Saturday, May 24, 2008

DOUBLE DOWN THROUGH THE AGES

In that episode of 'I Dream Of Jeannie' in which Anthony Nelson defeated Captain Kidd and met his great-great-great-great-grandmother, Lady Diana Nelson ("My Master The Pirate"), we learned that not only was Tony the spitting image of his great4x-grandfather, Lord Charles Nelson, but that the power of telegenetics was seen in the pirate first mate and an exterminating service salesman of the modern age.

Look out! Run-on sentence!

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TIDDLYWINKYDINK: ICELAND

So I watched that episode of 'Captain Z-Ro' at work, which means I got paid plenty to do so! Not that I needed such an impetus, for as I mentioned previously, I've always been keen to see this show.

Captain Z-Ro was a contemporary of the show's broadcasting period. So even though he was quite futuristic in look and with the scientific equipment that he used, he still was working in the 1950s when seen by the audience back home.

Not that he was restricted to that time period! From his secret base in a "remote and uncharted corner of the planet known as Earth", Z-Ro could use his materialization chamber to send himself anywhere in Time and Space. (I have the feeling either he was a Gallifreyan Time Lord, or he had... mastered their technology to accomplish the same things a TARDIS could do.

Usually on the show, Captain Z-Ro and his assistant Jet would observe some ancient time period or specific historical event. (The series won awards for its educational value.) However, this episode was about his creation of a robot named Roger and his plan to send the "tin man" through the Materialization Chamber on a mission to the planet Venus, to learn more about our sister world. Unfortunately, a lightning storm caused a glitch in those plans and Roger ended up in San Francisco, 1954 - no time travel this time out. Their view-scope enabled Jet and Captain Z-Ro to track Roger as he wandered about the city - we saw the robot at Coit Tower, in Fisherman's Wharf, on Morgan Street, and at the end destination for one of the city's cable cars. (This segment should have been expanded more to show Roger at the Embarcadero, in Chinatown, and perhaps even at Candlestick Point, the future home of the ballpark where the Giants would come to play in 1958.)

Based on the view of the area surrounding Captain Z-Ro's secret headquarters, my guess is that the "remote and uncharted corner of a planet called Earth" must be somewhere in an isolated section of Iceland. We see the eruption of a nearby volcano during the closing moments of the show, and its rocky, barren landscape suggests the desolate areas where the tectonic plates are constantly in shift.
Here's more about the Icelandic region, which gives some indication as to why Captain Z-Ro found it the ideal place to build his laboratory where he could "learn from the Past, to prepare for the Future".....

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland is a country in northern Europe, comprising the island of Iceland and its outlying islets in the North Atlantic Ocean between the rest of Europe and Greenland. It is the least populous of the Nordic countries and the second smallest; it has a population of about 316,000 (April 1, 2008 estimate) and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík.

Located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland is volcanically and geologically active on a large scale; this defines the landscape in various ways. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterized by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many big glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Warmed by the Gulf Stream, Iceland has a temperate climate relative to its latitude and provides a habitable environment and nature.

Iceland, the land of ice and fire, is a true paradise for volcanologists. In few places on earth, geology and human history are so closely connected to volcanism as on Iceland. The island owes its existence to a large volcanic hot spot sitting on a mid-oceanic ridge, a unique setting. The plate boundary between the American and Eurasian tectonic plates crosses Iceland from south to North and the spreading process can be directly measured and observed on land.

Iceland has the land area of Virginia and the population of Virginia Beach (about 260,000 people). The country has the highest literacy rate (100%) of any nation in the world. Its history has always been closely related to volcanoes and knowledge of many volcanic eruptions since the middle ages are preserved in accounts.
First settled by Vikings in the 9th century AD, Iceland established its own parliament in 930 and recorded its first historical volcanic eruption only a few years later. After a golden age of literature in the 12th and 13th centuries (when the sagas were written), natural history reporting reached a low around the 15th century. In the years 1707-09 a third of the population died from smallpox, and the 1783-84 Laki eruption killed a fifth of the remaining population by famine. Iceland gained sovereignty from Denmark in 1918 and complete independence in 1944.

