn't seen Maynard in twenty years - even though it was only ten years before in which the pilot took place. The fact that Thalia Menninger no longer looked like Tuesday Weld but Connie Stevens instead wouldn't have been a problem: casting changes due to aging are always given a pass.

It's my theory that the TV pilot was the true sequel to the original series and both of those are set on Earth Prime-Time, the main Toobworld.

But "Bring Me The Head Of Dobie Gillis" - and maybe just from that title alone! - is obviously set in the evil mirror universe. (Or perhaps Earth Prime-Time Delay, because of the fact that Georgie Gillis is a teenager ten years later than he is in the main Toobworld.)

The reason Dobie had not seen his beatnik buddy for twenty years was due to Maynard being shipwrecked on a desert island all those years, until he was rescued by Thalia. It's a sign that perhaps Maynard and Gilligan shared a cosmic kinship, even across the dimensional vortex.

GILLIGAN
"Gilligan's Island" (1964) TV Series .... Willie Gilligan (1964-1967)
Rescue from Gilligan's Island (1978) (TV) .... Gilligan
The Castaways on Gilligan's Island (1979) (TV) .... Gilligan
The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island (1981) (TV) .... Gilligan

More than any of the other castaways on the island, Gilligan was a character of the moment; nothing of his past really mattered save that he was first mate to the Skipper. As such, he lends himself easily to the Missing Links concept of Toobworld.

We never did learn much about Gilligan, not even his first name [although Sherwood Schwartz has said that he would have chosen "Willie" had he inserted it into a script early enough]. Of the few facts we have about Gilligan, we know the mighty sailing man was born in Pennsylvania and that his stateside best friend was Skinny Mulligan.

So why couldn't he have been born in 'Grand', Pennsylvania? And maybe his buddy Skinny's first name was Mickey? Mickey would move to New York City with a goal to become a success in Television. ('Hey, Mulligan!')

About five years ago or so, we learned that Gilligan's mother was still alive in a blipvert for the Snickers candy bar. (The premise was that if you're going to be stuck waiting a real long time, you might as well have a Snickers to curb your hunger.)

The way the women were dressed in the commercial suggested "Three Sisters" by Checkov more than it did 'Gilligan's Island', but maybe it was just their dress for mourning. And since the castaways were rescued back in 1978, this commercial might have been just showing us what was happening with Momma Gilligan during the 1970s while he was still missing at sea.

Of Bob Denver's TV appearances as other characters, this one stood out as a possibility for a theoretical link based on tele-genetics:

"The Andy Griffith Show" playing "Dud Wash" in episode: "Divorce, Mountain Style" (episode # 4.26) 30 March 1964
In one of the episodes of 'Gilligan's Island', Gilligan mentioned that he had a brother. So why couldn't it have been a half-brother?

Remember the old joke about the traveling salesman and the farmer with the beautiful daughter? Lots of Toobworld premises are based on old jokes....

So why can't we theorize that Dud Walsh is the son of Gilligan's father? All we know about Mr. Gilligan was that he was short and had a mustache; nothing says that he wasn't a traveling salesman. This way we can imagine him meeting up with Farmer Walsh's daughter in a barn near Mayberry, North Carolina......

As was the case with Maynard G. Krebs, Gilligan existed in several different TV dimensions. We know of his animated version from the Tooniverse who must have been eventually rescued, only to then be blasted into space with the other castaways to fend for themselves on an alien planet.

But in one of the mirror dimensions, perhaps even the evil one, Gilligan and the other six stranded castaways never did make it off the island....

An alien by the name of Meego was attempting to phone home to his maternal unit on Marmazon 4.0 when he accidentally reached Gilligan, the Professor, and Mary Ann, still stranded after 35 years. (And it's quite possible then that this should be the universe in which we find that Snickers commercial.

There's only one problem, however. This episode of 'Meego' ("Mommy 'n' Meego" #1.7) was originally slated to air on November 21st, 1997. But the show was cancelled before it had the chance.

Something tells me that some cable outlet somewhere showed the entire run - such as it was - but I can't verify that. And one of the original tenets for Toobworld is that nothing is officially a part of the TV Universe (no matter which dimension) until it has been broadcast.

So for now, we'll just consider this adventure to be one of those never seen, rather like Pavel Chekov's introduction to Khan Noonian Singh in the 'Star Trek' episode "Space Seed".

But there is yet another incarnation of Gilligan in an alternate dimension, that of Earth Prime-Time Delay......
'The New Gidget' - "Gilligidge Island" (19 September 1987)

This alternate Gidget Lawrence and her family went on a cruise which shipwrecked them on a desert isle. There they met not only Gilligan and the Skipper (the late Alan Hale Jr.), but also the Maytag repairman as played by the late great Jesse White.

This alternate world version of the castaways could lend credence to the proposal that the unaired 'Meego' episode actually took place. And that would mean that we can send the entire series of 'Meego' out of the main Toobworld.

And who would argue with that?

(By the way, the original pilot for 'Gilligan's Island' would also be in an alternate dimension, as the Professor was played by John Gabriel.)

THE DREAM-ZONK!S
There are far too many regular Zonk!s concerning 'Gilligan's Island' to mention here. (The 'Cheers' one listed above was definitely the best.)

But there's a sub-category of Zonk! that should be examined because they often-times involved the original actors from the show. Dream-Zonk!s involve Toobworldlings who dream about 'Gilligan's Island' as a show - and one in which the dreamers often-times inserted themselves to interact with the castaway characters.

Perhaps, in acknowledgement of Bob Denver's widow, we should be calling these "Dreama-Zonk!s". (And I'd just like to o'bserve that "Dreama" is one of the prettiest first names I've seen in some time.)

1] "Herman's Head" playing "Himself" in episode: "The Herm from Ipanema" (episode # 3.17) 17 February 1994

According to the episode description, Herman decides to give it all up during a tropical vacation and buy a local bar on the island. Now, it's quite possible that during all of this he actually met Bob Denver. But considering the show's concept, it could also be that Denver was no more than a figment of Herman's over-active imagination.

He may even have appeared in Herman's head as Gilligan in much the same way 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' got Zonk!ed by the appearance of Buddy Sorrell and Sally Rogers among the other denizens of Herman's mind.

2] "Baywatch" playing "Willy Gilligan" in episode: "Now Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale" (episode # 2.16) 24 February 1992

After watching a marathon of 'Gilligan's Island' reruns instead of working, Eddie slipped and hit his head on the tower ramp which sent him into a dream where all of his lifeguard co-workers became characters on 'Gilligan's Island' with only Gilligan portrayed by the original actor.

3] "ALF" playing "Gilligan" in episode: "Somewhere Over the Rerun" (episode # 2.2) 28 September 1987

After becoming obsessed with 'Gilligan's Island' reruns, the Alien Life Form named Gordon Schumway built his own version of the lagoon. But during a dream in which he found himself stranded with the actual Gilligan, Skipper, Professor, and Mary Ann, "ALF" decided that Reality was better than the idyllic life he imagined from TV.

