Friday, November 4, 2011

WOKE UP THIS MORNING, GOT MYSELF A ZONK

What happened?” – Beckett
That’s it, that’s when all the camera signals cut out at once.” – Lulu
And what could explain the picture suddenly going out like that?” – Beckett
I don’t know. This has never happened before.” – Lulu
Well, there was that last episode of 'The 'Sopranos'.” – Castle
'Castle'

The same situation as mentioned in yesterday's post about 'Castle' and the TV doctors applies here - 'Castle' takes place in an alternate dimension for the time being so there's no problem with them having a TV show about a mob family that exists in the main TV dimension.

However, the day will hopefully come when 'Castle' can be absorbed back into Earth Prime-Time, so there should be a splainin ready should this snippet of dialogue survives the transition. (Like we'll actually see that happen.....)

'The Sopranos' was a TV series whose pop culture resonance had such magnitude (Pop! Pop!) that other TV shows were referring to it almost immediately. And because certain characters like Tony Soprano and his daughter Meadow were mentioned specifically, we can't pass off the 'Castle' mention as being about a reality series that centered around singers.

Here's a list of most of those shows in the main Toobworld which mentioned 'The Sopranos':

'Beverly Hills, 90210'

'The Ellen Show'

'Gilmore Girls'

'Huff'

'Peep Show'

'Curb Your Enthusiasm'

'The IT Crowd'

'Gilmore Girls'

'Weeds'

'The Knight Of Prosperity'

'Sons Of Anarchy'

'Hustle'

'Nip/Tuck'

'Carpoolers'

'As The World Turns'

'Entourage'

'10 Things I Hate About You'

'Party Down'

'State Of Georgia'

('Dead Set' and 'Smallville' take place in alternate TV dimensions - the 'West Wing' universe and the Zombie Universe, respectively* - and so their mentions of 'The Sopranos' can be eliminated from consideration along with mentions from the Tooniverse, in game shows and talk shows.)

So O'Bviously, the world at large is aware of Tony Soprano and his crew and his family. (Three of those Zonks were in British shows - 'Hustle', 'Peep Show', and 'The IT Crowd'.) And they know of his sessions with Dr. Melfi, despite doctor/patient privileges.

The TV producers somehow found out what happened to Adrianna as well, because her name got used as a verb in 'Sons Of Anarchy'. So in Toobworld, that must have happened at the end of the Trueniverse series' timeline - probably once the Feds looked into the evidence left behind by the comatose Silvio and the dead "Christuphuh".

Most of those mentions can be attributed to a TV show made about that New Jersey crime family in Toobworld that is probably slightly different in tone from that found in the Trueniverse. But it definitely was shown on HBO, mentioned by several of these other TV shows, like 'Nip/Tuck' and 'State Of Georgia'.

Actually, I'd prefer to think that it was a one-shot TV movie, or at best (because some of the dialogue feels like 'The Sopranos' was an ongoing venture), it was a mini-series.

But no matter what kind of TV production came about, it still means that the secret life of the Soprano crime "family" was busted after we were no longer able to see them on our own TV screens. The TV version within Toobword had to be based on public records after Tony Soprano and his crew were busted, or after he was finally killed by some mob rival.

Because of mentions made when Jamie Lynn Sigler appeared on 'Entourage' as herself, we know that she was hired to play Meadow. So that means any escape clause regarding "reality" shows have to be discounted. "Surprisingly", Meadow and Jamie Lynn look exactly alike!

And that TV series has already gone to DVD, because that topic was brought up in 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'.

'State of Georgia' was the only other show that mentioned the infamous finale to the series, which consisted of an abrupt blackout. (I was so caught off-guard by what happened that I jumped up and tried to re-adjust my cable box!) It was deliberate in the real world, but what if it was caused by a disruption in the signal from HBO over in Toobworld?

It's a sadly accepted fact that many of the TV shows that make up the foundation of Toobworld also have fictional versions in the TV Universe. Making references to other TV shows has become a crutch to TV script-writers to get an easy punchline rather than work up something original. So we have no choice but to accept that these shows Zonk the bleep out of 'The Sopranos'.

If and when 'Castle' gets reassigned to the main Toobworld, at least this particular Zonk has been disabled.

I'm sure you'll sleep better at night, knowing that.

BCnU!

* Those two series must be kept separate, despite my Little Buddy Sean's desire to see 'The West Wing' invaded by Zombies.

 

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