CHRISTMAS WITH THE SHREKS

In December, ABC will air a half-hour holiday special spun off from the "Shrek" movies - 'Shrek The Halls'. Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss In Boots, and probably the second-tier of the cast (like Pinocchio, Gingerbread Man, and the Three Blind Mice) will star. And as far as those top four characters, all of the original actors will be involved. (That would mean Mike Meyers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, and Antonio Banderas, respectively.)

Donkey has already appeared in the Tooniverse, thanks to his appearance on 'Pride Of The Family', which aired on NBC. There are also a few appearances in commercials for various products from computers to fast food chains. So it's likely that of all the cast of characters, Donkey will be first to get inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

BORN TO RERUN IN "JERICHO"?

"Shaun Daily" wrote this in TVSquad.com (11/2/06) about 'Jericho':

"Gracie is turning into the Mrs Olson (of 'Little House' fame) of 'Jericho'. While she does care, it does not stop her from doing business."

Makes you wonder - well, me anyway...... What if Gracie IS the reincarnation of Mrs. Olson? She's of a similar look (Many TV reincarnations are exact resemblances, but not always.)and they share a similar occupation.

Her personality may not be as shrewish as that of Mrs. Olson, but since the nuclear attack, she has "all the time in the world"....

Just sayin', is all.....

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

THE FLYING ZONK

"I bet nuns are awesome basketball players,
Especially the ones that can fly."
Randy Hickey
'My Name Is Earl'

No mention is made of 'The Flying Nun', the ABC sitcom starring Sally Field. Therefore we can safely assume that Randy is talking about the "real" Sister Bertrille, who at 90 lbs. would become aireborne when the wind got hold of her cornet.

It's a long way between Camden County and San Tanco, so it's unlikely that Randy knew Sister Bertille personally. There are so many TV shows and magazines about human interest stories nowadays.

"Doonesbury" once did a story about some guy being profiled by People magazine because he was the only person left in L.A. who had not been profiled by them. Sooner or later one of those magazines would have done a story on Sister Bertrille, so that's how Randy must have known about her.

(And People magazine does indeed exist in Toobworld. It's part of the Glenn Howard publishing empire.)

Besides, even if there was a TV show, that's no problem either. Just like with the Singing Nun, the image and story of the Flying Nun would have been sold to TV, the movies, perhaps even to a cartoon network.

So Randy could have seen the "Flying Nun" on TV. And Sister Bertrille would have donated that money from selling her rights to help save the orphans raised by the Sisters of San Tanco.

As well as the many bastard offspring sired by Carlos Ramirez......

'My Name Is Earl'
'The Flying Nun'
'The Name Of The Game'

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"I saw her kick a nun once...."
Charles Kuralt
'Murphy Brown'

"History is last month's 'People' magazine...."
Miles Drentell
'thirtySOMETHING'

THE HAT SQUAD: WILLIAM FRANKLYN

Veteran actor William Franklyn has died at the age of 81. His 50-year career encompassed TV, radio, film and stage, appearing in episodes of 'The Avengers' and 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' among many others. He also appeared in television shows such as 'Top Secret' (in which he was secret agent Peter Dallas), 'Splitting Heirs' and 'Ooh, You Are Awful'. (I love that title!)

But for all of that, he is best known as the voice of the "Schhh... You Know Who" Schweppes commercials. Not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with that. Blipvert immortality worked out great for Jesse White, Dick Wilson, and Jane Withers. We should all be so lucky to live on in the memories of strangers in such a way.

It was during the 1960s that Franklyn landed the role in the adverts for Schweppes tonic. He appeared on screen in 10 of the commercials between 1965 and 1973, and voiced 40.

In 2004 he took over from the late Peter Jones as the voice of the Book on Radio 4's 'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy'. The Radio Universe is the original home for the HHG2TG, and this casting change doesn't need to apply to the TV version. However, an easy splainin can be found - the Book has simply been updated since the edition featuring Peter Jones' voice.

TV SERIES
"The Steam Video Company" (1983) TV Series .... Various
"Masterspy" (1978) TV Series .... Host
"Paradise Island" (1977) TV Series .... Cuthbert Fullworthy
"What's on Next?" (1976) TV Series .... Various (1976-1978)
"Whodunnit!" (1972) TV Series .... Voiceover
"No Cloak - No Dagger" (1963) TV Series .... Ian Lambart
"Top Secret" (1961) TV Series .... Peter Dallas
"No Wreath for the General" (1960) TV Series .... Dr. Roger Kenyon

MINI-SERIES
"G.B.H." (1991) (mini) TV Series .... Distinguished gent
"Curtain of Fear" (1964) (mini) TV Series .... Hans Liebert

TV MOVIES
London Suite (1996) (TV) (uncredited) .... Widley
Diana: Her True Story (1993) (TV)
The Legend of Young Dick Turpin (1965) (TV) .... Tom King
Quatermass 2 (1957) .... Dr. Brand