Don't listen to him! "ALF" was a furball from another planet who ate cats. What does he know?

4] "Roseanne" playing "Jackie" in episode: "Sherwood Schwartz--A Loving Tribute" (episode # 7.25) 24 May 1995

This might possibly be the best of them all, mainly because it involved the elusive Tina Louise, who had sworn off any further connections to her past as Ginger Grant on the show. (She never appeared in any of the sequel TV movies.)

Dan Conner was torn between pleasing his wife and building a boat for a future adventure. He ended up day-dreaming of his life as the Skipper, while Roseanne's boss Leon became Mr. Howell, her Mom became Lovey Howell, while her sister was transformed into Gilligan, and daughter Darlene was Mary Ann.

And Roseanne? Why, she was Ginger, of course!

But the daydream got turned on its head when the actors from 'Gilligan's Island' ended up as the characters from 'Roseanne'.

Russell Johnson - Mark, Roseanne's son-in-law
Dawn Wells - Darlene
Bob Denver returned the "favor" by cross-dressing as Jackie
and Tina Louise became Roseanne.

As an added bonus, the creator of 'Gilligan's Island', Sherwood Schwartz, appeared as himself.

"Life's like a game of marbles.
No matter how pretty yours are,
The other guy's are prettier."
Gilligan
'Gilligan's Island'

So long, Little Buddy. And thanks for playing the Fool.

BCnU......
Tele-Toby

THE HAT SQUAD: AARON SPELLING (PART TWO)

Aaron Spelling's huge contributions to the expanse of Toobworld's geography was strengthened by the interconnections between several of his series via crossovers.

'Burke's Law' & 'Honey West'
'The Love Boat'/'Charlie's Angels'/'Fantasy Island'
'Beverly Hills 90210' & 'Melrose Place'
'Melrose Place' & 'Models, Inc.'
'Dynasty' & 'The Colbys'

And then there are the many TV movie sequels to some of his past hits, like 'T.J. Hooker' and 'Hart To Hart'.

TV SERIES
"Charmed" (executive producer) (1998-)
"Clubhouse" (2004) TV Series (executive producer)
"Summerland" (executive producer)
"10-8: Officers on Duty" (2003) TV Series (executive producer)
"Queens Supreme" (2003) TV Series (executive producer)
"Deep Cover" (2002) TV Series (executive producer)
"All Souls" (2001) TV Series (executive producer)
"Titans" (2000) TV Series (executive producer)
"Rescue 77" (1999) TV Series (executive producer)
"Safe Harbor" (1999) TV Series (executive producer)
"Buddy Faro" (1998) TV Series (executive producer)
"Pacific Palisades" (1997) TV Series (executive producer)
"Sunset Beach" (1997) TV Series (producer)
"Malibu Shores" (1996) TV Series (executive producer) (1996)
"7th Heaven" (1996) TV Series (executive producer)
"Kindred: The Embraced" (1996) TV Series (executive producer)
"Savannah" (1996) TV Series (executive producer)
"University Hospital" (1995) TV Series (producer)
"Robin's Hoods" (1994) TV Series (producer)
"Burke's Law" (1994) TV Series (producer)
"The Round Table" (1992) TV Series (executive producer)
"The Heights" (1992) TV Series (producer)
"2000 Malibu Road" (1992) TV Series (executive producer)
"Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990) TV Series (executive producer)
"Nightingales" (1989) TV Series (producer)
"Life with Lucy" (1986) TV Series (executive producer)
"Finder of Lost Loves" (1984) TV Series (producer)
"Glitter" (1984) TV Series (producer)
"Hotel" (1983) TV Series (executive producer)
"At Ease" (1983) TV Series (producer)
"T.J. Hooker" (1982) TV Series (executive producer)
"Strike Force" (1981) TV Series (producer)
"Dynasty" (1981) TV Series (executive producer) (producer)
"B.A.D. Cats" (1980) TV Series (executive producer)
"Hart to Hart" (1979) TV Series (executive producer)
"Friends" (1979) TV Series (executive producer)
"The San Pedro Beach Bums"
"Vega$"
"Fantasy Island" (1978) TV Series (executive producer)
"The Love Boat" (1977) TV Series (executive producer)
"Charlie's Angels" (executive producer)
"Family" (1976) TV Series (executive producer)
"The Rookies" (executive producer)
"Starsky and Hutch" (executive producer)
"S.W.A.T." (1975) TV Series (executive producer)
"Firehouse" (1974) TV Series (executive producer)
"Chopper One" (1974) TV Series (executive producer)
"The Most Deadly Game" (1970) TV Series (executive producer)
"The Young Rebels" (1970) TV Series (executive producer)
"The New People" (1969) TV Series (producer)
"The Mod Squad" (1968) TV Series (producer)
"Off to See the Wizard"
"The Guns of Will Sonnett" (1967) TV Series (producer)
"Daniel Boone" (1964) TV Series (executive producer)
"Burke's Law" (1963) TV Series (producer)
"The Dick Powell Show" (producer)
"Johnny Ringo" (1959) TV Series (producer)
"Zane Grey Theater" (1956) TV Series (producer)

TV SPINOFFS
"The Love Boat: The Next Wave" (1998) TV Series (executive producer)
"Models, Inc." (1994) TV Series (executive producer)
"Melrose Place" (1992) TV Series (executive producer)
"The Colbys" (1985) TV Series (executive producer)
"Honey West" (executive producer)

TV MINI-SERIES
"Kingpin" (2003) (mini) TV Series (executive producer)
"Crossings" (1986) (mini) TV Series (executive producer)
"Hollywood Wives" (1985) (mini) TV Series (executive producer)
"The French Atlantic Affair" (1979) (mini) TV Series (executive producer)

TV SEQUELS & PREQUELS
Titans (2000) (TV) (executive producer)
Hart to Hart: Till Death Do Us Hart (1996) (TV) (executive producer) (uncredited)
Hart to Hart: Harts in High Season (1996) (TV) (executive producer) (uncredited)
Hart to Hart: Two Harts in Three-Quarters Time (1995) (TV) (executive producer)
Hart to Hart: Secrets of the Hart (1995) (TV) (executive producer)
Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die (1994) (TV) (executive producer)
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart (1994) (TV) (executive producer)
Hart to Hart: Home Is Where the Hart Is (1994) (TV) (executive producer)
Hart to Hart: Hart to Hart Returns (1993) (TV) (executive producer)
Back to the Streets of San Francisco (1992) (TV) (executive producer)
The Love Boat: A Valentine Voyage (1990) (TV) (executive producer)
T.J. Hooker: Blood Sport (1986) (TV) (executive producer)
Glitter (1984) (TV) (executive producer)
T.J. Hooker (1982) (TV) (executive producer)
Hart to Hart (1979) (TV) (executive producer)
Return of the Mod Squad (1979) (TV) (executive producer)
Return to Fantasy Island (1978) (TV) (executive producer)
The San Pedro Bums (1977) (TV) (executive producer)
The Love Boat II (1977) (TV) (executive producer)
Fantasy Island (1977) (TV) (producer)
The Rookies (1972) (TV) (producer)

TV RELATED FILMS
Charlie's Angels (2000) (executive producer)
The Mod Squad (1999) (executive producer)

"Charlie's Angels" (and its sequel, "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle") is one of those rare movies that are actually a part of the TV Universe. Charlie Townsend was once again played by the voice of John Forsythe, but everything else had changed.

