AS SEEN ON TV: SIR THOMAS MORE

Earlier Friday evening, I went to a dinner celebrating the birthday of my friend Tommy Stone. As I know he really enjoyed the movie of "A Man For All Seasons", and being strong in his religious convictions, I thought I'd offer up today's "As Seen On TV" showcase as a birthday salute to Tommy. A Thomas for a Thomas, as it were.....

SIR THOMAS MORE

AS SEEN IN:
'The Tudors'

AS PLAYED BY:
Jeremy Northam

Of course, sinner that I am, I went with the rather salacious version of Henry VIII's life for this portrayal of the future saint. (Still, More comes off looking good despite the licentious license taken with the history.)

Besides, I couldn't find a decent picture of Charlton Heston in the role for the TV adaptation of the Robert Bolt play..... Happy birthday, Tomas!

BCnU!

O'BSERVATIONS: THE LETTERMAN CASE

Coming out of semi-hiatus (Hope you're enjoying the daily "As Seen On TV" feature!) to comment on the news that broke last night about the David Letterman blackmail plot.

I'm sure you've heard by now that a CBS News producer threatened to publish a book and make a movie about Letterman's flings with some of his staffers - unless he was paid 2 million dollars. That has all the elements of a 'Columbo' episode right there!

After working with the D.A.'s office to bring the guy down, Letterman confessed his sins on 'The Late Show with David Letterman' last night. Understandably, many in the audience laughed during the first part of it, thinking Dave was just telling a funny story. But as they realized that he was serious - and how serious the situation was - the laughter petered out. (Although Dave managed to re-ignite it given the way he tells his stories.)

On his blog "News From ME" (link to the left), Mark Evanier pondered the situation:

"Is this kind of thing — the star of a TV show sleeping with members of his staff — unusual? No...though I'm not sure it's any more prevalent than the boss in a non-show-biz operation consorting with underlings. What's unusual is us finding out about it."

And that led me to consider how this type of situation - not the actual Letterman case - is reflected in the "reality" of the alternate universe of Toobworld.

And of course - I think it deserves an "of course" - the one person I thought of was Alan Brady, the character Carl Reiner played on 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'. Looking back on it with the jaundiced eyes of an older 21st Century man, I can't see how a guy like Alan Brady could NOT be having affairs - with not only staffers but also with starlets, chorus girls, etc. In fact, when Reiner brought the character back after 30 plus years on an episode of 'Mad About You', it was hinted that he did carry on back in his Catskills tummler days. (Although he didn't have quite the reputation as a "swordsman" as Milton Berle did.)

But that sordid side of a TV star's life never came up during the run of 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' and probably for a variety of reasons. The major roadblock to that kind of storyline O'Bviously would be that it just wouldn't fly with the networks Standards and Practices department, or with the show's sponsors.

But it was also the time when Kennedy was President, and his own peccadilloes weren't reported in the press. They seem to have known about his affairs, but there was a kind of understanding between the White House and the press corps. And within the "inner reality" of Toobworld, that sort of relationship probably existed between Alan Brady and the gossip columnists of the day - fictional as well as those who were members of the League of Themselves (like Hedda Hopper and Army Archerd).

Interestingly enough, 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' was seen as the sitcom reflection of that "Camelot" aura given off by the Kennedy White House.....

Just another O'Bservation to be filed away with my past musings about Toobworld and real world news events like the collapse of the World Trade Center and the like.....

Back to work on the Toobworld novel!

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: GANDHI

Today would have been the 140th birthday for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who was known as Mahatma, the "Great Soul".

MAHATMA GANDHI

AS SEEN IN:

'Star Trek: Voyager'

AS PLAYED BY:

Noel De Souza

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: GIA

GIA CARANGI

AS SEEN IN:
"Gia"

AS PLAYED BY:
Angelina Jolie

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: PIETRO BARILLA

Although Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti Day in Toobworld, today we're focusing on Barilla Pasta for the "As Seen On TV" showcase.......