GUEST APPEARANCES
"The Courtroom"
- Dead in the Water (2004) TV Episode .... Judge Matthew Johnson
"Doctors"
- A Second Chance (2001) TV Episode .... Hugo Stephenson
"French and Saunders"
- Witless Silence (1999) TV Episode
"Lovejoy"
- Guns and Roses (1994) TV Episode .... Burgess
"The New Avengers"
- Hostage (1977) TV Episode .... McKay
"Doctor in Charge"
- That's My Uncle! (1972) TV Episode .... Jeremy de Quincy
"The Champions"
- The Gun-Runners (1969) TV Episode .... Hartington
"The Avengers"
- Killer (1968) TV Episode .... Brinstead
- Silent Dust (1966) TV Episode .... Peter Omrod
"Thirty-Minute Theatre"
- Something to Hide: The First Floor (1968) TV Episode .... Roy Haines
"The Baron"
- The Edge of Fear (1967) TV Episode .... Kent Jordon
"The Troubleshooters"
- The Bigger They Are (1966) TV Episode .... Michael Rennane
"Public Eye"
- You're Not Cinderella, Are You? (1966) TV Episode .... Kurt Heller
"Maigret"
- The Countess (1962) TV Episode
"International Detective"
- The Washington Case (1961) TV Episode .... Larry Sullivan
- The Bismarck Case (1960) TV Episode .... Conrad Schneider
"No Hiding Place"
- The Last Flight of the Eel (1960) TV Episode .... Paul Kendon
- Everybody Loves Jerry (1959) TV Episode
"Interpol Calling"
- Slow Boat to Amsterdam (1960) TV Episode .... Nevil
"The Flying Doctor"
- Time Bomb (1959) TV Episode .... Murphy
"Dick and the Duchess"
- The Club (1957) TV Episode .... Elegant Harry
"The Adventures of Sir Lancelot"
- The Mortaise Fair (1957) TV Episode .... Baron Mortaise
"Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents"
- The Ludlow Affair (1957) TV Episode .... Roger Benning
- The Way Home (1956) TV Episode .... Stanley
- A Likely Story (1956) TV Episode .... David Butler
"The New Adventures of Charlie Chan"
- Backfire (1957) TV Episode .... Richard Dawson
- The Death of a Don (1957) TV Episode .... Jack Pearson
"Lilli Palmer Theatre"
- Bride Wore an Opal Ring (1956) TV Episode .... Ted Harvey
"The Count of Monte Cristo"
- Burgundy (1956) TV Episode .... Phillipe
- The Carbonari (1956) TV Episode .... Du Broc
"The Scarlet Pimpernel"
- The Ambassador's Lady (1956) TV Episode .... Jacques Fleury
- Something Remembered (1956) TV Episode .... Jacques Fleury
"TV Playhouse"
- Mid Level (1955) TV Episode .... Bluey

THE LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES
"This Is Your Life"
- William Franklyn (1978) TV Episode .... Himself

BCnU.....
Tele-Toby

LINKIN' CASE

During the ten years I've been writing about Toobworld in one online forum or another, I've come up with some pretty wild theories gleaned from thinking inside the box.

Why Superman couldn't save the World Trade Center

How Mr. Rourke and Mr. Peabody are aliens from the same planet, but different dimensions

Why Dr. Loveless is still alive

But I have to say that Harry Knowles of "Ain't It Cool News" has really come up with a whopper, what with his musings about 'Heroes'.

I haven't read a pop culture theory as wild as this since Larry Niven's "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex"!

I'm not even going to hint at the gist of what he came up with, because I don't want to spoil it.

And I have this fear my fourth-grade nun, Sister Theresa Gertrude, will come back from the dead and rap me on the knuckles with a ruler for saying such things!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

O'BSERVATIONS: OUT AND ABOUT

In the last week, Neil Patrick Harris and TR Knight both came out and proclaimed they were gay. (Not happy with that verb; sounds like they were boasting. "admitted" doesn't work either - that would sound like they were copping to a crime.)

Both actors play straight characters on their respective shows - Harris as Barney on 'How I Met Your Mother', Knight as George on 'Grey's Anatomy'.

Meanwhile, over at 'Brothers & Sisters', Matthew Rhys is straight, but he's playing the gay Kevin Walker. And then there's Eric McCormack who played Will on 'Will & Grace'.

However, Nathan Lane playing straight on 'Encore Encore' just didn't register. I guess we knew too much about him as a person by that point......

This is all how it should be in Toobworld. For the most part, nothing about the actor should really define the character. First off, the actor and the character are two separate identities in the TV Universe, and usually never encounter each other (unless of course we're talking about Sammy Davis, Jr.) It's when their personal life is incorporated into the storyline, then it tends to send the plot careening off the tracks.

The sitcom 'Ellen' comes to mind......

Although eventually we were able to overlook it, Christopher Eccleston's dialect was a bit disconcerting at first, coming as it did from the Doctor in 'Doctor Who'. Not even the dialogue to splain it away helped much, although it did make for a keeper:

Rose Tyler: "How come you sound like you come from the North?"
The Doctor: "Lots of planets have a North."

Eccleston's regenerated replacement's request to use his native Scottish accent was vetoed, but David Tennant did get to use it as part of his alias in the episode "Tooth & Claw".

One of the smart decisions on the part of RTD to veto the request. Bad enough when decades earlier, the Third Incarnation of the Doctor was regenerated with a tattoo.....

Not even an actor's age is apparently a factor when it comes to their character. Otis Young was 43 when he played Lawrence Melville in the 'Columbo' episode of "Identity Crisis". But Melville was supposed to be 28.

Young looked the 43.

