Saturday, January 15, 2011

PIXIE DUSTED: MTM = HH

'Supernatural' did an episode this season about the Faerie, and they will be a major plot point in the coming season of 'True Blood'.

But since the early days of television, pixies at least have been known to exist in Toobworld. Here's the most famous one, in a "spin-off" from 'The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet'. (As with many of the early characters seen on TV, Harriet Nelson is a bit of a serlinguist......)




BCnU!

THE MERRYVILLE TROLLEY RIDE

It has been literally YEARS since 'Saturday Night Live' has made me laugh out loud. But this sketch last weekend had me choking on my breakfast cereal the next morning! (Confession time: I enjoy Mantan Moreland-styled comedy situations....)




With just a tweak, this could have been an episode from 'The Tales Of The Crypt'!

I think I finally have a reason to add a Best Comedy Sketch category to the Toobits Awards for 2011!

BCnU!

ALTOGETHER OOKY

If all goes as planned, I went to see "The Addams Family" on Broadway Friday night.

Here's the opening theme song from the original TV series......






BCnU!

REMEMBERING THE NELSON FAMILY

Since David Nelson passed away this week, I thought it might be nice to remember the whole Nelson family with a complete episode of 'The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet'. This one felt right for giving David just as much of the spotlight as Ricky (although it's Ozzie who ends up taking over....)



PART ONE




PART TWO




PART THREE




PART FOUR



BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: "THE BTK KILLER"

On this date in 1974, Dennis Rader, aka the BTK Killer kills his first victims by binding, torturing and murdering Joseph, Joseph II, Josephine and Julie Otero in their house.

DENNIS RADER

AS SEEN IN:
"The Hunt For The BTK Killer"

AS PLAYED BY:
Gregg Henry

Here's part one of the TV movie.....




BCnU!

Friday, January 14, 2011

TELEFLUVIA: FROM BEHIND THE BEDROOM DOOR

David Tennant, who played the Tenth Incarnation of the Doctor on 'Doctor Who', is engaged to be married to Georgia Moffett, who played his "daughter" (she was a revised clone, actually) in the episode "The Doctor's Daughter".

And she literally is the Doctor's Daughter, as her father is Peter Davison, who was the Fifth Incarnation of the Doctor.

So.... The Doctor is marrying his daughter......

Who knew there was a Gallifrey, Arkansas?
~
I always thought I'd look stupid if I played "The Numbers" from 'Lost' in the lottery. But if I had done so this week, when the Mega-Millions jackpot was up over 300 million dollars, I would have had four of the winning numbers: 4, 8, 15, and the mega-ball 42.

That'll teach me, brotha.....
~
Michael Ausiello reports in his new website that ABC is bringing an updated version of 'Charlie's Angels' back to TV. However, it will now be set in Miami and the new Bosley will be "hot". (That doesn't mean if Bosley is a man or a woman, however.....)

Changing the location isn't a deal-breaker for this version to stay in the main Toobworld. Neither is a new Bosley. Male or female, the new Bosley could claim the original as their father.

But if we're getting a new Jill, Sabrina, and Kelly, as well as a new Charlie Townsend (unless there's a credible splainin for that), then off it goes to another TV dimension.
~
I'm trapped in my bedroom due to a new floor being installed in my bathroom. So I've had time to watch the two-part TV movie "Night Of The Fox", which was the source of today's "As Seen On TV" showcase. I'm thinking of getting out the 'Burke's Law' set and starting on that.....

BCnU!

IN THE LOOPS

This week's episode of 'Modern Family' provided a product connection to 'Bones':

Back in October of 2008, the 'Bones' episode "The Crank In The Shaft" showed Ted Russo, one of the homicide suspects, making a peanut butter and Berry Loops sandwich.

Finger-lickin' - and Toobworld-linkin' - good!

And the word gets around about Berry Loops in that extended 'Modern Family', because Luke Dunphy ate them as well. I think Luke told his "step-uncle" Manny about them rather than the other way around; Luke seems to be the type to be in the know about sugary cereals. BCnU!

A SCHLOCK TO THE SYSTEM

Phil and Claire Dunphy of 'Modern Family' have a passion - schlock movies. The cheesier the better is their motto. In this week's episode, their plan was to go see "Croctopus" in 3-D, "a badly made schlockfest, with absolutely no redeeming value"....