Iceland is noted for sub-glacial and regional fissure eruptions related to the rifting process between the separating plates. (Hekla is the most active volcano in Iceland with eruption events numbering from as low as 15 major eruptions to the huge number of 167 since 1104, the most recent being in 1991.)

[The information is a combination of articles from Wikipedia and the Smithsonian website.]

Sounds like a great place to get away from prying eyes for Captain Z-Ro!

By the way, there's
a website dedicated to Captain Z-Ro. Check it out for more about the show!

BCnU!
Toby OB


"Until we meet again, fellow Z-Men,
Good luck in Time and Space
!"
'Captain Z-Ro'

Friday, May 23, 2008

"RE: ANTON KREITZER" - AN UPDATE

Sometimes I get pretty O'Bsessive about the Inner Toob blog. Maybe I don't always get my facts straight - like confusing an Islanders jersey for one of the Rangers' - but still I do try to get everything just right.

When 'How I Met Your Mother' did a shout-out to 'Cheers' and Norm's alias of "Anton Kreitzer", I searched the web for a picture from the appropriate episode... to no avail.

So I got the disk from Netflix today and here's the picture I wanted for that blog post, "Re: Anton Kreitzer":

[That's the great Cynthia Stevenson as Doris,
with George Wendt as Norm Peterson]

All that time lost in searching for the appropriate picture when I could have been doing something else - like cleaning my apartment.......

Shyeah! That's the ticket!

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: THE TOOBWORLD KIDD

"William Kidd started out as a respectable seaman.
The British Government sent him out to harrass the French fleet in 1700.
His men forced him to turn renegade, and he became a pirate
."
Major Anthony Nelson
'I Dream Of Jeannie'

There are several items of note which occurred on this date in the Toobworld timeline:


Robinson Peepers and Nancy Remington were married in Jefferson City on May 23, 1954 ('Mr. Peepers').

Stuart Gharty tried to stop a massacre of women and children in Qang Tri Province during the Viet Nam War on May 23, 1970 ('Homicide: Life On The Street').

But there is one event that happened in both Toobworld and the real world on a May 23rd - on that day in 1701, Captain William Kidd was hanged for piracy. And 'You Are There'!

Sorry about that, Chief.

Here are some basic facts of his execution, courtesy of Wikipedia:

William "Captain" Kidd (c. 1645 – May 23, 1701) was a Scottish sailor remembered for his trial and execution for piracy after returning from a voyage to the Indian Ocean. Some modern historians deem his piratical reputation unjust, as there is evidence that Kidd acted only as a privateer. Kidd's fame springs largely from the sensational circumstances of his questioning before the English Parliament and the ensuing trial. His actual depredations on the high seas, whether piratical or not, were both less destructive and less lucrative than those of many other contemporary pirates and privateers.


On July 6, 1699, Kidd was placed in Stone Prison, spending most of the time in solitary confinement. His wife, Sarah, was also imprisoned. The conditions of Kidd's imprisonment were extremely harsh, and appear to have driven him at least temporarily insane.

He was eventually (after over a year) sent to England for questioning by Parliament. The new Tory ministry hoped to use Kidd as a tool to discredit the Whigs who had backed him, but Kidd refused to name names, naively confident his patrons would reward his loyalty by interceding on his behalf. Finding Kidd politically useless, the Tory leaders sent him to stand trial before the High Court of Admiralty in London for the charges of piracy on high seas and the murder of William Moore. Whilst awaiting trial, Kidd was confined in the infamous Newgate Prison and wrote several letters to King William requesting clemency.

Kidd was tried without representation, and was shocked to learn at his trial that he was charged with murder. He was found guilty on all charges (murder and five counts of piracy). He was hanged on May 23, 1701, at 'Execution Dock', Wapping, in London. During the execution, the hangman's rope broke and Kidd was hanged on the second attempt. His body was gibbeted — left to hang in an iron cage over the River Thames, London, as a warning to future would-be pirates for two years.