When he played two roles in 'The Second Hundred Years', Monte Markham was supposed to be 33 as Ken Carpenter (which he was in real life), but he was 101 as Luke Carpenter, Ken's recently unfrozen grandfather. It's now 2006 - Markham/Ken Carpenter are both 71, while Grandpa Luke would be about 140.

Some things you just have to figure into the equation. Daryl Mitchell broke his spine in 2000, so he has to play most of his roles now in a wheelchair as he did in 'Ed'. (Not sure if his role in last year's "Inside Man" was just always seated, though.)

James Stacey lost an arm and a leg decades ago in an accident. So when he appeared as a guest star in a 'Wiseguy' arc, this was added into his character's back-story. And in fact, it played a major factor at a crucial point in the plot when the character of Mark Volchek's ultimate goal was revealed.

Michael Dunn's dwarfism was a major factor in the conception of Dr. Miguelito Loveless, and he played it to the hilt. As his nine episodes in the series progressed, it was only Loveless' own obsession with his stunted height that held him back from the true greatness he could have achieved.

But if one is a little person, that doesn't mean it has to be considered central to the character they play. Peter Dinklage's role in 'Threshold' really didn't have anything to do with the fact that he's a little person; it was the size of his scientific genius that mattered. However, the same can't be said for his role as Marlowe on 'nip/tuck'. It didn't have to come up in his position as the family's nanny, but now that he's obsessed with Julia McMahon, he's considering the option of having his legs lengthened.

I guess as it's a show with cosmetic surgeries as it's hook, that was to be expected.

Meredith Eaton as Rebecca Horowitz on 'Boston Legal' could have dealt with the fact that she's a little person being second to the fact that she's a lawyer, if it had not been for the blundering bluntness of Denny Crane.

And even then he was able to get past that for some "cheap, chubby sex".

Getting over the fact she may be his daughter is a little trickier.....

Still, I think that when she appeared on 'Family Law' as Emily Resnick, the fact that she was a little person was probably addressed and then put aside. I just wish she could have appeared on 'Boston Legal' as Emily rather than Rebecca, if only for the crossover!

Michael Dunn really paved the way for little people as actors so that eventually they will be cast as regulars on TV series and their height never becomes an issue (or splained away as them being aliens or non-human beings, as was the case with Danny Woodburn's Carl the Gnome on 'Special Unit 2'.)

If it does ever come up again, the offender can be shouted down with accusations of "heightism", like Jerry was on 'Seinfeld' in regards to Woodburn's Mickey.

Race doesn't even play a role anymore, really. It was played up for laughs when Rob Petrie thought his baby had been switched with that of Mr. and Mrs. Peters on 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'. And Chris Stephens had a black brother on 'Northern Exposure', but that was chalked up to their Dad bleepin' around with two different families.

Wayne Brady is about to show up as Barney's brother on 'How I Met Your Mother', but no splainin yet on how that came about. Personally, I think it would be cool if it never comes up at all, or at the very least, Barney never offers up an answer. That's how it played out in "Jurassic Park 2" when we met the daughter of Jeff Goldblum's character. We were left to fill in the blanks, if it was necessary.

Up in Elmo, Alaska, it appears that "ebony and ivory combine to make" Patrick, as it's been recently revealed that Buzz is his father. Nothing about the genetic makeup of the actor playing the role of Patrick would suggest that it was possible, but that's cool. (Of course it's cool! They're in Alaska! Ba dum bum! Try the veal!)

But getting back to Neil Patrick Harris and TR Knight announcing (ah! That's a better verb!) that they're gay, I hope the writers resist the temptation to ever play with that idea. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.

It's just that Barney is too deeply seated in the audience's minds as the irreparable reprobate of a womanizer to be seen even questioning his sexuality.

But I wouldn't put it past Shonda Rhimes when it comes to 'Grey's Anatomy'. That show is so far over the top when it comes to soapy complications in the characters' lives, and they burn through so many plotlines in a single season, that I would be surprised if they didn't have George do a bit of experimentation.

Just sayin', is all.....

Shows cited for this O'Bservation:
'How I Met Your Mother'
'Grey's Anatomy'
'Brothers & Sisters'
'The Wild, Wild West'
'The Second Hundred Years'
'Ed'
'Wiseguy'
'Family Law'
'Sienfeld'
'Special Unit 2'
'Men In Trees'
'Northern Exposure'
'Ellen'
'Encore Encore'
'Columbo'
'Doctor Who'
'The Dick Van Dyke Show'
'nip/tuck'
'Threshold'
'Will & Grace'

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

AMERICAN HOLMES, UNGUARDED

This week, Sam and Dean Winchester of 'Supernatural' took on a demonic spirit straight out of American History. In life, H.H. Holmes was the American version of Jack the Ripper in the late 1800s.

But in Toobworld, the man who was Jack the Ripper wasn't really responsible for his actions. Sebastian was possessed by the Redjack Entity and forced to commit those crimes until he was caught by the Vorlons.

Yeah, the British had to have aliens take care of their serial killer. We got rid of Holmes with good old fashioned American know-how.

Here's an introduction to H.H. Holmes, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Herman Webster Mudgett (May 16, 1861 – May 7, 1896), better known under the alias of "Dr. H. H. Holmes," was an American serial killer.

Holmes trapped, tortured, and murdered possibly hundreds of guests at his Chicago hotel, which he opened for the 1893 World's Fair. He confessed to 27 murders, though only nine have been confirmed.