And that's in Toobworld. In the real world, those types of movies are made for the Syfy Channel:

Hopefully, "Sharktopus" actually took place in the main Toobworld. "Croctopus" may have been an attempt to cash in on that ripped-from-the-headlines story without paying off the people involved.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: ROMMEL

FIELD MARSHAL ERWIN ROMMEL

AS SEEN IN:
"Night Of The Fox"

AS PLAYED BY:
Michael York

From Wikipedia:
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as the Desert Fox, was a famous German Field Marshal of World War II.

He was a highly decorated officer in World War I, awarded the Pour le Mérite for his exploits on the Italian front. In World War II, he further distinguished himself as the commander of the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion of France. However, it was his leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign that established the legend of the Desert Fox. He is considered to have been one of the most skilled commanders of desert warfare in the war. He later commanded the German forces opposing the Allied cross-channel invasion in Normandy.

Rommel is regarded as a humane and professional officer. His Afrikakorps was never accused of war crimes. Soldiers captured during his Africa campaign were reported to have been treated humanely. Furthermore, he ignored orders to kill captured commandos, Jewish soldiers and civilians in all theaters of his command.

Late in the war, Rommel was linked to the conspiracy to kill Adolf Hitler. Throughout the war, Rommel was a highly prized national hero, the "Desert Fox" of Germany. Due to his wide renown, Hitler chose to eliminate him quietly. In trade for the protection of his family, Rommel agreed to commit suicide.

Thanks to Tex Texeiro.....

BCnU!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

THE HAT SQUAD: MARGARET WHITING

BARBARA & MARGARET WHITING


David Nelson wasn't the only member of Toobworld's League of Themselves to pass away in the last few days. Margaret Whiting may have been better known as a big band singer, but she and her sister also starred in a 1950's sitcom in which they played variations on themselves. They were still the Whiting sisters; Margaret was a singer not quite as famous as her Trueniverse self, and Barbara was a coed at UCLA.

Their family tree veered off from that in the real world, however, with the marvelous Mabel Albertson as their mother. Perfect casting to my mind - just look at the three women together in this clip:




It was tempting to make the claim that Mike Connors was working undercover as Joe Mannix, but it's easier to just keep this as one of the many examples where there is just no connection between two Toobworld citizens who happen to resemble each other.....

In her later years, Margaret Whiting married a former porn star named Jack Wrangler, who was several decades younger than she was. (He passed away last year.) I wonder if her televersion would have done the same?

BCnU....

THE HAT SQUAD: DAVID NELSON

David Nelson, along with his parents Ozzie and Harriet, and his brother Rick, was a true multiversal. Nelson, who passed away at the age of 74 the other day, was known more for being a member of the League of Themselves in Toobworld than as an actor, playing himself on his parents' long-running sitcom.

Of course, he started out as we all do, part of the Trueniverse, the real world. But in 1949, he took over the role of himself in Ozzie and Harriet's radio show. When the program was transferred to television in 1952, David Nelson gained a televersion, and one of the longest-running ones at that - 'The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet' ran 14 years! That seems incredible today for a sitcom - 'Cheers', 'Frasier', and 'M*A*S*H' couldn't do it - especially with a premise that was so ordinary.

And in between the radio and TV shows, the Nelsons also appeared in a movie called "Here Come The Nelsons" in which they had top billing over Jim Backus, Gale Gordon, Sheldon Leonard... and Rock Hudson! David Nelson's televersion didn't lead the same life as he did in real life. Although he tried a few more acting projects after 'Ozzie & Harriet' concluded its run in 1966, he turned his attention to directing. But the David Nelson of Toobworld became a lawyer. Perhaps in later years he got back into entertainment, but on the business side.....

David Nelson was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Ricky; the supporting players from the main cast have also long since gone. With his passing the door closes on another segment of Classic TV.
Good night and may God bless.

BCnU....

AS SEEN ON TV: DAME MAGGIE SMITH

I watched the first episode of 'Downton Abbey' on 'Masterpiece Classic' yesterday. Maggie Smith was featured in the cast as the Dowager Countess Lady Grantham....