It was the movie's conceit that since the demise of the TV series, several other young women had come along to work for the Townsend Detective Agency. (And besides Demi Moore as Madison Lee, who eventually turned villainous, there were also the Angels of the unsold pilot 'Angels '88'.)

And as for the recasting of Bosley, there is a splainin for that. Bill Murray and Bernie Mac were half-brothers and their father was the original Bosley, as played by David Doyle.

As for "The Mod Squad", that is a separate entity that belongs in the Cineverse and has no connection to Toobworld. It is a remake and at best can be looked upon as the mirror counterpart to the original TV series.... if the mirror crack'd: different actors, different time period.

To these theatrical releases one could also add "SWAT", although I don't think Spelling was involved in its production. In fact, because the characters mockingly "sing" the show's theme song, they recognize it as a TV show about their profession. And so the movie can't be seen as either a continuation of the TV show nor a remake.

BCnU.....
Tele-Toby

THE NAME'S FAMILIAR, BUT I CAN'T PLACE THE FACE

Our final piece celebrating the TV work of Ricardo Montalban.....

With the passing of Ricardo Montalban two weeks ago, I thought I'd revisit a Toobworld premise that I once put forth in the old website of The Tubeworld Dynamic.

Namely, that Mr. Roarke of 'Fantasy Island' was a Gallifreyan Time Lord, as seen on 'Doctor Who'!

Within the original series, it was established that Mr. Roarke was over 300 years old; certainly not a trait shared with many Terrans. He also made contact with aliens like the Doctor, but not in the conventional sense of BEMs from other worlds. He knew a mermaid, a humanoid species native to this planet, and he clashed with the Devil in one episode. (This means that we can link 'Fantasy Island' to 'Reaper', since the Devil can take on many guises.)

When the series was revived many years later, a new actor was now playing the role of Mr. Roarke. With any other show, this would have damned the remake to an alternate dimension shared by new versions of 'The Addams Family', '87th Precinct', and 'The Fugitive'. But with having already established that Roarke was long-lived like the Gallifreyans, we could then postulate that with Malcolm McDowell now in the role, Mr. Roarke had gone through regeneration at some point between the two series.

Not only did he have new physical features, but a new personality (somewhat darker and more menacing), new quirks, and a new taste in wardrobe. And haven't we seen that happen after each regeneration?

The new series gave us another clue that he was a Gallifreyan. On the island there was an old shed which his two manservants, Harry and Cal, used to store all of the garbage that had accumulated on the Island. And there was never any danger of it filling up because it was so very much larger on the inside than it was on the outside. O'Bviously this shed was a disguised TARDIS.

The new Mr. Roarke also associated with aliens, as evidenced by his assistant Ariel. She was able to morph her appearance to be anybody or even any animal. However, we can't link her to the Founders of the Dominion like Odo from 'Deep Space Nine' - because she could make a proper human nose. And we can't link her to the race Maya belonged to on 'Space: 1999' because she just an imaginary construct (as DCI Alex Drake would call her on 'Ashes To Ashes'). Maya only existed in the coma dreamworld of Commander Koenig after he nearly died in that nuclear waste dump explosion on the far side of the Moon.

Both versions of the show are off the air now, so there's no way to disprove my theory as to how they continued off-screen. And where's the harm in it anyway? Of course, if we follow the Gallifreyan connection to its logical conclusion, then we have to assume that Mr. Roarke died in the Time War, following the story established in 'Doctor Who'. But knowing how the network suits "think", I'm sure we'll see another incarnation of Mr. Roarke within a decade or so.

It would be nice to think he survived to continue granting wishes on his 'Fantasy Island'.....

BCnU!
Toby O'B

ZONKS? - "BARNEY MILLER" & "FANTASY ISLAND"

"Do you want me to check the ship movements to Fantasy Island?" 

Detective Ron Harris

'Barney Miller'

Detective Harris had a penchant for coming up with derisive nicknames for the psychiatric ward at Bellevue.  By calling it 'Fantasy Island', he wasn't causing a Zonk. Harris wasn't making a reference to the TV show; he was talking about the actual resort where people could go to live out their greatest fantasy.

Everybody knew about it; that's how they were able to book passage to the island.  What the general public doesn't know is that Roarke was a Gallifreyan Time Lord who has regenerated at least once and fathered a diabolical genius named Miguelito Quixote Loveless.  

Just thought I'd mention that.....

THE HAT SQUAD: RICARDO MONTALBAN

I got an IM last night from a friend, asking where is the blog-love for Ricardo Montalban, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 88. Well, it was just a matter of personal priorities - the death of Patrick McGoohan had more of an impact on me and that needed to be addressed first. Hell, I haven't even finished my tributes to Pat Hingle yet either!

Like Patrick McGoohan, Ricardo Montalban offered up two giants among his varied directory of TV characters - Khan Noonian Singh of 'Star Trek' and Mr. Roarke of 'Fantasy Island'.

Khan may have languished in the roster of Montalban's many other TV roles, elevated slightly above General Sefra, Colonel Vautrain, Nick Grobbo, and Damon West by the fervor of 'Trek' geekdom, had it not been for the show's incursion into the movie universe.

In "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan", his persona expanded as his hatred of Kirk threatened to consume that universe. It's been said that Montalban out-hammed Shatner when it came to "chewing the scenery" in that movie.

That's a lotta ham.

Both of Montalban's major characters span centuries in the Toobworld timeline. As every good 'Trek' fan knows, Khan was born in the 20th Century (as to where? More later....) but he won't die until the 24th Century.

It was established in the original series of 'Fantasy Island' that Mr. Roarke, the host of 'Fantasy Island', was at least 300 years old... in that incarnation. (And we'll have more on that in a later post as well.)
Like McGoohan, Montalban played a murderer on 'Columbo', but only the one time. (McGoohan matched wits with Lt. Columbo as four different killers.) Montalban's Luis Montoya may have been a cliche to him - a Mexican bullfighter - but he delivered more nuance to the man than probably needed.

Ricardo Montalban was the Anthony Quinn of the small screen - a master at playing many different nationalities and ethnicities - Greeks, Portugese, Spanish, French, Italians, Eastern Europeans, Japanese, members of several American Indian tribes, the Crown Prince of Montalbania and even a cow in the Tooniverse! If only for concerns about being politically correct, no one could match that variety today. (So it was only appropriate that Anthony Quinn should give that lifetime achievement award to Montalban back at the 1993 SAG Awards.)
And yet there were also quite a few roles that rose above ethnic origins, like Zach Powers of 'Dynasty' and Damon West of 'Dr. Kildare' as well as Teddy Green, Stephen Baird, Adam Steele, Martin Lynch, and TJ Gaynor from many other series.
Then there was the role of Ricardo Montalban himself, which he turned into a pop culture icon as he suavely sang the praise of the soft Corinthian leather in the Chrysler Cordoba. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that car only sold because of Montalban's masterful salesmanship.