The belief that Kidd had left a buried treasure somewhere, contributed considerably to the growth of his legend. This belief had made its contributions to literature in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Gold-Bug", Washington Irving's The Devil and Tom Walker , Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island and Nelson DeMille's Plum Island. It also gave impetus to the never-ending treasure hunts conducted on Oak Island in Nova Scotia, in Suffolk County, Long Island in New York where Gardiner's Island is located, Charles Island in Milford, Connecticut, and in the Thimble Islands in Connecticut.

(As a boy growing up in Connecticut, my family would go out to the Thimble Islands once a summer, to visit friends of my parents; and we would comb the beach looking for that treasure!)

Now, in Toobworld, the time-traveling reporters from CBS went back through the ages to bear witness to Kidd's execution. Among them were probably Grant Holcomb, Don Hollenbeck, Grant Sewell, and Edward Morgan, with Walter Cronkite maintaining the anchor's desk back in the 20th Century.

Since Kidd's execution did occur both in the real world and Toobworld, a splainin must be found for the events in the 'I Dream Of Jeannie' episode "My Master The Pirate". Major Anthony Nelson found himself stranded on board Kidd's vessel by Jeannie's hijinks and Kidd tried to skewer him with his cutlass.
Unfortunately for the privateer, Nelson dodged out of the way and Kidd went sailing over the railing to his demise in the sea.

That should have changed History. However, what probably happened was that by interfering with the Past, Tony Nelson created a new alternate dimension that shared a common timeline with Earth Prime-Time until that nexus point. Thus, the main Toobworld could still follow the basic timeline established for Earth Prime.

BCnU, me hearties!
Toby OB

Thursday, May 22, 2008

ONE LAST POST BEFORE BED.....

'Bout time I re-checked Blogger to see if they made posting a picture for myself any easier. Never could figure out the old method. Glad to see they fixed it - this took two seconds!

I hope it's okay to use this Keith Haring picture. I'm sure if it isn't, I'll hear from the lawyers.

I just figured it made for a more interesting ID than my own approximation of a human visage.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

HISTORY, CHANNELLED: THE LAST CARSON

Sixteen years ago today (There's that 'Lost' number again!), NBC broadcast the final 'Tonight' show with Johnny Carson as the host.

Andy Edelstein of New York Newsday is hosting a YouTube clip today in
TVZone to mark the occasion......

BCnU!
Toby OB

FROM ADRIC TO ZACK: AN ADDY ADDENDUM

I had an idea for a post about Dr. Zack Addy of 'Bones' for several weeks, based on a recurring theme in the Toobworld concept. So this development in his character's life on 'Bones' seemed to be as good a time as any to propose it.

And "recurring" is the key word, since the theme is "Born To Rerun", Toobworld's version of reincarnation.

From the BBC's 'Doctor Who' website:
"Adric, a teenage boy with a gift - and badge - for mathematical excellence, was a member of a street gang on the planet Alzarius, along with his brother, Varsh. Adric, alone and hungry for adventure, stowed away in the TARDIS after Varsh sacrificed his life to save the Doctor and his friends.

Often frustrated by his clumsiness, and fiercely competitive, Adric struggled to find a useful role among the TARDIS crew. He ultimately gave up his life by remaining on board a spaceship that crashed into prehistoric Earth, causing the death of the dinosaurs."

Alzarius was found in E-space, a dimension separate from Toobworld's known space like so many of the alternate versions of the TV Universe. Whether or not the souls of its inhabitants can transfer to other dimensions to be reincarnated is unknown by this dabblin' sciolist. But Adric sacrificed his life in the dimension of Earth Prime-Time, and so it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that he could be reborn as other TV characters in the main TV Universe.

For alls I know, as Stuart Best would say on 'Murphy Brown', since Adric perished at the end of the dinosaur age, he could have been reborn as animals or as representatives of the earlier stages of Man on the evolutionary scale.