DAME MAGGIE SMITH


AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Ian McKellan

From Wikipedia:
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith Cross, DBE (born 28 December 1934), better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 58 years. Being the most awarded British actress of the film era, she is the only British actress to accrue seven Academy Award nominations. She has won numerous awards for acting, both for the stage and for film, including five BAFTA Awards, two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, two Emmy Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two SAG Awards, and a Tony Award. Her critically-acclaimed films include "Othello" (1965), "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1967), "California Suite" (1978), "A Room with a View" (1985), and "Gosford Park" (2001). She has also appeared in a number of widely-popular films, including "Sister Act" (1992) and as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the "Harry Potter" series.

Wikipedia's information about the Emmy awards contradicts itself. She was nominated for four BAFTA Television awards, a Golden Globe Television award, and for three Emmy awards. She won the Emmy for her role in "My House In Umbria"......

BCnU!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

THE 2010 HAT SQUAD ADDENDUM

If you read Inner Toob on a regular basis, you know I go off on those end of the year/award show memorial tributes to those who died during the previous year. No matter what the category - movies, TV, theatre - they always seem to omit somebody who made an important contribution. And I always vow to do a better job of it with my Hat Squad tribute at the beginning of each year for those who made contributions to the TV Universe.

Apparently, I failed this year.

The other day, Ivan G. Shreve, Jr. had a list of names he omitted over the year at his "Thrilling Day Of Yesteryear" blog. (Link to the left, grim reapers!) And there were so many that I missed; especially a few who were big shocks that I never noticed their passings - Ann Prentiss, Sandy Kenyon, and David Froman.

So I'm going to add those missing names to the official list. But since most of my regular readers have already looked through it and moved on, I felt these people deserved the chance to be recognized.....

ACTORS
Beverly Aadland ('The Red Skelton Show')

Ann Prentiss ('Captain Nice')

Mark Jones ('Germinal')

David Froman ('Matlock' & 'Edge Of Night')

George Waring ('Coronation Street')

Sandy Kenyon ('Crunch & Des')

Robin Davies ('And Mother Makes Three'/'Five')

Richard Devon ('Yancy Derringer')

Richard Wyler ('The Man From Interpol')

Carol Marsh ('Marked Personal', 'Lord Raingo')

Lisle Wilson ('That's My Mama')

David J. Steinberg ('Zoey 101', "Willow")

Bill McIntyre ('Newhart', 'Murphy Brown')

Claiborne Cary ('Boston Common', 'Law & Order', Cloris Leachman's sister)

Roland MacLeod ('Coronation Street')

Lori Martin ('National Velvet')

Sid Conrad ('The Young & The Restless')

Bunny Summers ('True Colors', 'The Facts Of Life')

Olga C. Nardone (member of The Lullaby League in "The Wizard Of Oz")

Kenny Marino ('The Black Donnellys')

Margaret Gwenver ('Guiding Light')

Gerard Kelly ('Juliet Bravo')

Michelle Nicastro ('The Tony Danza Show', 'Dragnet', voice actress)

Willis Burks II ('CSI', 'Law & Order', 'Everybody Hates Chris')

Ted Sorel ('Guiding Light')

Chane't Johnson ('LAX', 'Life')

Tracy Wright ('Northern Town', 'It's Me Gerald', 'Slings & Arrows')

Gordon Mulholland ('The Villagers')

Tab Baker ('Prison Break')

Jimmy Gardner ('A Moment In Time', 'Doctor Who')

Babz Chula ("The X-Files: I Want To Believe")

Phyllis Hodges ('Star Trek')

Barbara New ('You Rang, M'Lord?', 'Oh, Doctor Beeching!')

Eugenia Paul ('Zorro')

Pat Stevens ('M*A*S*H')

David Ellison ('Juliet Bravo')

Phil Gordon (actor in Paul Hennings' rural comedies)

Nancy Dolman ('Soap', wife of Martin Short)

James Deuter ('Early Edition')

Victoria Longley ('Wildside')

PERSONALITIES
William Webber (Pennsylvania kids' show host Wee Willie)

Morgan White (Hawaiian kids' show host Pogo Poge)

Kip King (comic, father of Chris Kattan, 'Bollywood Hero')

Jayne Walton (Lawrence Welk's "Champagne Lady")

Natalie Nevins (Lawrence Welk singer)