So here's to you, Sir. Thank you for all of the great characters you've given us over so many years!

Good night and may God bless....
- Red Skelton

And speaking of Red, I have to go to the movie universe for this fitting exchange of dialogue between Mr. Skelton and Mr. Montalban. (You'll know who's who.....)

José O’Rourke:
"Hasta la vista."
Jack Spratt:
"Huh?"
José O’Rourke:
"I’m sorry. In your language that means, ‘Adios, amigo.’"
"Neptune's Daughter"

Adios, amigo......

BCnU....
Toby O'B

LLOYD BEHAVIOR

When reviewing the career of an actor who was high in demand in life, there are bound to be patterns and similarities to be found among the roles he played. (And a few oddities as well.)

This year we saw that with the resumes of John Fiedler and JD Cannon. And it is true of Lloyd Bochner as well.

So here are a few of the roles that made me, as a "televisiologist", go "Hrmmmmmmm".

First off......

These were my top three favorite performances by Lloyd Bochner in Toobworld:

1] "The Wild Wild West" playing "Zachariah Skull" in episode: "The Night of the Puppeteer" (episode # 1.21) 25 February 1966

Outside of all nine of the episodes featuring Dr. Loveless (and you should know - Dr. Loveless is my idea of a Dark Lord of the Sith!), this is my all-time favorite episode of 'The Wild Wild West'. For me, this defines "steampunk" fiction. It was the first time I ever saw Mr. Bochner as an actor, and probably had a lot of influence in my enjoyment of the Number Three choice.

2] "The Twilight Zone" playing "Michael Chambers" in episode: "To Serve Man" (episode # 3.24) 2 March 1962

I can't put this in my Top Five for 'The Twilight Zone', but it's Number Two on the Bochner Exchange. It is quite a shock of an ending, and one of the best twists, and thus one of the worst-kept secrets among all the twist endings to be found in Toobworld. Never fails to scare up a chill even if you do know how it ends though.

I even own a pair of "To Serve Man" boxers from TV Land, which is probably more than you need to know.......

Here's a thunk - Michael Chambers as the father of Diane Chambers of 'Cheers'.....? (We never did meet him on the show, only her mother as played by Glynis Johns. If she was a widow, maybe we now know what killed Diane's father... basting.)

3] "Ironside" playing "Supt. Faber" in episode: "Shadow Soldiers" (episode # 6.14) 21 December 1972

This also had a twist ending, one reminiscent of an episode of 'Batman'. I think the fact that Lloyd Bochner was the guest star had a lot to do with my remembering it all these years later.

Sheep farming in Australia (or New Zealand) figured into the finale, and I think that may play a part in the splainin as to why there were so many Toobworld characters who looked like Lloyd Bochner. (See below for details.)

Now, on with the other persons of interest.....

Loyal Opposition: Terror in the White House (1998) (TV) .... President Hayden

This is part of the alternate dimension known as "Earth Prime-Time MOW", which stands for "Movie Of The Week". There have been plenty of TV movies in which a fictional president has been portrayed, and a chronological case can be made that they all follow each other in the order in which they first appeared on the air.

There is some shoehorning to be done, but I think it can be safely argued that President Hayden was the Commander-in-Chief just before the POTUS played by Gregory Harrison in three different action chick flicks about the Secret Service agent played by Mariel Hemingway (and Patricia Arquette).
~~~
Morning Glory (1993) (TV) .... Bob Collins

It's got to be a fairly common name, so he should not be confused with the character made famous by Robert Cummings on 'Love That Bob!'.
~~~
"The Bold Ones: The New Doctors" playing "Dr. Harkness" in episode: "Moment of Crisis" (episode # 3.8) 2 January 1972

Regular readers of my blog this past year can already see which way I'd go with this one. Obviously, Dr. Harkness is one of the ancestors for Captain Jack Harkness of the 51st Century, as seen in 'Doctor Who' and who'll be starring in his own series next year, 'Torchwood'.

Care to dance?
~~~
"Vega$" playing "Alexander Waverly" in episode: "French Twist" (episode # 3.21) 6 May 1981

It's my contention that Bochner's character of Alexander Waverly was the son of Alexander Waverly, head of U.N.C.L.E. (and played by Leo G. Carroll on 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.').

Sadly, it looks as though Mr. Waverly's tireless dedication to fighting the evils of the world was not high on the list of priorities for his son to continue.......
~~~
"The Golden Girls" playing "Patrick Vaughn" in episode: "The Actor" (episode # 2.14) 17 January 1987
"Fantasy Island" in episode: "Lady's Choice/Skin Deep" (episode # 7.13) 28 January 1984
playing "Earl of Norfolk" in episode: "The Tallowed Image/Room and Bard" (episode # 6.12) 29 January 1983
playing "Marquis Phillippe de Sade" in episode: "Cyrano/The Magician" (episode # 5.3) 24 October 1981
playing "Maurice Benson" in episode: "Vampire/The Lady and the Longhorn" (episode # 2.13) 16 December 1978

Even though he was a Gallifreyan Time Lord (at least in my Toobworld-view), Mr. Roarke couldn't handle everything in his projects on 'Fantasy Island'. He needed actors to play out the roles for each fantasy.

Patrick Vaughn was a member of Roarke's repertory of players for several years before finally retiring to Miami where he toiled in community theater. And that's where he met and seduced 3/4 of 'The Golden Girls'.

Dorothy: "He made me feel beautiful!"
Blanche: "He made me feel young!"
Rose: "He made me feel smart!"
Dorothy: "God, what an actor!"

Vaughn probably called on all he had learned in the art of seduction while making fantasies come true while working for Mr. Roarke on 'Fantasy Island'.

Why those ladies never realized that this "pafluganockin" was also Eduardo, as seen in the episode "Rites Of Spring"? Could be a case of aggregate Alzheimer's......
~~~
"Matt Houston" playing "Elgin Cody"
in episode: "On the Run" (episode # 2.22) 30 March 1984
in episode: "Heritage: Part 2" (episode # 2.2) 9 September 1983
in episode: "Heritage: Part 1" (episode # 2.1) 9 September 1983
playing "Scott Neville" in episode: "Shark Bait" (episode # 1.8) 21 November 1982

It's not uncommon to find people in the Real World, as well as in Toobworld, who have been given family names as their first names. (Why would anybody name their daughter "Gates" McFadden, otherwise?)

A few examples out of TV Land: Beeley Garrett of 'Centennial', 'Murphy Brown', perhaps Seeley Booth of 'Bones'.

So it's going to be my contention that Elgin Cody is related to Jim Elgin, who is the stepfather of Jamie Sommers, 'The Bionic Woman'.

As to why a man named Scott Neville looked exactly like Elgin Cody? I'm not sure, but 'Quantum Leap' technology may have played a role. However, I think we're more likely to find that one of my reasons listed below for all of the Bochnerites roaming Toobworld is the cause - especially since Matt Houston never noticed the similarity between the two men. (Although it may have led to the events which transpired in the episode "On The Run", March 30, 1984.)
~~~
"Macmillan and Wife" playing "Gregg Patterson" in episode: "Phillip's Game" (episode # 6.3) 23 January 1977
"Honey West" playing "Gus Patterson" in episode: "The Owl and the Eye" (episode # 1.2) 24 September 1965

Take your pick on this one: either Gregg is an alias for Gus Patterson, or Greg and Gus are twin brothers. I'm leaning heavily towards that latter option.