I think that the basic nature of Adric's soul would remain the same He would be reborn as a delicate naif struggling to fit in with those around him, and his vaunting intelligence would sometimes be more of a hindrance than a help in that endeavor.
And that would bring us to Dr. Zack Addy. From Adric to Addy - it even sounds pre-destined!

So, as it is with most "Born To Rerun" suggestions, as well as with the "Theories Of Relateeveety", this can't be proven, but it's highly unlikely it's ever going to be disproved either.....
BCnU!
Toby OB

ADDY PREY

There are MAJOR spoilers regarding the season finale of 'Bones'. If it makes a difference to you and you haven't seen it yet, please channel surf to your next destination......



And so it goes....
In this week's season finale of 'Bones', an original character made his last appearance on the show. Unlike the season finales for 'CSI', 'NCIS', and 'House', in which regular characters were killed off, Dr. Zack Addy turned out to be the apprentice to the serial killer Gormogon. He got a plea deal in exchange for his help in catching his master: Zack was going to be institutionalized for a long, long time......

The door is somewhat open for him to one day return, but I don't see it happening. Even though he didn't partake in the cannibalism or the creation of the silver skeleton, Zack did murder the lobbyist for his master. (I liked that the bone part taken from the lobbyist was his jawbone - jawbone of an ass? - and especially that they didn't hammer that joke home.)

Having committed the murder, how could the producers ever justify bringing Zack back into the Jeffersonian fold? At least not on a full-time basis. However, I could envision Eric Millegan returning on a recurring basis. Dr. Temperance Brennan could visit her former protege in the sanitarium, perhaps to pick his brains on some aspect of a case that eludes her.

Although I'm not much for reviews here at Inner Toob, I wasn't happy with this turn of events - and not just because I like the character and actor. Actually, I blame the writers' strike, even though that was necessary. The back end of the season was truncated; had the writers been able to get about three more episodes in before season's end, they might have been able to delve into how deeply the Iraq experience affected Zack, which made him vulnerable to the persuasive tutelage of Gormogon.

Now, I wrote that all up on Thursday morning while doing laundry. Around 3:15 this afternoon, I found these pertinent segments of an interview Matt Roush of TV Guide conducted with Hart Hanson, creator of the show:

TVGuide.com: Some have speculated that the strike-shortened season chipped away at what could have been a better build-up to the Gormogon arc, laying the foundation for Zack's motivation — such as post-traumatic stress.

That's very good, yes. Initially the plan — and things go through so many iterations — was that we would find that Zack was either the apprentice to the Gormogon, or that he was approached by the Gormogon, rebuffed the offer, and then was killed. Any number of scenarios were explored. But coming back from the strike, we only had two episodes to set things up, and this presented the maximum bang for our buck — "Let's shock everyone" — and that seems to have worked to an extent. I am delighted for our show, and for Eric Millegan, that some people are furious.

TVGuide.com: Anything else you want to say about the finale and Eric's status with the show moving forward?
Eric was a consummate pro about it, and he hated keeping it a secret. He was really worried that his fans would turn against him. But we have not seen the last of him. He won't be in every episode, but Zack has certain talents we can use in a "Hannibal Lecter" kind of way. We can go visit him and he can look at stuff. If my voice sounds light right now, it's because the decision was not made lightly. But we've got to do what we've got to do.

By the way, I am glad that Zack Addy got committed to a mental institution rather than being sentenced to prison, even if he did commit murder. A pretty boy like Zack would never survive in prison - not without a lifetime supply of "Oops! I Crapped My Pants" brand of adult diapers!

BCnU!
Toby OB

NEW @ TOOBWORLD CENTRAL

Most times when I get a DVD delivery here at Toobworld Central, Postman Pat(ruchev) leaves it just outside my door, knowing that I'm asleep during the daytime hours. And I usually find it as I'm going to work later that night and just toss it on the shelves just inside my apartment in what I call the "mud hall".

And because of my Swiss cheese memory, I usually forget they're down there for a few days.