NEWS & SPORTS
James J. Kilpatrick, ('Agronsky & Co.', '60 Minutes' - "Point/Counterpoint")

Ernie Harwell (WJR sportscaster for Detroit Tigers)

DIRECTORS
David Giles ("The Mayor Of Casterbridge")

Douglas Argent ('Steptoe & Son')

WRITERS
Joseph Stein ('Your Show Of Shows')

Mervyn Haisman

Alan Plater ('Selwyn')

Alvin Boretz ('Playhouse 90', 'The Defenders')

Katherine Reback ('One Day At A Time')

Eric Friewald ('The Young & The Restless', 'Maverick')

Furio Scarpelli ('FBI - Francesco Bertolazzi Investigatore')

Myle Wilder ('McHale's Navy', 'Get Smart')

PRODUCERS
Alex Jones ('Futurama')

CINEMATOGRAPHERS
Alan Hume ('The Avengers')

Tony Imi ("Sakharov", "Pope John Paul II", "The Return Of Sherlock Holmes")

Gene Polito ('Lost In Space')

ANIMATORS
Bill Littlejohn (The Charlie Brown specials)

Shirley Silvey (Jay Ward productions)

Rudy Larriva ('The Twilight Zone' credits)

Tom Ray ('Tom & Jerry')

HYPHENATES
Sam Menning (actor/photographer)

Gary Brockett (actor/assistant director)

Robert Fitzpatrick (actor/manager)

Ina Claire (singer, appeared on 'EastEnders')

Kenji Shubaya (wrestler/actor, 'Kung Fu')

Irwin Baker (comic/writer, 'This Hour Has 22 Minutes')

OTHERS
Peter Romero (art director, 'The Waltons')

Michael Adams (stuntman)

I need to ask Ivan what his source is!

Good night and may God bless......

CASTLE & FORTRESS

Eventually, 'Castle' will go off the air (hopefully not for awhile) and I'll be able to invoke the 'Primeval' temporal reboot to the show in order to bring it back into the main Toobworld. With the reboot, Richard Castle will no longer be friends with the Mayor of New York City, who happens to be a black man named Bill. Instead, he'll be friends with Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who is the mayor concurrent with the series and who has appeared as his own televersion in shows like '30 Rock' and 'Law & Order'.

I had toyed with the idea that maybe 'Castle' could reside in the dimension for 'The West Wing', as I don't remember hearing any mention of Presidents Bush and Obama, or any of the recent Presidents in the established timeline for the main Toobworld. (In 'The West Wing', Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford were followed by D. Wire Newman, Owen Lassiter, Jed Bartlet, Glenallen Walken, Jed Bartlet, and Matthew Sanchez.)

But that idea was dashed with the latest 'Castle' episode, "Poof! You're Dead". In it, Castle mentioned the Fortress of Solitude, Superman's headquarters in the Arctic, as well as Superman's alter-ego:

Richard Castle:
Are you kidding me?
He has an identical twin who wears glasses!
That's the worst disguise since Clark Kent and you believe him??

In 'The West Wing', Superman has yet to reveal himself as that dimension also houses 'Smallville'. And it's way too early in his timeline for the world to know that he is Clark Kent.

But in Earth Prime-Time, Superman died back in the early 1960's and his secret identity was eventually discovered. (As well as his Fortress of Solitude.)

Another reason to get 'Castle' into the main Toobworld - Detective Kate Beckett mentioned Professor X of the Marvel Comics group "The X-Men":

Detective Beckett:
With any luck Professor X will turn out to be Zalman's mystery client.

Charles Xavier already exists in comic books, movies, and the Tooniverse. It would be quite a catch if we could get him into Toobworld as well!

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV/HAT SQUAD: RICHARD D. WINTERS

RICHARD D. WINTERS

AS SEEN IN:
'Band Of Brothers'

AS PLAYED BY:
Damien Lewis

From The New York Times:
Richard Winters Dies at 92; Led ‘Band of Brothers’
By DENNIS HEVESI
Richard Winters, the commanding officer of Easy Company, the Army unit whose gritty combat from the beaches of Normandy to the capture of Hitler’s mountain retreat was recounted in the book and television series “Band of Brothers,” died Jan. 2 in Campbelltown, Pa. He was 92 and lived in Hershey, Pa. Rising from lieutenant to major, Mr. Winters was commander of Company E, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, from D-Day to V-E Day. Dropped behind enemy lines hours before Allied forces landed on Utah Beach at dawn on June 6, 1944, the unit went on to fight in the Battle of the Bulge, through German towns and villages and ended the war by joining in the capture of Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden, Germany, near the Austrian border.