But then I tend to lean heavily all the time. Luckily, the one good thing about being heavyset? You've always got something fall back on.

Thank you, Johnny Brown!
~~~
"Police Story" playing "Mayor Langdon" in episode: "Chief" (episode # 1.20) 19 March 1974
"Thriller" playing "Harry Langton" in episode: "The Prisoner in the Mirror" (episode # 1.34) 23 May 1961

Name changes in families are nothing new. If I'm not mistaken, some members of Ronald Reagan's family spelled their name as "Regan".

According to an interesting episode guide for 'Thriller' which I found online, Alexander Cagliostro, an "undead master of the black arts, possessed the living in order to hypnotize and then strangle his companions when the conversation grew the least bit dull."

Obviously not even Perry Mason would have been able to sell that line of defense. So more than likely Mayor Langdon changed his name to the more traditional spelling, so as to avoid any hint of a connection with his twin brother. After all, he had his future political career to consider!
~~~
"Highway to Heaven" playing "Trevor Steele" in episode: "The Reunion" (episode # 5.5) 2 June 1989

Trevor Steele was an old high school buddy of Arthur Morton, who passed away in 1948. (Arthur took the name Jonathan Smith when he became an apprentice angel.)

Dismiss that knee-jerk notion that Trevor Steele could be related to 'Remington Steele', since Laura Holt created that name out of the blue for the fictional detective who would "front" her private investigation firm.

But Ms. Holt might have known Trevor Steele as an old family friend, and decided his last name had just the right heft to serve as the surname of her "partner".

What helps this possibility is the fact that Lloyd Bochner apparently never appeared in an episode of 'Remington Steele'.
~~~
"Murder, She Wrote"
playing "John Thurston" in episode: "Tinker, Tailor, Liar, Thief" (episode # 8.15) 1 March 1992
playing "Jason Richards" in episode: "Deadpan" (episode # 4.21) 1 May 1988
playing "Dr. Terence Mayhew" in episode: "Unfinished Business" (episode # 3.3) 12 October 1986

Wouldn't you think that a woman who was supposed to be as observant as Jessica Fletcher would have noticed so many people had doppelgangers wherever she went?

Because these three characters played by Mr. Bochner weren't the only ones who had look-alikes. Why just from Dr. Mayhew's episode alone, she would meet veritable twins of the characters Bernard Kale and Sheriff McCoy.

Right to the end of her series, Jessica was far too astute for us to crack any jokes about senior moments. (At least not mental ones.) So I think there must be something about those characters, which is not noticeable to us viewing at home that differentiates them from other characters played by the same actors.
~~~
But when there isn't any way to avoid noticing such similarities, it's always nice to find definitive splainins. And luckily for us, Lloyd Bochner supplies three options:

"The Amazing Spiderman" playing "Dr. Moon" in episode: "Night of the Clones" (episode # 1.4) 26 April 1978

"When a scientist, Dr. Moon, clones himself, his clone tries to kill members of the Tovald Committee, who has denied the real Dr. Moon the Tovald Award 5 straight years."

Dr. Moon may have done much of his research down in Australia and New Zealand, where his work would later influence the cloning of Dolly the Sheep.

See? I told you it would play into that episode of 'Ironside'!

I don't know how many clones of himself were created by Dr. Moon, but he also created clones of Peter Parker and others. It could be that, like the Eves of the Litchfield Project in an episode of 'The X-Files', many of them are still scattered around the globe.

"Bewitched" playing "Franklyn Blodgett" in episode: "Marriage Witch's Style" (episode # 5.21) 20 February 1969

Franklyn Blodgett was a warlock trying to pass himself off as a mortal, in order to find a mortal bride through a computer dating service. (Instead, he got matched up with Serena, Samantha's cousin.)

He was vain, egotistical, more in love with himself than he could ever have been with Serena.

It's the Toobworld contention that Samantha used her magicks to alter the appearances of Gladys Kravitz and of her own husband Darrin, without anyone ever being the wiser. Perhaps Franklyn Blodgett did the same thing - so that he might surround himself with men who mirrored the debonnair good looks in which he took such pride.

"Superboy" playing "Old Vampire" in episode: "Young Dracula" (episode # 2.4) 28 October 1989

We never did learn the name of the old vampire who served as the mentor for the tortured young genius trying to control his bloodlust. But it's likely that he may have been around for centuries.

And we know from 'Angel' that vampires can breed.

So it's possible that the Old Vampire sired children throughout the centuries and throughout the world. And as is customary with tele-genetics, his DNA imprint was strong enough so that his children all resembled him.

This would help splain all of the Lloyd Bochner characters from Europe and from shows set in the Old West.

I hope there are those fans of Lloyd Bochner's work out there who eventually stumble across this small tribute to his body of work. And I hope they enjoy it as much I did in composing it.

BCnU.....
Tele-Toby

SUPER SIX LIST - DR. LOVELESS IN TOOBWORLD

Continuing my salute to 'The Wild Wild West' on its 50th aniversary.....

THE TOOBWORLD CONNECTIONS 

FOR DOCTOR LOVELESS

(THEORETICAL)

1] Miguelito Loveless is descended from an alien from 'Star Trek'.

On both sides of his family, Loveless had extraterrestrial "input" into his DNA.  On his mother's side of the family, the bloodline can be said to begin with a visitor from Sahndara to Greece during the days of Plato.  Alexander, whatever his Sahndaran name have been, might have convinced some young shepherdess that he was Pan or maybe even the crippled god of the forge Hephaestus.  Alien genetic material is known to be incredibly potent in Toobworld - pregnancies with humans are guaranteed to produce offspring.  So when Alexander left Terra with Parmen and the other Sahndarans, he might not have had a clue that he left behind his lover carrying his child.

2] Dr. Loveless is also descended from a Time Lord from Gallifrey.

When Time Lords are mentioned as being on Toobworld, there are four candidates from 'Doctor Who' usually considered - the Master, the Rani, Romanadvoratrelundar, and of course, the Doctor himself.  But as far as Toobworld Central was concerned, there was a Time Lord from another TV series - Mr. Roarke, the host on 'Fantasy Island'.  By the time he changed his appearance, he was over 300 years old (as established in the orginal series.)  We saw that Roarke regenerated at some point between the two 'Fantasy Island' series.  Plus he had a TARDIS on the island that looked like an old shack.  