PIETRO BARILLA

AS SEEN IN:
Barilla TV Commercial

AS PLAYED BY:
Unknown at this time

Although not named in the latest TV commercial for Barilla pasta, the visionary with his family in the Parma wheatfields of 1877 is supposed to be Pietro Barilla. His shop was originally a bread and pasta shop in Parma, and is today a major food company throughout Europe as well as America. In continental Europe they specialize in pasta sauces; in Italy, bakery products; and they've cornered the market in crispbread in Scandinavia. I don't know who the actor is playing Pietro Barilla, but it's not Italian actor Robert Farnesi mentioned in several other sites. He plays the Italian chef who bumps into the American woman on the street and later prepares a special dish of Barilla pasta for her in his restaurant.

If you know who the actor is, let me know here at Toobworld Central. Grazie!

Ciao!

AS SEEN ON TV: THE GREAT ONE

AS SEEN IN:
"Gleason"

AS PLAYED BY:
Brad Garrett

also for "Two For Tuesday".....

AS SEEN IN:
"Martin And Lewis"

AS PLAYED BY:
Sean Cullen

Both movies came out in the same year......

And Awaaaaaaay We Go!

TVXOHOF, 09/2009-D: IT'S MAMMOTH!

As September winds down, the month in which the TV Crossover Hall of Fame salutes those who make the TV Universe happen, our last induction is that of "Location, location, location". And so we've selected the fictional location of Mammoth Studios.

I wrote about Mammoth Studios and its place in Toobwoorld more than a year ago, so you can check that out here.

And make sure you click on the link to Mercurie's site because it was his article on the topic that first gave me the idea.....

Welcome to the Hall, Mammoth Studios!

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: ROMAN POLANSKI

ROMAN POLANSKI

AS SEEN IN:
"Helter Skelter" (2004)

AS PLAYED BY:
Marek Probosz

By Jason Rhodes and Bob Tourtellotte
ZURICH/LOS ANGELES, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Fugitive director Roman Polanski, whose tumultuous life has overshadowed his film career, was arrested this weekend in Zurich after U.S. authorities sought to have him extradited to face sentencing for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

Polanski, 76, was taken into custody on Saturday after arriving in Switzerland to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival the next day.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: SUSAN ATKINS

SUSAN ATKINS

AS SEEN IN:
"Helter Skelter" (2004)

AS PLAYED BY:
Marguerite Moreau

The former Manson follower and murderer of Sharon Tate died on Thursday.

From CNN:

Susan Denise Atkins, a former member of the Manson family who killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate during a two-day killing spree in 1969, has died, according to a California corrections spokesman. She was 61.

Atkins, California's longest-serving female inmate, was suffering from terminal brain cancer. Since she entered prison in 1971, she became a born-again Christian who worked to help at-risk youth, victims of violent crimes and homeless children, among others, according to a Web site maintained by her attorney and husband, James Whitehouse.

But Atkins was best known for her actions in 1969 when as a 21-year-old she and other Manson family members participated in seven murders over two days, a rampage that terrorized Los Angeles.

By her own admission, Atkins held Tate, who was the eight months' pregnant, down as the 26-year-old actress pleaded for mercy, stabbing her 16 times. In a 1993 parole board hearing, Atkins said Tate "asked me to let her baby live. ... I told her I didn't have any mercy on her."

After stabbing Tate to death, Atkins -- known in the family as Sadie Mae Glutz -- scrawled the word "pig" in blood on the door of the home Tate shared with her husband, director Roman Polanski, according to historical accounts of the murders.

All of those involved -- Manson, Atkins, Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles "Tex" Watson -- were convicted in connection with the five deaths that night and the killings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca the following night. Atkins also was convicted in the earlier murder of music teacher Gary Hinman.

They were all sentenced to death. But their sentences were automatically commuted to life in prison when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the nation's death penalty laws in 1972.

Atkins was described as a model prisoner who accepted responsibility for her crime, but [Tate's sister] said Atkins had never offered her an apology.

Like most of the other former Manson family members, Atkins shunned Manson during her incarceration. "He is a liar, a con artist, a physical abuser of women and children, a psychological and emotional abuser of human beings, a thief, a dope pusher, a kidnaper, a child stealer, a pimp, a rapist and a child molester," she wrote in a manuscript posted on her Web site. "I can attest to all of these things with my own eyes. And he was all of these things before he was a murderer."

BCnU!