Lieutenant Winters became the unit’s commanding officer on D-Day, hours after his superior officer was killed. That day he led 13 of his men in taking out a battery of German gunners that was decimating Allied troops on Utah Beach.

BCnU.....

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

GOING ON "18"

With that "Bad News" countdown depicted in 'How I Met Your Mother', the producers have locked themselves into Marshall and Lily's apartment as being Number 18.

In the old days, such concerns over that kind of trivia didn't matter. But then they had no idea in those days that their shows would live on in syndication, then VHS, DVD, and now digital storage to be viewed over and over and over again by fans.

The apartment number for the Ricardos on 'I Love Lucy' changed all the time if it got mentioned in the script. For example, in "Ricky And Fred Are TV Fans", the apartment number was 3-B. But one time it was deliberately changed to fit the needs of the script: in an episode in which Lucy made a bet that she could go a whole day without lying, she said in an audition that she had been in 3-D, when asked if she had any experience.

To rectify that Zonk? Maybe the Mertzes converted one of the apartments on the third floor into two separate studio apartments, or combined two apartments into a larger suite. Either way, it would have led to the numbering system for that floor to be re-designated.

BCnU!

INSERTING A 14 COX (YES. I WENT THERE)

When the "Bad News" episode of 'How I Met Your Mother' was doing its countdown, there was a scene where Marshall's father was standing outside the bathroom door while Marshall was inside trying to masturbate into a cup. (It wasn't for pleasure, but to have a sample to be tested by the fertility specialist.)

Marshall's father was exhorting how great Minnesota Vikings kicker Fred Cox was, at one point chanting "Cox! Cox! Cox!" - which certainly didn't bring up the appropriate mental images to get Marshall in the mood.

That moment came (Sorry about that, Chief!) during the countdown between the numbers "17" & "16" and number "15": But the producers might have saved themselves the trouble of depicting the number "14" had they inserted that scene after the scene with the cereal box. And that's because Marvin Erikson, Sr. was invoking the memory of the legendary Number 14 in Viking history. It wouldn't have been the only time they used a different way to depict a number in the countdown rather than just showing it. For "5", Barney and Marshall shared a "Motility High Five".

Of course, had they done so, it would have screwed up the countdown, since "14" had been teamed up with the number "13" to form the apartment number of Sandy Rivers. It was bad enough using "1413" since "13" is supposedly an architectural no-no because of bad luck. "13" alone would have never been accepted as the apartment number.

BCnU!

"SPACED" TALK

When Daisy Steiner suggested in the first episode of 'Spaced' that her future room-mate Tim Bisley probably spent his evenings on the Internet discussing the symbolism in 'The X-Files', it was not a Zonk. "The X-Files" is the name by which the actual FBI files on unexplainable phenomena are known and their existence has been revealed to the general public over the years. This was capped off by a movie starring Tea Leoni and Garry Shandling about the subject as well as the book "From Outer Space" by Jose Chung.

In that same conversation, Daisy shrugged off the mention of the grade she got from Kingston University by saying that Michelle of 'EastEnders' got the same ranking.

So far, I'm satisfied with the splainin that 'EastEnders' is a reality TV show about the residents in the Walford Square area.

And as you can see by the screen captcha, the sum total of "The Numbers" from 'Lost' makes an appearance during that same discussion.

Quite a productive chat......

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: MORECAMBE & WISE

Statistically, most of America has never heard of the comedy duo who makes up our "Two For Tuesday" edition of "As Seen On TV". I've only been able to see one or two of their comedy bits from their long career. But in Great Britain, they are so revered that there's a statue erected to their memory.....
MORECAMBE & WISE

AS SEEN IN:
"Eric & Ernie"

AS PLAYED BY:
Eric Morecambe - Daniel Rigby

Ernie Wise - Bryan Dick

From Wikipedia:
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, or Eric and Ernie, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984. They have been described as "the most illustrious, and the best-loved, double-act that Britain has ever produced". In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, 'The Morecambe and Wise Show' was placed 14th. In September 2006, they were voted by the general public as number 2 in a poll of TV's Greatest Stars and in 2011 their early career was the subject of the television biopic "Eric and Ernie". BCnU!