So it was with another addition to the Library here, which arrived long before "The New Maverick"......

"Hiya, Kids!! (A '50s Saturday Morning"

This is a compilation of 21 episodes from shows that many Boomers from the "Peanut Gallery" should remember:

'Kukla, Fran, and Ollie'
'Howdy Doody'
'Lassie'
'Annie Oakley'
'Flash Gordon'
'Ding Dong School'
'Time For Beany'
'The Paul Winchell Show'
'The Roy Rogers Show'
'Captain Z-Ro'
'The Rootie Kazootie Club'
'Winky Dink and You'
'Super Circus'
'Andy's Gang'
'The Cisco Kid'
'Sky King'
'The Magic Clown'
'Kids and Company'
'Juvenile Jury'
'The Pinky Lee Show'
'Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle'

Some may find this hard to believe, but I grew up seeing very few of those shows - 'Lassie', 'Ding Dong School', 'Time For Beany' and Paul Winchell and Roy Rogers. There was more of a focus back in Connecticut by the early sixties on locally produced children's programming like 'The Hap Richards Show', 'Ranger Andy', and 'Mr. Goober'.

Of course, by the time I was 25 and delving more and more into the Television heritage, I got the chance to familiarize myself with many of these shows via public access channels, nostalgic TV specials, and the Museum of Broadcasting (which became the Museum of Television & Radio, but is now known as the Paley Center for Media).

Still, there are a couple of them I never heard of before - 'Kids and Company' & 'The Magic Clown'. (Like that baby warns in the online trading blipvert - never underestimate the creepiness factor of clowns!)

Of course, I didn't expect to find my local shows remembered here, but luckily I got a DVD from CPTV of a special they did about early Connecticut broadcasting. And I didn't expect to see Soupy Sales or Walt Disney represented either, as they have their own marketing deals going on.

The one show I'm most eager to see from this collection? 'Captain Z-Ro'. It's a time travel series that sounded interesting, even if pictures I've seen make it look like it was made on the cheap on a scale far below the standards of early 'Doctor Who' production. (I am also surprised not to see more of the sci-fi show heroes of the time besides Z-Ro and Flash - Captain Video, Tom Corbett, the Rocket Rangers and the gang from Space Patrol.)

So here's another DVD collection that will making the summer trek with me to the Lake. I'll be curious to see whether or not any of these shows can hold the interest of my 3½ year old nephew, who's probably jaded by all of the CGI DVD cartoons he watches!

BCnU!
Toby OB

NEW @ TOOBWORLD CENTRAL

As I left the apartment this morning to do my laundry chores one day early, (just in case I get the opportunity to go out bit torrenting tonight!), I found the latest orphan on my doorstep from Amazon.

"The New Maverick"
This TV movie revitalized the classic Western which turned the genre on its head back in the 1950s. James Garner and Jack Kelly were back as Bret and Bart Maverick, but they were in support of Charles Frank as their nephew Ben (supposedly the son of Beau Maverick). However, Garner was the one who got his name above the title.

"The New Maverick" launched the short-lived sequel series 'Young Maverick' starring Frank and John Dehner. And from there, it could be attributed to the re-launch of Garner's involvement with his character in 'Bret Maverick'.

When the series debuted, 'The Return Of The Saint' was also on TV at the time. That starred Ian Ogilvie as the new Simon Templar, who was also supposed to be the son of the original televersion. So even though they were separated by about a century, Toobworld had two sons of Roger Moore characters on the air at the same time.

One last note.... the cover of the DVD has the feel of an episode of 'The Wild, Wild West' in the way that it's set up; the train kind of clinches that. Even though 'Maverick' is a gem in its own right, it doesn't hurt to play up that kind of reference. 'The Wild, Wild West' is the series I'm taking with me on my summer sojourn this year. (At least the first three season.....)

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: TED KENNEDY

By now, most visitors to Inner Toob must have heard the news about Senator Ted Kennedy and his recent diagnosis of brain cancer. The grand old lion of the Democratic party and the patriarch of the Kennedy Dynasty is already being eulogized on TV as though this meant he was already dead. Here's hoping that he still has time to get those things that matter to him accomplished.