The case was notorious in its time, and received wide publicity via a series of articles in William Randolph Hearst's newspapers. Interest in Holmes' crimes was revived in 2003 by "The Devil in the White City", a best-selling non-fiction book that juxtaposed an account of the planning and staging of the World's Fair with Holmes' story. In addition, Harold Schechter has written a biography of his life entitled "Depraved".

Although Holmes is sometimes referred to as America's first serial killer, his crimes occurred after those of others such as Thomas Neill Cream, the Austin Axe Murderer and the Bloody Benders.

If you want to read more about Holmes, you can check out his Wikipedia biography.

However, even though Holmes was hanged for his crimes in Pennsylvania*, his spirit came back to terrorize the building which was erected on the land where he was hanged.

What brought him back to the land of the living? I think there's more to the story, and I think the answer lies in another TV series. (Of course!)

Back in 1998, 113 souls escaped eternal damnation in Hell and resumed their mortal lives. The Devil called upon another of his infernal clientele, a former NYC cop named Zeke Stone, to hunt down these escapees and dispatch them back to Hell in exchange for his own freedom.

(Thanks to my friend and fellow Iddiot, Listener Mara, that Zeke Stone must still be on the case, because he has yet to bring back Angelus. Buffy Summers sent his soul to Hell, but Angel was able to escape and return to the land of the living, where he still exists to this day.)

As one of the 113 escaped damnees, Holmes apparently played it cool. He didn't resume full mortality, preferring a corporeal form only when he took his new victims. But that still proved his undoing as Sam and Dean trapped him in a circle of salt and then cemented all access to his prison so that he would be there - as Sam put it, - until Hell froze over.

If Zeke Stone still wants him, he'll have to dig the bastard out.

TV series cited for this post:
'Supernatural'
'Brimstone'
'Angel'
'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'
'Babylon 5'
'Star Trek'

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

*This would make H.H. Holmes a Yanked Damnee.

Sorry about that, Chief......

THE HAT SQUAD: 3 CREATAURS

That isn't actually a mis-spelling. I coined a new word to identify those people who have expanded the TV Universe through their writing, direction, artwork, etc. They are the Powers That Be.

"Creataur" has a mythic feel to it. And I just didn't want to use "Creator" with a Capital C, of course.

Being the oldest in my family, I didn't want to risk the curse of the firstborn.....

These three men represent all of those artistic traits - a writer, an artist, and a producer. May each of them rest in peace....

ED BENEDICT
(from the New York Times)

Ed Benedict, a legendary animator who put life, love and laughter in TV cartoon characters like Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble and Yogi Bear, has died at the age of 94.

Benedict died in his sleep on Aug. 28 in Auburn in Northern California, his longtime friend and fellow animator David K. Sheldon confirmed Tuesday.

"He was quite an interesting fellow, that's for sure," Sheldon said. "He was the main character designer for all the early Hanna-Barbera cartoons, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw."

Benedict, who worked at MGM, Universal and other studios on short, theatrical cartoons, joined Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera soon after the pair launched their groundbreaking Hanna-Barbera TV animation studio in the late 1950s. Among his many designs for them were the characters for their first series, 1957's "The Ruff & Reddy Show."

For "The Flintstones," the story of a "modern Stone Age family," Benedict not only designed the hapless cavemen Fred and Barney, but also their long-suffering wives, Wilma and Betty, and the show's clever array of Stone Age houses and gadgets, including the characters' foot-powered cars.

"The Flintstones," one of the first cartoon series created for adults as well as children, debuted in 1960 and was an immediate hit. Forty-six years later, Fred and Barney remain squarely in the public consciousness as pitchmen for various products, including Flintstones' vitamins.

"It would not be an exaggeration to say that a large part of H-B's success in TV animation is owed to Benedict's incredibly appealing and fun character designs," cartoon historian Jerry Beck wrote in a tribute posted on the Web site cartoonbrew.com

And you gotta figure.... he must have been taunted as a kid as "Eggs Benedict".....

HERBERT LEONARD
(from the New York Times)

Herbert B. Leonard, a film and television producer who left an indelible mark on American popular culture with television series including “Route 66” and “Naked City,” died at his daughter’s home in Hollywood. He was 84.

One of his early television producing projects was “The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin,” which ran from 1954 to 1959. A hit with children, it made a western star and a pet of a German shepherd character originally featured in movies after World War I.

“Naked City,” adapted from the 1948 movie “The Naked City,” was shown from 1958 to 1963 and marked a sharp departure from his children’s western. The episodes, which followed two fictional New York City detectives, were shot on location throughout New York City, something that was rarely done for television in the 1960’s, and its stark urban realism sometimes approached that of cinéma vérité.

“Route 66,” which began in 1960, followed two men in a Chevrolet Corvette along what might have been America’s most famous highway. Each week, until the series ended in 1964, they encountered a different town and a different story. It was also shot on location, in about 25 states. A romance of the road that emphasized a sense of rootlessness, it stood out from many of the dramas and situation comedies that were its contemporaries.

Ron Simon, a curator at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City, said Mr. Leonard was one of the first to show that television did not have to be live and in the studio or shot on a Hollywood back lot.

“He was shooting America as it looked, especially ‘Route 66,’ ” he said. “It became a great symbol of America on the move.”