Monday, January 10, 2011

TVXOHOF, 01/2011: AUNT BEE TAYLOR

We've polished off the old business for 2010 in the Inner Toob blog with the Toobworld Hat Squad report and the Toobits Awards presentation. Plus there was that 24 hour "Who's On First" celebration on New Year's Day. The regular Toobworld Central business got under way for 2011 with the "As Seen On TV" showcase; and now we're about to resume another Inner Toob feature - The TV Crossover Hall of Fame monthly induction.

With the month of January, our theme is supposed to be Classic TV, and our grande dame certainly fits that bill nicely. Originally I was going to save this Southern belle for the Queen of the May theme (as Chico Escuela might say, May would have been berry appropriate), but a recent loss among TV icons has altered those plans.

So instead, our inductee kicks off 2011 as the first member of this year's class:

AUNT BEE TAYLOR
Bee Taylor was the unmarried aunt of Sheriff Andy Taylor in Mayberry, North Caroline. She lived with her widowed nephew and his son Opie, acting as their housekeeper and mother hen.

But when Andy remarried and moved away with his new bride and Opie, Aunt Bee was at loose ends - until she continued her position of housekeeper at the home of City Council President Sam Jones and his Idiot Son Mike*.
At one point, Aunt Bee traveled to California to visit a relative. While out there, she dropped by nearby Camp Henderson to visit an old friend from Mayberry - Gomer Pyle, who had joined the Marines. As should be expected from sitcoms, this led to all sorts of hilarity. (Mileage may vary.) By the way, Aunt Bee did mention the name of the relative she was visiting, but while out there she could have also visited her identical cousin, Amy Morgan. Mrs. Morgan ran a boarding house in Los Angeles where she lived with her daughter Cathy and her brother-in-law Earl. Aunt Bee's last appearance in Toobworld was something of a technicality. When Andy Taylor made his return to Mayberry in 1986, he visited Aunt Bee's grave to pay his respects. So her body was there, but her warm, cheerful (but slightly judgemental spirit had flown. Still, we heard Aunt Bee's voice in Andy's head as he reminisced about her. (The voice-over was provided by another actress and the difference can be noted. However, we have to remember that this was filtered through Andy's memories, so a Zonk is averted.) Although it was Frances Bavier in the back-door pilot of 'The Andy Griffith Show' which was shown as an episode of 'Make Room For Daddy', she was not appearing as Aunt Bee. Instead, she was playing the widow Henrietta Perkins. It could be that the reason for their incredible resemblance to each other was due to the fact that Aunt Bee's father - Andy's grand-father - was a notorious tom-catter who fooled around. (It seems a lot of that was going on in that not so sleepy hamlet of Mayberry!) And Henrietta was his love child. Having both been raised to be proper ladies in a more dignified (repressed) society, neither Henrietta nor Aunt Bee -nor anyone else in Mayberry for that matter! - ever discussed the pozz'bility that the two women might be so closely related.

So here's to you, Aunt Bee Taylor!

SHOWS CITED:
'The Andy Griffith Show'
'Mayberry RFD'
'Gomer Pyle, USMC'
"Return To Mayberry"
'Make Room For Daddy'
'It's A Great Life'

All of that work has given me a craving for kerosene cucumbers!

BCnU!

*
That term for Mike, "Idiot Boy", comes from Ivan G. Schreve, Jr., whose "Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear" blog has a regular feature called "Mayberry Mondays" in which he puts the episodes of 'Mayberry RFD' under the microscope. The link is to the left in my blogroll, so check it out!

DATELINE TOOBWORLD: THE "CORRIE" CRASH

Yesterday, as part of our Video Weekend, Inner Toob ran several clips about the suggested connections between 'Coronation Street' and 'EastEnders'. I've got a good feeling that fans of 'Coronation Street' will be responding to my plea for information... information... information about that supposed crossover because they O'Bviously take their "Corrie" very seriously.