I suppose in a way, today's Tiddlywinkydink serves as a eulogy as well.......

These are the actors who have portrayed Edward M. Kennedy in Toobworld, some from alternate TV dimensions:


Kevin Conroy (I) (Ted Kennedy)
. . . "Kennedy" (1983) (mini) TV Series

Patrick Labyorteaux (Ted Kennedy)
. . . Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977) (TV)

Matt Letscher (Ted Kennedy)
. . . Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot (2001) (TV)

Jacob Richmond (Edward 'Ted' Kennedy)
. . . Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (2000) (TV)

Jared Cook (I) (Teddy Kennedy (age 9))
. . . J.F.K.: Reckless Youth (1993) (TV)

Seth Gabrielse (Teddy Kennedy)
. . . J.F.K.: Reckless Youth (1993) (TV)

Fraser McGregor (Teddy Kennedy (age 3))
. . . J.F.K.: Reckless Youth (1993) (TV)

Dylan Price (Edward 'Teddy' Kennedy)
. . . "Woman Named Jackie, A" (1991) (mini) TV Series

James Read (II) (Teddy Kennedy)
. . . "Robert Kennedy & His Times" (1985) (mini) TV Series

Joris Stuyck (Teddy Kennedy)
. . . Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1988) (TV)

Kevin Hare (I) (Edward Kennedy)
. . . RFK (2002) (TV)

Bill Lake (Older Edward Kennedy)
. . . Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (2000) (TV)

Craig T. Nelson (Senator Edward Kennedy)
. . . Ted Kennedy Jr. Story, The (1986) (TV)

For this last leg of his life's journey (and again, here's hoping it will continue for a while), my "Wish-Craft" would be that Brian Dennehy assays the role of Ted Kennedy.

Depending on how this all plays out, it could be a political "Brian's Song"......
Just sayin', is all......

BCnU!
Toby OB

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

TODAY'S TWD: FLEET WEEK

Today marked the beginning of the annual Fleet Week in New York City, when plenty of big ships, aircraft carriers and the like from the navies of the United States and Canada, sailed up the East River to dock for the next seven days. During the coming week, you won't be able to fling a dead cat near where I work without hitting a sailor. (You won't need the dead cat if you plan to hit on a sailor!)

This should be Fleet Week in Toobworld as well, although I don't think there'll be any fresh programming to be found in celebration of the event. However, we have enough sitcoms and dramas to mark the occasion with an evening's TV schedule.

This being Toobworld, we don't have to concern ourselves with trivial matters like networks; Toobworld is Televisione sans frontieres! The only thing I looked for would be that the shows were in same TV dimension. Therefore, I excluded an episode of 'Spin City' which had Lou Diamond Phillips in a guest starring role as Nate, Carter's Navy boyfriend. That sitcom takes place in an alternate New York City where the Mayor was Randall Winston and not Rudy Giuliani, as it was in the main Toobworld as well as in the real world.

So here's the evening's line-up for Toobworld's Fleet Week salute:

8 PM
'Friends'
"The One With The Chicken Pox"
Originally aired: Thursday May 9, 1996 on NBC
Phoebe's boyfriend Ryan is coming for two weeks after a couple of years at sea on a submarine. When he enters her apartment he finds Phoebe with a cloth over her head and she tells Ryan that she has chicken pox, Ryan then reveals that he has never had chicken pox but he doesn't care so he goes over and kisses Phoebe. Ross comes back for Rachel's purse to find Phoebe and Ryan scratching each other violently. He leaves quietly.

8:30 PM
'Sex And The City'
"Anchors Away"
Originally aired: Sunday July 21, 2002 on HBO
It's fleet week, when the city swarms with US Navy boys, who invite the non-moms to a hot party. Fleet Week docks in New York and the gals eyeball the sailor boys, looking for fun. A sailor tells Carrie that she reminds him of his mom. She says, "Buh-bye!" An officer asks Charlotte to show him her tits. She does, and Carrie freaks.