NIGEL KNEALE
(from the London Times)

In 1953 the BBC television drama department was faced with an unexpected gap in the schedule and at short notice commissioned Nigel Kneale, a young staff writer, to fill the gap. He came up with The Quatermass Experiment, a science-fiction thriller of power and originality that kept a large proportion of the viewing population gripped for six weeks.

Kneale had been with the BBC for a year or so, mainly working on adaptations of plays and novels. But The Quatermass Experiment was his own creation, and television had not shown anything like it before. In contrast to American science fiction, which then rarely rose above the level of children’s comics, Kneale was writing for an adult audience.

As in much of his subsequent work in science fiction and the supernatural, Kneale drew on contemporary anxieties to fashion bold, compelling and often prescient stories. Underlying The Quatermass Experiment were fears about the nuclear bomb and the Soviet-American space race, as the rocket scientist Professor Bernard Quatermass, confronts the survivor of an aborted space mission who returns to Earth and changes into a vegetable monster.

From The Quatermass Experiment [he] moved to another nightmare vision of the future, which drew on contemporary angst about totalitarianism, George Orwell’s 1984. Sombre and chilling, most memorably in the sequence where Peter Cushing as the hero, Winston Smith, is terrorised by rats, it was the BBC’s most controversial drama production to that date.

[Kneale] worked on two more Quatermass serials. Prefaced by a warning that it was “not for children or those of a nervous disposition”, Quatermass II (1955) again reflected Cold War paranoia, as a secret government chemical research station turns out to be an acclimatisation centre for an alien race that is trying to infiltrate the minds of the population. The challenge for Quatermass is to destroy the asteroid where the aliens are based.

In Quatermass and the Pit (1959) Kneale married science fiction with the supernatural. An ancient alien spaceship discovered beneath the streets of London is followed by Quatermass’s discovery that ghosts, demons and other phenomena can be traced back to a Martian invasion of Earth millions of years before.

It was probably the most satisfying of the Quatermass stories. Kneale’s script suggested that behind the apparently irrational there were real dangers, and the technology, too, had become more polished.

[H]is main outlet was television, which he continued to serve with intelligence and imagination.

By the end of the 1950s he, as much as any writer, had demonstrated the creative possibilities of television drama and he continued to produce challenging work, much of which, thanks to BBC regulations of the time to wipe and reuse tapes, has not survived. One of the lost plays was The Road (1963), which began as a ghost story set in an 18th-century village but ended in the future with people taking flight from a nuclear war.

His next important work was The Year of the Sex Olympics (1968), transmitted in the BBC’s Wednesday Play strand, which again combined contemporary concerns with a nightmare vision of the future by imagining a world in which appetites for sex and food are dulled by television. The screen experience becomes a substitute for the real thing. Saturated by pornography, people lose their urge to procreate and the population declines. The world food shortage is solved by showing non-stop images of gluttony which dull the appetite. The play contained scenes of violence and love-making which were explicit for the time and sparked a deluge of complaints.

In 1975, Kneale decided to move to ITV. There he wrote Beasts, a series of six dramas with the common theme of a fear of animals, and had a play about the slave trade dropped, before reviving the aborted Quatermass. With John Mills as the now elderly scientist, and the Stonehenge ban overcome with a stone circle built in polystyrene, Kneale portrayed a dystopian future where society had broken down, urban guerrillas were on the rampage and crowds of hippies, called Planet People, were being harvested by an alien force.

In 1981 Kneale combined science fiction with situation comedy in Kinvig, in which an electrical repairman is transported to the planet Mercury. He later adapted Susan Hill’s ghost story A Woman in Black and, in a return to the BBC, Kingsley Amis’s comic novel Stanley and the Women in which John Thaw departed from type to play the eponymous hero.

During the 1990s, by now well into his seventies, Kneale contributed episodes to Sharpe, the adventures of an English soldier fighting Napoleon, and Thaw’s legal series, Kavanagh QC. Kneale was much admired by American practitioners of horror and the supernatural, including Stephen King and the film director John Carpenter. He was asked, but declined, to write for the American television series The X-Files, which addressed themes of paranoia similar to those which he had explored 40 years earlier.

BCnU......
Tele-Toby

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UNCLE WALTER

Five years ago this month, Walter Cronkite was inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame for his contributions to Toobworld. For his appearances on 'Murphy Brown', on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', for anchoring 'See It Now', and for that searing, indelible image of him removing his glasses as he informed the nation of the death of President Kennedy, "the most trusted man in America" deserved that honor as he turned 85 years old.

Walter Cronkite turns 90 today, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to say how much I have admired him over the years.

Happy Birthday, Sir.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

RENA FAILURE

I had something of a panic attempt when I saw the following 'Heroes' spoiler.....

Meanwhile, Milo's TV bro, Adrian Pasdar, confirmed what I hinted at a few weeks back: Nathan's soon-to-be-seen wife, played by Rena Sofer, is in a wheelchair as a result of an accident. "There's a sense of guilt that has permeated Nathan's existence since this accident, which we get into in Episode 7. It's also an accident that shows something that we... can't really talk about too much. We get information from this accident on a few fronts, not just the one that explains why she's in a wheelchair."

Rena Sofer is a show killer! Just about everything she's been in has been toe-tagged soon after she joined the cast! And now she's going to be on 'Heroes'????

Ivy talked me off the ledge with this:

Well, she managed a stint on Ed mid-run, and that show went on for several years after she left....

That's true..... But still...