Proof of that came with the news that a recent storyline on the show - about a deadly train crash - was so realistic to some viewers that they called up a travel advice hotline to make sure that the Metrolink of the Trueniverse was still in operation.

It wasn't the type of mass panic as happened when Orson Welles broadcast his version of "The War Of The Worlds" over the radio, however. A Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive spokeswoman said that none of the calls were from people freaking out. There were only about six calls and they just wanted to know if train service had been affected.....

BCnU!

HISTORY UN-CHANNELED

The History Channel was supposed to show a mini-series about the Kennedy family starring Greg Kinnear, Katie Holmes, Barry Pepper, and Tom Wilkinson. It was produced by Joel Surnow of '24' fame and known for his ultra-conservative views, which - according to rumors - heavily slanted the perspective of the mini-series. And that caused a lot of protests before the filming had even begun. (Former speechwriter Ted Sorenson claimed to have seen an early draft of the script and condemned it.)

On Friday, the History Channel made this announcement:

"Upon completion of the production of 'The Kennedys,' History has decided not to air the eight-part miniseries," the network said in a statement, adding that "while the film is produced and acted with the highest quality, after viewing the final product in its totality, we have concluded this dramatic interpretation is not a fit for the History brand."

I'm sure eventually the project will find a new home. This same situation happened when CBS tried to broadcast a mini-series about the Reagans and conservatives protested. Eventually it showed up on Showtime (which I believe is a CBS ancillary.)

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: SAL MINEO

Sal Mineo was born on this date in 1939.....

SAL MINEO

AS SEEN IN:
"James Dean: Live Fast, Die Young"
aka
"James Dean: Race With Destiny"

AS PLAYED BY:
Felix Quinonez

From Wikipedia:
Salvatore Mineo, Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976), better known as Sal Mineo, was an American film and theatre actor, best known for his performance opposite James Dean in the film Rebel Without a Cause.

Mineo was born in The Bronx, the son of Sicilian coffin makers. His mother enrolled him in dancing and acting school at an early age. He had his first stage appearance in The Rose Tattoo (1951), a play by Tennessee Williams. He also played the young prince opposite Yul Brynner in the stage musical The King and I. Brynner took the opportunity to help a young Mineo better himself as an actor.

After film and television appearances, his breakthrough was Rebel Without A Cause, in which he played John "Plato" Crawford, the sensitive teenager smitten with Jim Stark (played by James Dean). His performance resulted in an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor, and his popularity quickly developed.

BCnU!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

RODDY HELL!

Getting out of the "EE"/"Corrie" vein*......

I found this video because of Bill Crider's interest in quicksand scenes in TV and movies:





And it occurred to me that if they should ever find a reason to have an actor portray Roddy McDowall in a TV show or TV movie - say in a movie about Elizabeth Taylor's later years, perhaps? - than I think David Tennant, the Tenth Incarnation of the Time Lord in 'Doctor Who', might be the perfect casting choice.......
Just sayin', is all.....

BCnU!

* Should I ever get the chance to visit Earth Prime-Time, maybe "E. E. Corey" would make for a great nom de toob.....

"CORRIE" ZONKS "EASTENDERS"

Okay, there's no question about this one: This is DEFINITELY a Zonk!


BCnU!

"CORRIE" & "EASTENDERS": THE "CHILDREN IN NEED" CROSSOVER

Now this definitely IS a crossover between 'EastEnders' and 'Coronation Street'!

"East Street" was a segment which aired during the 2010 "Children In Need" telethon back in November. Characters from both shows crossed over into each other's territory and found common interests. At at the end, two of the characters found out they had a LOT more in common than they ever imagined.....





So it is a crossover, but my question is this: Can we accept this as having happened in Earth Prime-Time, or did it happen in some alternate TV dimension? Skitlandia, perhaps?

Up until that big revelation at the end, I was convinced there was nothing stopping me from accepting it into the main Toobworld. And even if the genetic bond between those two women was never discussed again on either show, that wouldn't be a sign that it never actually happened. It would just mean that it was all splained away to everyone's satisfaction off-screen where the Trueniverse audience had no chance to see it. And it would probably have been a mutual agreement never to discuss it again.

Yet I wasn't convinced enough to have included it in the latest presentation of the Toobits Awards as any officially recognized contender for a Crossover award.