9 PM
'CSI:NY'
"Heroes"
Originally aired: Wednesday May 10, 2006 on CBS
Fleet week has begun in New York City. Several soldiers are showing kids how to find soldiers covered in leaves. While doing this one of the soldier still covered in leaves is watching the kids and he notices a body behind some bushes. He immediately calls in for help, removing the body before the kids find it.

10 PM
'Law & Order'
"Navy Blues"
Wednesday October 15, 1997 on NBC
McCoy finds himself battling the Navy and the office of the Judge Advocate General as he tries to prosecute a female pilot accused of murdering her married lover after he tried to break off with her.

[Plot descriptions from TV.com]

BCnU!
Toby OB
Det. Flack:
"Unfortunately, low-lifes know it's Fleet Week also.
Service men are easy targets because they're easy to spot."
Mac Taylor:
"A uniform isn't a bullseye, it's a badge of honor."
'CSI:NY'

BLOG UPDATE

I don't know if anybody was actually looking for new blog entries here today at Inner Toob, but Toobworld Central was disabled by Time Warner for most of the day.

I came home from work this morning to find several of my neighbors out in the hallways, wandering about in their bathrobes and all in a dither - I thought maybe somebody got robbed or there was a fire! Turns out that the cable was out, and so was my internet access. Didn't get it back until about 6 pm.

At least I was able to entertain myself with a few DVDs - a 'Burke's Law' from the early 1990s, and an episode of 'Rosemary & Thyme'.......

BCnU!
Toby OB

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

TODAY'S TWD: NAKED HAILED THE CABBIE

When I try to splain 'How I Met Your Mother' to friends/family who have yet to see it, I describe it as the sitcom version of 'Lost'. It's very dense, full of clues to past/future events, and the writers must adhere to a very strict timeline.

I got that 'Lost' vibe last night when Ted was hailing a cab. Because he was too busy tying his shoe, he didn't get a ride from the dingy, beat-up car with "taxi" written on the side in dirt, and which was driven by a guy with no shirt on. In the next scene, we saw Marshall reading the New York Examiner (which links to the 2004 TV movie "Celeste In the City"), and the headline reads: "Nude Cabbie (Vows To Kill Again)".
So it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that had Ted taken that taxi, he'd never have been around to narrate the sitcom to his kids in the first place, let alone bring that episode to a screeching halt!

BCnU!
Toby OB

Monday, May 19, 2008

TODAY'S TWD: GREEKSHOW

"Gods Behaving Badly" is a book by Marie Phillips, dealing with the legendary gods of the Greek myths (now living in London). It'll be out in paperback June 5th in the UK, and it's been optioned for a TV series by Ben Stiller.

Should it reach fruition as a TV series, there's no fear of it Zonking any other incarnations of the Greek gods in other TV shows, movies, or commercials. That's because the gods had the power to transform themselves to look like other people. Sometimes this happened within the same series - for example, the "god-father" Zeus. In 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys', Zeus was played by Anthony Quinn and Charles Keating.

Just for giggles, here are a few examples of the main gods and goddesses of the Olympian Pantheon as seen in various TV productions.
Zeus - 'Sabrina, The Teenage Witch'

Hera - "Jason And The Argonauts"

Apollo - 'Star Trek'

Hermes - 'ABC Stage 67': "Olympus 7-000"

Aphrodite - 'Fantasy Island'

Athena - 'Helen of Troy'

Hestia - 'Xena, Warrior Princess'

Ares - 'Young Hercules'

Artemis - 'Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord'

Neptune aka Poseidon - "The Little Mermaid" - 'Faerie Tale Theatre' & 'Shirley Temple's Storybook'

Demeter - 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'

Hephaestus - "Goddess Of Love"

Dionysus aka Bacchus - 'The Twilight Zone' (1985)

Cupid - 'Cupid'

BCnU!
Toby OB

Sunday, May 18, 2008

DREAMLINKER

I dream in Toobworld all the time. Sometimes I'm even awakened by these dreams with new ideas for blog posts. But usually it's just because I have to pee.