'Blind Justice'
'The Chronicle'
'Coupling'
'Cursed'
'Oh, Grow Up'
'Freshman Dorm'
'Just Shoot Me' - joined the show the same year it gets cancelled
'Friends', 'Seinfeld', 'Caroline In The City', 'CSI: Miami', 'Melrose Place' - #

Well, okay, never mind those......

But still!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

LA TRIVIATA: COMIC BOOK "HEROES"

For a couple of weeks now, we've seen the comic book "9th Wonders" on 'Heroes', especially the issue which featured Hiro Nakamura and which gave him the clues to track down others with super powers.

This past Monday night, we got to see some other Toobworld comic books on that show, as Micah showed off his collection to his dad, DL.

Among the titles:

"Tales From Space"
"Cosmic Man"
"DJ Doom"

(Interestingly, there's an actual guy named DJ Doom in the Trueniverse. Check out Google - it sounds like he's a record producer or something.)

These comic books could be published by ACE Comics, which is based in Chicago. Among their other titles are:

"The Silencer"
"Kay Carter, Army Nurse"
"Mad Dog"
"Fizzy"
"Tales From Beneath The Tomb"
(All from 'Bob!')

Another comic book from Toobworld would be "Captain Astro", a favorite of Michael's in 'Queer As Folk' (USA). As a matter of fact, if Hiro ever stops in Pittsburgh, he can check out Michael's comic book store!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

COVER UP!

My bestest of friends Ivy just emailed me:

And now that EW has given it a cover, it's official: Heroes is a hit!

(But we knew that all along.)

Entertainment Weekly's next issue which hits the stands this week and which should be in my mailbox tonight, has Hiro, Claire and Nathan from 'Heroes' on the cover.

The caption reads: "Save The Cheerleader! Save The TV Season!"

I think that's a great sign of success.

Now let's hope they never end up on the cover of Sports Illustrated!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

A NEW LOWE IN POLITICS

It's been announced that Rob Lowe will be joining the cast of 'Brothers & Sisters' on ABC for at least six shows. Jon Robin Baitz wrote the part of a McCain-styled Republican senator (more moderate than jerk, I guess) with Lowe in mind, and he hopes the actor will stay on after the six episode arc is completed.

This senator will appear as a guest on Kitty Walker's TV show and will eventually become one of her "suitors".

As most politicians always seem to have some kind of political scandal in their backgrounds, it's always possible that this senator has an identical half-brother residing in Washington, DC, by the name of Jack Turner.

But neither one of them would be related to Sam Seaborn, even though his father was a known philanderer.

This is, of course, because Sam Seaborn resides in an alternate TV dimension in which Jed Bartlet was the president of the United States instead of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. (And before Bartlet, Owen Lassiter was the POTUS.)

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

'Brothers & Sisters'
'The West Wing'
'The Lyons' Den'

THE GUIDING LIGHT: MORE A MARVEL MISS THAN MS. MARVEL

I watched 'Guiding Light' on Wednesday, the episode in which Harley Cooper became a superhero who called herself "The Guiding Light". She had power over electrical discharges but could be vanquished by water.

You probably heard about this, hopefully here at Inner Toob.

On Thursday, I picked up a Marvel comic book which contained the 8 page story that tied into that same adventure. Although the comic book hit the shelves on Tuesday (as they always seem to do), its story served as a sequel to the soap opera.

Now, I called the comic book a tie-in because it can't be classified as a crossover. The soap opera is in the TV Universe and the story "A New Light" is obviously in the Comic Book Universe. And although the events of the 'Guiding Light' episode did precede those in the comic book, the comic book story doesn't follow the soap opera in the TV Universe (despite the "To Be Continued" caption displayed at the finale).

All of the TV characters who live in Springfield now have exact counterparts in the Comic Book Universe; there's no problem with them showing up in those pages, and we can take on faith the events of the soap opera preceded this tale. They could even go on to appear in other comic books with no difficulties. (And this was a possibility, as Big Al Spaulding, Springfield's ruthless businessman, might plan a vendetta against Stark Industries. Apparently Spaulding and Tony Stark have a past history.....)

But there would be difficulties if some of those comic book characters tried to show up in the Springfield of the TV Universe. And that's because the circumstances of their previous appearances in Toobworld would negate their current comic book configuration as the Avengers.

Most of the Marvel heroes as well as villains who showed up in "A New Light" comic don't have doppelgangers in Earth Prime-Time, although most have counterparts in the Tooniverse and a few - like Wolverine, Dr. Octopus, - and coming soon, Iron Man, Sandman, and Venom - can also be found in the Cineverse. But for the others......

First, let me list the heroes and villains who showed up in Springfield:

HEROES
Captain America
Wolverine
Spiderman
Iron Man
Spiderwoman

VILLAINS
Doctor Octopus
Sandman
Hydro (?)
Boomerang
Venom

Let's start with Iron Man......

Tony Stark's "bodyguard" has yet to make a metal encased flesh and blood appearance in Toobworld. But there is a Stark Industries - or at least there was, in an alternate future timeline stemming from events that happened in 'Eureka', Oregon.

But that Stark Industries was founded by Nathan, not Tony, Stark.

(Whenever he does finally show up in Toobworld, Iron Man better make sure a certain Gallifreyan Time Lord doesn't mistake him for a Cyberman!)