I'm still willing to accept this as a bona fide link between 'Coronation Street' and 'EastEnders'. But I'm open to any arguments that could convince me otherwise......

If any viewers of both shows happen to be reading this, what do you think?

BCnU!

"CORRIE" & "EE": CROSSOVER OR NOT?

Now, as I said in an earlier post, I don't watch 'Coronation Street' or 'EastEnders'. So I have no clue about this next video.

It's advertised as being about Jean of 'EastEnders' appearing on 'Coronation Street'. But are we to take it that she was crossing over from one show to the other as Jean or appearing in a guest shot as some other character?

Was this scene even concurrent with the actress' work on 'EastEnders'? Or was it filmed before, or even after, she was playing Jean on 'EE'?




So, to those of you in Team Toobworld who watch both shows, let this enquiring mind know - can any connection be made between these two shows based on this scene?

Write to me with your thoughts, suggestions, and hopefully answers....

BCnU!

COR LIMEY! "EASTENDERS" ZONKS "CORONATION STREET"

When the British soap opera 'Coronation Street' celebrated its fiftieth anniversary back in December, 'EastEnders' slipped in a sly little tip of the hat to their rivals.....




Of course, this is a Zonk, pure and simple, and I'm at a loss as to how to splain it away since I'm not familiar with either show.

I do know that "Corrie" is recognized just about everywhere as being the nickname for that venerable show. But has it been used in other shows as such or would they always refer to it as 'Coronation Street'? Because I'm thinking that in Toobworld, "Corrie" could have a different meaning, that it could be a different TV show that Dot watches religiously.

What kind of show? I don't know; I think I'd have to know more about Dot - her personality, her interests, etc. - to get a handle on what type of show she might otherwise watch. For alls I know, it's a reference to a cartoon series about one of the Queen's pet corgis. "Corrie the Corgi!"

No? Yeah, I didn't think so, but it was worth a shot.

Maybe Corrie is the name of the title character in some other show - a sitcom perhaps about a Mary Richards kind of gal. Maybe what we're hearing isn't meant to be spelled "Corrie" at all. Maybe it's a talk show hosted by somebody named Corey?

Luckily, nothing was said about characters, plotlines, the setting for the show; that would only seal the deal that Kat and Dot were discussing 'Coronation Street'. So I'm thankful for that; we get a bit of wiggle room there.

So I'll throw it open to Team Toobworld. What might make for a convincing splainin as to what 'Corrie' might otherwise be so that it isn't a Zonk about 'Coronation Street'?

As Ray William Johnson would say, leave your interesting comments and splainins in the comment section BELOW.....

BCnU!

"THE AVENGERS": MACNEE, RIGG... AND TWIGGY?

From an 'Avengers' photo shoot forty-four years ago this month....




BCnU!

TELE-QUICKIE: ADMIRAL NELSON

And just for bleeps and giggles.....

ADMIRAL HORATIO LORD NELSON

AS SEEN IN:
"Blackadder's Christmas Carol"

AS PLAYED BY:
Philip Pope





BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: LORD NELSON

On this date in 1806, Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson received a state funeral and is interred in St Paul's Cathedral.

ADMIRAL HORATIO LORD NELSON

AS SEEN IN:
'Weekend Rutland Television'

AS PLAYED BY:
Eric Idle

From Wikipedia:

Nelson's corpse was unloaded from the Victory at the Nore it was taken to Greenwich and placed in a lead coffin, and that in another wooden one, made from the mast of L'Orient which had been salvaged after the Battle of the Nile. He lay in state in the Painted Hall at Greenwich for three days, before being taken up river aboard a barge, accompanied by Lord Hood, Sir Peter Parker, and the Prince of Wales.

The Prince of Wales at first announced his intention to attend the funeral as chief mourner, but later attended in a private capacity with his brothers when his father George III reminded him that it was against protocol for the Heir to the Throne to attend the funerals of anyone except members of the Royal Family.

The coffin was taken into the Admiralty for the night, attended by Nelson's chaplain, Alexander Scott. The next day, 9 January, a funeral procession consisting of 32 admirals, over a hundred captains, and an escort of 10,000 troops took the coffin from the Admiralty to St. Paul's Cathedral. After a four-hour service he was laid to rest within a sarcophagus originally carved for Cardinal Wolsey.





BCnU!