Apparently, it can be infectious. One of my brothers is having Toobworld crossover dreams now.....

Okay, you're the only one who'll appreciate this dream. Last week on my new job, I worked in a warehouse for a sports apparel company changing out old light fixtures for new, energy efficient ones. In my dream, I combined that setting with the two shows I've been following--'Rome' and 'The Office'.

A big flatbed truck pulled up to the warehouse with a bunch of tired, distraught people on the back. Apparently, the slave hunters had rounded up a bunch of escaped slaves and were returning them to their owners. As I was just a worker in the warehouse and very few others were in the building, I had to seek out the number two man in the operation to make a decision on whether to take the slave back. The slave was the sister-in-law of Lucius Vorenus and the number two man was Jim Halpert.

Weird, but I bet that shit happens to you all the time.

AJ

Yeah, but not like that one. A combination of 'Rome' and 'The Office'..... Lucky bastid.

BCnU!
Toby OB

PS:
That is the closest I think I'll ever get to a picture of John Krasinski/Jim Halpert in a toga......

THE WEEK IN NUMBERS

I've got a couple more instances in which "The Numbers" of 'Lost' came into play during episodes of other TV shows.

On the night that Liz Lemon thought she got pregnant, Dennis Duffy was wearing an ISLANDERS jersey (Thanks, Brent!) with the number "8" emblazoned on it. ('30 Rock')
Behind Dick Hollister's desk at the newspaper, there was a publicity placard announcing the 8 PM broadcast time for 'Jetman'. ('He & She')
In the camel race of Unagatta, Paul Hamilton rode Bodiceaa, camel #4, to victory. ('Supernova')
There is a weirdly shaped #8 hanging on the wall behind one of the main characters. ('Pulling')
The license plate for a police car arriving at the airport was #444. ('Poirot' - "Lord Edgeware Dies")
Vic Tyler was staying in Room 16 at the Victorian Park Hotel. ('Life On Mars')
A "Scared Straight" sketch featuring guest host Shia LaBouef took place in the 16th Precinct headquarters. This would be in Skitlandia, the sketch dimension. ('Saturday Night Live')

And finally, from the mother-show itself.....
From a hidden suitcase that also contained binoculars and Ben's kick-ass baton, Hurley helped himself to a cache of DHARMA Initiative crackers. Ben then pointed out: "You do know those crackers have been there for 15 years?" ('Lost')

If you make any sightings of the 'Lost' numbers on other TV shows - past or present! - let me know.

BCnU!
Toby OB

TODAY'S TWD: CSI: ZAGREB









Here's a spooky use of one of the numbers from 'Lost' (and from 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy').......

In 1966, Hedviga Golik, of Zagreb, Croatia, made herself a nice cup of tea (VERY HHG2TG!) and sat down in her favorite armchair. Her plan was for a night of telly on her black and white TV. She may have been about to watch the prime time programming on HRT-1.
Hedviga Golik was 42 years old at the time.

This week, 42 years later, Zagreb police broke down the door to her apartment to find her still sitting in that favorite armchair, the teacup - its contents long since evaporated - by her side.

"So far, we have no idea how it is possible that someone officially reported missing so long ago was not found before in the same apartment she used to live in," said a police spokesman. "When officers went there, they said it was like stepping into a place frozen in time. The cup she had been drinking tea from was still on a table next to the chair she had been sitting in and the house was full of things no one had seen for decades. Nothing had been disturbed for decades, even though there were more than a few cobwebs in there."

Jadranka Markic was nine when Hedviga "vanished". Now 51, she said: "I still remember her. She was a quiet woman who kept herself to herself but was polite. We all thought that she had just moved out and gone to live with relatives."

Hedviga died at the age of 42 and wasn't discovered until 42 years later.......

Life, the Universe, and Everything in Croatia!

BCnU!
Toby OB