There might not be much of a problem with Wolverine's appearance on 'Guiding Light', except for already existing film rights all tied up, of course. He's quite a main character in the Cineverse and the Tooniverse, but in Toobworld he's only got a fleeting appearance in a blipvert for the Visa Check Card which had its premiere during a Super Bowl game.

So I don't see a problem with Logan coming back to Toobworld for a follow-up on 'Guiding Light', outside of those film rights being sewed up... and the fact that Toobworld has far too many guys named Logan lately.

No, my "Spidey Sense" tells me that the biggest problem would be with the Webslinger himself.

Unlike the situation for characters in the Tooniverse (outside of 'The Flintstones'), characters in the main Toobworld age, beginning in whatever era they first appeared.

For instance, Superman saved the day in Metropolis back in the 1950s. But by the early 1960s, he was dead. (The Supermen we see on other TV shows are to be found in alternate dimensions.) Batman served and protected Gotham City during the 1960s, and he's up in his eighties by now.

Wonder Woman - 1975-1979. And the Hulk? Late seventies to the mid-eighties. Captain America first burst onto the scene in 1979 (and technically I see no reason why he couldn't show up in 'Guiding Light' for a sequel). The thunder god Thor is immortal, so even though we first saw him in 1988's "The Return Of The Incredible Hulk", we know he lived during the days of Hercules legendary journeys.

Spiderman appeared in the main Toobworld in 1977, and he would now be about 56 years old. There's no way he'd even be considered for inclusion in the Avengers. Maybe in AARP......

But there is another Spiderman who appeared in the main Toobworld and he might be the one needed for the 'Guiding Light' sequel. Like Thor and Wolverine and Captain America, he showed up in that Visa Check Card commercial. You could tell by his voice that he was fairly young, so he couldn't have been the original TV Spiderman.

There are two ways we can run with this. First, he could be the son of the original Spiderman. But that would mean his origin story would have to be different, as he would have inherited his powers from his father genetically, thus classifying him as a mutant.

Or he could be a visitor from either an alternate dimension where there should be plenty of Spidermen around; or from another universe entirely - specifically the Cineverse. After all, his voice was almost similar to that of the movie Spiderman..... That Visa ad probably occurred at the same time it was broadcast, so that was a January. Maybe Peter Parker had a cold.

And that commercial established that at least one dimensional vortex had been breached, since Underdog arrived at the last moment from the Tooniverse.

I didn't even get around to mentioning that many of these superheroes (and at least one super-villain, Dr Doom) were referred to as comic book characters for the most part in the soap opera. And an issue of "X-Men: Endsong" was given a prominent close-up.

If only both the show and the comic book could have been produced together as an animated special. That way they could co-exist together in the Tooniverse.

Of course, being situated in Springfield, that would mean they would have only four fingers, bugged-out eyes, and yellow skin.

But Jeff Albertson, AKA Comic Book Guy, would have been in Seventh Heaven, and I don't mean the TV show: "Best. Crossover. Ever!"

As some other TV superheroes might say, "Cowabunga!"

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

ps
The 8 page story is appearing in several Marvel titles over the next two weeks. I chose "Civil War: Choosing Sides", mostly because it had Howard the Duck on the cover.....

But here again is that list of the comics in which you can find that story

10/25
CIVIL WAR: CHOOSING SIDES
SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE 11
MARVEL SELECT FLIP MAGAZINE 18
MARVEL TALES FLIP MAGAZINE 17

11/1
MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN 21
SPIDER-MAN AND POWER PACK 1
MARVEL ADVENTURES FLIP MAGAZINE 18
MARVEL HEROES FLIP MAGAZINE 18

11/8
AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL 2
FRANKLIN RICHARDS: HAPPY FRANKSGIVING!
MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR 18

11/15
ULTIMATE MARVEL FLIP MAGAZINE 19
ULTIMATE TALES FLIP MAGAZINE 19

TV CROSSOVER HALL OF FAME: NOVEMBER, 2006

As our year-long salute to 'Law & Order' winds down, we come to the month when usually the TV Crossover Hall of Fame salutes politicians and newsmakers who qualify for induction.

So we have the perfect candidate in the current District Attorney for New York City, Arthur Branch (as played by former Senator, Fred Dalton Thompson). So far, he's made about 118 appearances in Toobworld, mostly in the flagship of the line, 'Law & Order'. But he's also made the journey to the other shows in the franchise, including the "Pilot" of 'Conviction' which was the first 'L&O' show not to carry the 'Law & Order' prefix in its title.

There have been two episodes of 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', and eleven episodes of 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit', and six more for 'Law & Order: Trial By Jury'. By my reckoning, that was a pretty good series and I was sorry to see NBC let it go.

I'm just sorry DA Adam Schiff retired before he had the chance to appear in all of these spin-offs, but there weren't that many opportunities back then. (It's amazing to talk about 'Law & Order' as if it's been around since the horse & buggy days!)

So there's just one more month to go in this salute and by a rather glaring omission so far in the list, it should be pretty o'bvious who's left. And you'll probably be able to guess why I saved that candidate for last.

It's a groanable offense, officer.


Since we've long since passed the half-way mark for the year, we're running the complete list of the 2006 inductees so far......