Roarke wasn't a very good "man" back in the early 1800s.  Using the name "Ramon Castillo", he visited El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles sobre El Rio Porciuncula, he tried to steal a payroll shipment and expose the true identity of Zorro.  But the swashbuckling "Fox" was able to defeat him on both counts.  Ramon was captured, but his Time Lord intelligence helped him to engineer his escape.

But while he was in Spanish California, "Castillo" seduced a young senorita named Dona Maria Concepcion DeVega, whose family held huge land grants that had been granted to them by the Spanish Viceroy of Mexico.  In 1837 (according to the Wold Newton archivists whom I admire*), Castillo left her impregnated with a child, and it was Dona Maria who brought the Sahndaran genetics to the conception of Miguelito.  That combination of human, Sahndaran, and Gallifreyan DNA sparked the special circumstances that created the dwarf with a brilliant but insane intelligence.

3] Miguelito Loveless had access to the research of Dr. Frankenstein.

Considering he was able to shrink humans down in size and to travel into alternate dimensions through portal paintings, it's no stretch of the imagination to think that Loveless would be able to bring "what was once an inarticulate mass of lifeless tissues" back to life.  And the evidence that he was able to do so?  His "sidekick" Voltaire, the mute, massive bodyguard for several episodes of 'The Wild Wild West'.

4] Miguelito Loveless could "regenerate".

The miniature madman's ability to come back from near-death in many of the 'WWW' episodes was more than miraculous.  I think it can be attributed to his parentage, having a Time Lord for his father.  However, every time he came back via these regenerations, his physical form never altered.  That's because he was not a full Gallifreyan, but a genetic mix 'n' match of not only Gallifreyan chromosomes but also of Sahndaran DNA all mixed in with a human base.  

The precedence for it can be found in the 'Doctor Who' episode "The Doctor's Daughter" in which Jenny regenerated, but remained looking like she did before she "died".  And because of this ability, we can move on to the next point:

5] Dr. Loveless appears in other TV shows, set in the late 20th Century.

Because of his ability to regenerate, one that was not controlled by the Gallifreyan Council, Dr. Loveless could be considered still alive even now into the new millennium, even though we haven't had the chance to see him lately.  But we've seen him in TV shows from the 1960s and 1970s (or at least set in those time periods), but he was known by aliases.  

Among these are:

 

• 'Amos Burke, Secret Agent' - Known as Mr. Syn
• 'Get Smart' - KAOS leader Mr. Big
• 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea' - The Clown
• "Goodnight, My Love" - Arthur Boyle (1940s when Loveless must have been suffering amnesia)

6] Dr. Loveless appears in other TV Westerns

Using the name of George Marshall, Dr. Loveless had fallen in love with a circus performer and joined the company to be with her, according to an episode of 'Bonanza'.  But she died giving birth to their daughter in 1870 and he was forced to find employment near the Ponderosa.  I believe that daughter later died which sent Dr. Loveless into a rage with the intent to make the world safe for all children.  

Six years later, Dr. Loveless and his brutish creation Voltaire were hiding out in the ghost town of Paradox, where they encountered 'The Monroes'.  Loveless and Voltaire used the aliases of Nemo and Casmir.

'The Monroes' - Nemo (with Richard Kiel as Casmir!)

Happy Trails To You!

*  Although I accept certain tenets in the Loveless timeline from the Wold Newton universe, not all of it works for the Toobworld Dynamic.  

October 20, 1837
Miguelito Loveless is born of a union between Dona Maria Concepicion DeVega and an American filibuster.

October 20, 1837 is fine for the date of Miguelito's birth, and his mother's maiden name works for me, as well.  However, for my theories, the unnamed American "filibuster" (historical definition: "a person engaging in unauthorized warfare against a foreign country") would just be a creation by Dona Maria to cover up the illegitimacy of her child.

I am curious as to who that filibuster could be for Mssrs. Ellis and Eckert......

O'BSERVATIONS:

The Wold Newton concept was created by legendary author PJ Farmer and it's maintained by Win Scott Eckert.  If you'd like to read more, click here.

Mark Ellis and Win put together the chronology for 'The Wild Wild West' which is a fascinating read, even if I have to dismiss some of the theories that they put forth.  Perhaps that's just as well since the amazing universe of Wold Newton has no connection to my own little playground of Toobworld.

But if you'd like to read more about their WWW timeline, click here.

Happy Trails To You!

PROFILES IN CATHODE: MR. SIN

I've now watched two of my "Holy Grails" - the 'Burke's Law' episode "Who Killed SuperSleuth?" and 'Amos Burke, Secret Agent' - "The Prisoners Of Mr. Sin".

Today I'd like to deal with the character of Mr. Sin, as played by the late, great Michael Dunn......

For those who don't know, it's always been the contention of Toobworld Central that his character from 'The Wild, Wild West', Dr. Miguelito Loveless, was descended from aliens on both sides of his family. On the maternal side, his extra-terrrestrial forebear was Alexander, the dwarfish Sahndaran who visited Earth during the time of Plato. If the child he sired with an Earth-woman showed any talents due to his genetic influx from another planet, I don't think there is any proof from a TV show or TV movie. But that genetic material lay dormant in his descendents for millennia... until it was "awakened" by the impregnation of Dr. Loveless' mother by yet another alien.

It's our theory of "relateeveety" that the father of Dr. Loveless was a Gallifreyan Time Lord who passed himself off as a Spanish California rogue by the name of Ramon Castillo (as seen in the 'Zorro' episode "Auld Acquaintance"). Having already been on Earth for over a century, Ramon Castillo would later take the name of "Mr. Roarke" for the "second hundred years" or so when he struggled to reform his baser nature.

Miguelito Loveless was begat of this temporary union, and the combination of his human, Sahndaran, and Gallifreyan DNA created a unique difference in him. Aside from being the genetic mirror image of his ancestor Alexander, Dr. Loveless now had the power to regenerate when he was close to death just like the inhabitants of Gallifrey. But unlike his father (who regenerated prior to 1998 into the body we know from the TV series remake of 'Fantasy Island'), his body did not morph into a new form. He would come back to life, but still with the same stunted body. (That this could happen is backed up by the 'Doctor Who' episode "The Doctor's Daughter".)
We saw that Dr. Loveless could do this in nearly every one of the nine episodes of 'The Wild, Wild West' in which he appeared. And that's why I think he not only survived the cancellation of the show, but that he continues to exist in Toobworld to this day! Each time Michael Dunn would later appear in other TV shows, he was playing the role of Miguelito - but under a different alias.

Some of those roles would be "Mr. Big" on 'Get Smart' and "The Clown" in 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'.

The character of Mr. Sin controlled a small island in the South Pacific called Tio Moro. According to the story he told "Amos Burke" (and more on the reason for those quotes in a few days!), after he retired from whatever it was he was doing in India, he moved to Tio Moro to begin this new scheme in which he would hold people as hostages (albeit quite comfortably). He was probably drawing upon his past experience as one of the founders of 'The Village' (as seen in 'The Prisoner') back in the late 1800s.

I don't know what may have occurred to Dr. Loveless between the time he spent in the 1940's as an amnesiac going by the name of Arthur Boyle (as seen in the TV movie "Goodnight, My Love") and when he arrived in India. But I think he may have gone there in hopes that study in various forms of meditation and mysticism would unlock the secret of his true identity. And once finding out who he really was, Loveless reverted back to his fiendish ways and began this new career with a new identity as "Mr. Sin".

At the end of the episode, Amos Burke triumphs and Mr. Sin is left behind to apparently die in the inferno that was once his home. But the last we see of him, Mr. Sin is kneeling down in contemplative prayer, with his head bowed to the floor. I think he was either prepping himself for yet another regeneration, or that he would then trigger some trap door beneath him in order to escape.

And after this, he would move on to his next criminal undertaking - the creation of KAOS, as seen in the pilot episode of 'Get Smart'!

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

SHOWS CITED:

'Amos Burke, Secret Agent'

'The Wild, Wild West'

'Star Trek'

'Doctor Who'

'Fantasy Island'

'Zorro'

'Get Smart'

'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'

'The Prisoner'

'Burke's Law'

"Goodnight, My Love"

BCnU!
Toby O'B

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS 04/10/2020 - JONAS GRUMBY, THE SKIPPER

For the second week of April Fools being inducted as a Friday Hall of Famer into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, I’ve decided it was time to bring Jonas Grumby into the mix?

“Who?” you may be asking.  And well you may be!

JONAS GRUMBY

“THE SKIPPER”

(Brave And Sure)

From Wikipedia:
The Skipper is the title and nickname of Jonas Grumby, a fictional character from the 1960s situation comedy ‘Gilligan's Island’. Played by Alan Hale Jr., the Skipper (the character's actual name was rarely mentioned after the show's pilot episode) was the owner and captain of the S. S. Minnow on its "three-hour tour" in Hawaii when he, the first mate Gilligan (portrayed by Bob Denver), and their tourist passengers were caught in a violent storm and stranded on a deserted island.

He acts often in his legal role as the group's leader, albeit with a decidedly collegial and democratic bent; the only individual whom he routinely orders about is Gilligan. In times of crisis, the Skipper tends to defer to the more level-headed and educated passenger, Professor Roy Hinkley (portrayed by Russell Johnson). He is sort of a strongman succumbed to lack of exercise, despite doing most of the physical work on the island or making Gilligan do it. He is also the most superstitious castaway, sometimes putting him in conflict with the Professor's rationalism.

The Skipper is lovable but is irritated continually by the clumsiness and ineptitude of his "little buddy" Gilligan, despite that they are good friends. A running gag is that whenever Gilligan messes up a rescue, the skipper conks Gilligan on the head with his hat; a variation of this gag is that whenever Gilligan is in a tree as a lookout and falls down, he usually lands on the Skipper, or if Gilligan (on rare occasion) does something right or correctly predicts an outcome, the Skipper is about to conk Gilligan, then restrains himself due to the fact Gilligan was right. The dynamic of their relationship, at times, resembles that of Laurel and Hardy.

Before the producers hired Alan Hale Jr., Carroll O'Connor had been considered for the role of the Skipper, but was rejected because he was too unsympathetic.

In the 2003 book “Gilligan's Wake”, Esquire film and television critic Tom Carson writes a backstory that the Skipper served with John F. Kennedy of the PT-109 and Quinton McHale of ‘McHale's Navy’. The book was acclaimed critically, drawing comparisons to the works of Thomas Pynchon.

John F. Kennedy was also skipper of his boat, and the 1964 ‘Gilligan's Island’ would follow the 1961 pilot episode of ‘McHale's Navy’, the 1962 series, and the 1963 movie “PT 109” as films about PT-sized boats that were shipwrecked with Navy sailors on board. Little was ever learned about his past, but in several episodes, he mentions variously having several ships blown out from under him, and his veteran's status, implying that he'd served in World War II.

Two episodes indicate the Skipper was a veteran of the Battle of Guadalcanal as he relived an experience from the battle where he turned the radio into a transmitter, reliving the scenario in his sleep. In one episode he gets amnesia, and thinks he's on a covert mission behind enemy lines, mistaking the others to be Japanese soldiers, including Ginger, whom he mistakenly believes to be a ventriloquist.

He claims to be the CO of the 177th Infantry Regiment, which is a U.S. Army regiment, but whether that actually happened or was just a wish-fulfilling fantasy is open to debate, for later on in the series he says that he was simply a cook. In one episode he claimed to have been a Navy Bandmaster and in another he claims to have been the best poker player in the US Navy.  

O’Bservation:
I don’t count those discrepancies as Zonks.  Skipper was just telling tall tales, yarns like any sailing man would.

Captain Grumby was a multidimensional in that he also has a presence in the Tooniverse and in Toobworld Toobworld, the dimension of remakes.

Here are the shows which qualify the Skipper to finally join his ‘Little Buddy” Gilligan who was inducted in the Hall’s sophomore year as the first official April Fool inductee.
Jonas 'The Skipper' Grumby

Gilligan's Island
99 episodes

Rescue from Gilligan's Island
(1978 TV Movie)

The Castaways on Gilligan's Island
(1979 TV Movie)

The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island
(1981 TV Movie)

Those are the four official qualifications for Skipper Grumby’s eligibility into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame – the original series plus three reunion movie sequels.  From this point, here be theories….

Crazy Like a Fox
- Just Another Fox in the Crowd (1986)

From the IMDb:
Harrison finds a photo from the 1961 All-Star Game with Harry in the background and gives it to him for his birthday. However, when Harry sees it, he claims he never went to the game. So, he and Harrison go to see the photographer who took it, who tells them the photo is authentic. However, after they leave someone pulls a gun on them demanding the photo.  

O’Bservation:
Unfortunately, the name of Hale’s character in this episode is not listed at the IMDb.  I’m going to assume he was one of the guys in the picture with Harry.  Or maybe the guy in the photo shop.  At any rate, this will remain here as a placeholder until I can find out the details, one way or t'other.

There are only three ways this fellow could be disqualified from being conflated with the Skipper:

1] His character’s name is revealed.
If he is only identified by a nickname, I think it could still be the Skipper.  Splainin: People get different nicknames from the various aspects of their lives.  A nickname in college, a nickname from co-workers, nicknames from the exes.  (No need to share those here….)

2] His character is the bad guy.
People change.  But there are certain characters I refuse to believe would ever become evil.  The Skipper falls into that category.

3] His character dies.
All characters eventually die.  I know the Skipper is dead there in Toobworld now.  But not in 1980.  Too soon.  Besides, I have other theories of conflation to go.

Simon & Simon
- Rough Rider Rides Again (1982)
... Bartender

O’Bservation:
Bartending has always been a great way for people to pick up a little extra gilt.  The Skipper may have needed the money once that ridiculous resort idea crashed due to some unscrupulous financier, a roman a clef televersion of Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken.  (Harold Hecuba’s identical cousin Shifty Shaefer, perhaps?)

ALF
- Somewhere Over the Rerun (1987)

From the IMDb:
ALF dreams being on ‘Gilligan's Island’.
ALF has taken a liking to watching ‘Gilligan's Island’ (1964). He dresses accordingly and has coconut drinks. He's bored at the Tanners' house and takes things one step too far towards ‘Gilligan's Island’ (1964)

O’Bservation:
There is no Zonk! here.  The fate of the people on board the SS Minnow would have made the news and eventually would have led to a TV show about what might have happened to them.  Sure, it would have been cruel to turn it into a farce, but that’s show business.

Growing Pains
- This Is Your Life (1987)
... The Cabbie

From the IMDb:
When Ben is in the taxi, he comments on how much the driver looks like the Skipper on ‘Gilligan's Island’, and notices that the license has the name J. Grumby on it. The cab driver was played by Alan Hale Jr. who played the Skipper, and his character's real name - which was mentioned only in the pilot episode - was Jonas Grumby.

O’Bservation:
The Seaver family lived in Long Island.  But who knows what might have happened in the five years since the Skipper was last seen tending bar in California?

Before we get to the Skippers from alternate Toobworlds, I’d like to hang around Earth Prime-Time a little while longer and delve into the Grumby family tree for a few theories of relateeveety.

McMillan & Wife
- The Fine Art of Staying Alive (1973)
... The Port Captain

O’Bservation:
At this point in the Toobworld timeline, the Skipper was still marooned on the island.  It’s a shame, because a job like this would have been perfect for Jonas Grumby getting back into the swing of things.  I imagine there were plenty of crossoverists who saw this episode before the first TV reunion movie came out who might have thought it was the perfect example of conflation.

But ‘twas not to be.  However, there’s nothing to say that he couldn’t have been the Skipper’s identical cousin… in the more insidious interpretation of that term.

Batman
- The Ogg and I (1967)

From the IMDb:
Alan Hale, Jr. plays the owner/chef of the restaurant Chief O'Hara goes to for lunch. The character's name is 'Gilligan.' Alan Hale, Jr. is best known as The Skipper from "Gilligan's Island," with first mate named Gilligan (played by Bob Denver).  

O’Bservation:
Not only do I think this Gilligan is an “identical cousin” to the Skipper, but I’m going to go all in on the claim that this Gilligan is also related to that Gilligan.

That common ancestor to all three lookalikes either had two or three children who carried that particular DNA combination onwards, or he took the more direct route and dallied with three women himself to spread his seed, making him the father to the Skipper, the Port Captain, and the Bartender.

But if we went with that first option, the common ancestor could go back a few generations, perhaps back to a Toobworldling from the Old West….

The Wild, Wild West
- The Night of the Sabatini Death (1969)
... Ned Brown

O'Bservation:
Ned Brown was a Secret Service agent who spent most of his career behind a desk in Washington and was finally able to get a chance in the field working with Agent James T. West.  When it was over, having sated his desire to see action, Ned planned to take a vacation.  His dream was to travel to a deserted island in the South Pacific.  (Unbeknownst to either Ned or Jim, a snippet of the ‘Gilligan’s Island’ theme began playing at that moment.)

So I’m thinking Ned Brown was the great-grandfather to Jonas Grumby, the San Francisco Port Captain, and the Publican.

But one of his sons or grandsons might have had an affair with Mrs. Gilligan of Gotham City and “donated” a cousin to Willy Gilligan.  (Not that Gilligan ever mentioned this fact to his boss on that pleasure boat.  But surely he had to have noticed the resemblance between the Skipper and his cousin.)

The Fates are strong in Toobworld.  It could be that this desire by Ned Brown to visit a deserted isle was later forced upon his grandson Jonas Grumby.

As I stated earlier, the Skipper had a presence in alternate Toobworlds, making him multidimensional….

TOOBWORLD-TOOBWORLD
[The Land O’ Remakes]

The New Gidget
- Gilligidge Island (1987)
... Captain Hale

O’Bservation:
I have no other information on this episode other than Bob Denver also guest starred as Gilligan.  It could be that this was similar to the appearance in ‘ALF’ – a dream sequence.  If so, that would go far in splainin why his last name was ‘Hale’ and not Grumby.  Dreams always jumble things up.

THE TOONIVERSE

The New Adventures of Gilligan
24 episodes

O’Bservation:
This is basically a continuation of the adventures from the live-action TV show.  I see no reason to think that there was a cartoon version of all of the original series episodes.  I can’t say whether or not the cartoon stories happened to the live-action castaways, however; there could have been storylines even too weird for what happened to them in real life.  (Full disclosure, I’ve never seen it.)

The only difference was that Ginger Grant had white hair.  I see no Zonk! in that.  They were always tripping over weird plants, irradiated meteors, and other items which altered them in some way.  So, this is what happened to Ginger’s tooniversion.

Gilligan's Planet
13 episodes

From the IMDb:
The same passengers that got shipwrecked in the tv series get space-ship-wrecked on distant planet.  

O’Bservation:
As this is considered one of the worst TV shows ever produced (according to the IMDb), and with me not knowing anything about it, I thought I might be able to at least come up with a cool idea to make it interesting to die-hard televisiologists.

Originally I thought it had to be set in the far Future to have them be castaways on an alien planet.  I could have worked with that, calling upon the ‘Futurama’ episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before” as inspiration.

The cloned heads of the stars of ‘Star Trek’ were grafted to robotic bodies and that could have been what happened to the original castaways a thousand years after they all died and before they went off on their tour.  (A three light year tour?)

But now I know better.  The Professor built an actual rocket on that island and they blasted off, eventually landing on that planet.

::sigh::

“Forget it, Jake.  It’s the Tooniverse.”

Yeah.  The Tooniverse is not my bailiwick; I’m the curator for Earth Prime-Time and as far as that is concerned, I think I’ve made the case for how much of the main Toobworld can be connected by Jonas Grumby.

There's one other incarnation of Jonas Grumby which we have to consider - that of the Skipper as seen in the original pilot of 'Gilligan's Island'.

Gilligan's Island
- Marooned (1963/1997)

From the IMDb:The pilot episode that tells the tale of a tiny ship which set off on a three-hour tour but got caught in a storm and beached on an island. The pilot was filmed in November 1963, and not aired until almost 30 years later.  

It can''t be the same Jonas Grumby because three of his passengers were played by other actors;

• John Gabriel - The Professor
• Kit Smythe - Ginger
• Nancy McCarthy - Bunny

As you can see, two of the Castaways are Recastaways, and Bunny was a totally different character from Mary Ann.

So I have an alternate Toobworld for pilot episodes which would go on to have cast changes before the first actual episode.  This dimension also contains failed pilots.  Might as well fill up that Toobworld, you know?

I just need a good name for it....

Here's to you, Skipper.  Welcome to the Hall!