January - Lennie Brisco
February - Anita Van Buren
March - Donald Cragen
April - Mike Logan
May - Jamie Ross
June - Dr. Elizabeth Olivet
B'day Honors - Faith Yokas
July - Rey Curtis
August - Ed Green
September - Dick Wolf
October - Dr. Emil Szoda
November - Arthur Branch

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY: "KYLE XY" & DETROL LA

Nicole Trager is the Seattle psychologist who took in 'Kyle XY' in order to help him regain his memories. The show has been picked up for another season, so we might be learning more about her and the rest of the Trager family - as in other family members like grandparents and the like who could meet Kyle.

Do you think Nicole might have a sister?

Because I've been seeing a blipvert for Detrol LA featuring a woman in an elevator who suffers from a problem with her bladder control and she looks a lot like Marguerite MacIntyre to be her sister. (But not enough that I might think it was actually her. And the IMDb.com/search doesn't have this ad listed under her "Other Works".)

It'll probably be best if we never learn one way or the other whether or not Nicole has any siblings. That way we don't have to exclude the possibility that these two women are related.

And it probably won't ever come up anyway. After all, who wants to be reminded that they have a sister who's walking around wearing nothing but a sandwich board proclaiming "I HAVE A BLADDER CONTROL PROBLEM"?

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

THEORY OF "RELATEEVEETY"/BORN TO RERUN

DS Saffron Saleh is an officer in the Manchester police force. She may even have known DI Sam Tyler before he was struck down by a car after his girlfriend was kidnapped.

Taking a Wold Newton approach, it's my contention that her cousin, Anvar Parvez, who is known as "Annie", lives in London and works as a medical examiner, a forensic pathologist for the London police department.

They could be first generation Britons, whose parents were immigrants from the sub-continent. And both girls saw their chosen fields as a way to repay their adopted homeland for allowing their parents to find a better life for themselves and their children.

The roles are not played by the same actress, as is usually the case in my theories of "relateeveety". Nisha Nayar plays Saleh and Amber Agar is Annie. But there is enough similarity in their appearance to suggest a close, yet not exact, relation between the two.

But because of the actress who plays her, Saffron Saleh could have been reincarnated far into the future as a programming executive on board the Gamestation space satellite. She joined the front lines in a vain battle against the Daleks when they invaded which cost the programmer her life. (However, she may have been brought back to life through the intervention of Rose Tyler as the "Bad Wolf".)

DS Saffron Saleh - "Cracker: A New Terror"
Dr. Anvar "Annie" Parvez - 'Murder City'
Gamestation programmer - 'Doctor Who' ("Bad Wolf" & "Parting Of The Ways")
DI Sam Tyler - 'Life On Mars'

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

THE LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES: CAN WE LINK?

I can't believe I forgot to mention this.......

As many of you might know (I hope), Toobworld stands apart from other versions of a TV Universe in that we consider celebrities appearing as themselves in a fictional setting to be just as much a character as the others in those shows. So when Sammy Davis, Jr. appears in an episode of 'All In The Family' as well as in 'Charlie's Angels' and 'I Dream Of Jeannie', and doing fictional things he never would have done in real life, then he's serving in the role of a crossover character.

We call these people the League of Themselves.

So recently, Joan Rivers showed up in Boston to "cover" a trial in which a young law clerk was accused of killing the judge he served (who was also his lover). Her appearance was short and sweet but it served its purpose - it linked 'Boston Legal' to the Miami-based 'nip/tuck'.

Ms. Rivers showed up in two episodes of that show, one which bore her name as the episode title. (All episodes are named after a particular client of the plastic surgeons.) And in that instance, it was quite an affecting scene where she realizes that if she really did have all of her past surgeries undone, she'd look like a monster to her little grandson.

So Joan Rivers is the link between those two dramatic series. But she's got a few more sitcoms in which she played herself:

'I'm With Her'
'Curb Your Enthusiasm'
'227'

And as I said, she acted out a fictional version of her life in doing so. That's why I don't even bother delving into the talk shows, award shows, comedy specials, home shopping shows and what have you.

One that's a near miss is an episode of 'Here's Lucy' in which she served on a jury with Lucy. Her character was named Joan, but I don't think she was playing herself. It was like the situation with Lucille Carter. And Lucille Carmichael. And Lucy Ricardo. And Bob Hartley. Mary Richards. Tim Taylor. Jerry - well, you get the picture.....

Anyway, congrats to Ms. Rivers for being the one person who could bring those two dramas - which air opposite each other! - together.

And she was able to do it before Melissa pulled the plug......

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

NUMBERS GAME

Oceanic Flight 815 crashed in late September, 2004. At this point in the TV series' timeline, we're into November of 2004. There's no telling, however, if Time in the outside world progressed faster than it does/did on the island. Or at least so the producers have hinted......

Still, just because Hurley crashed on that island back in 2004, that doesn't mean that "The Numbers" haven't still exerted their influence on others back in the outside world.

We've already seen them manifest themselves as the "lucky numbers" on a Chinese fortune cookie fortune in an episode of 'Veronica Mars'.

And in the last hour I saw a commercial for Pine-Sol in which a guy won the lottery. Of the numbers read off on the TV, all we get to hear is the final number - 42.

The answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

Even if he was holding a Pick 5 ticket or the Daily Four rather than the full sequence of "4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42" as Hurley had done when he won his jackpot, there would still be power in that sequence if he had, let's say, "4, 15, 23, 42".

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw various combinations of "The Numbers" pop up again and again in TV shows and commercials, now that 'Lost' has become such a cultural phenom.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby