Sunday, April 5, 2015

VIDEO SUNDAY - A TVXOHOF PREVIEW


'THE SIMPSONS'
"MY FARE LADY"

One of the greatest characters to have come out of 1970s TV - Reverend Jim Ignatowski - made the leap from Earth Prime-Time to the Tooniverse.  And with that appearance he became eligible for membership in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

In the story, Marge Simpson went into business for herself by using her family's station wagon as an Uber-like taxi.  This put her in the cross-hairs of the taxi drivers in Springfield.  And it was Reverend Jim who led the drivers against her.



Lloyd started out on 'Taxi' as a guest character in one episode, in which he officiated at the wedding of cabbie John Burns during the first season of the sitcom.  But he proved to be so popular in the role that he was brought back to be a regular during the second season (ironically replacing Randall Carver who played John.)

His first major scene as a regular has since become an iconic bit of funny business that is still imitated today.


But he was not always like that.....



Here are a couple of other scenes that made great showcases for Jim:











In all, Reverend Jim appeared in 84 episodes of 'Taxi' which is a nice haul, but with his dimensional crossover episode that still isn't enough to qualify him for membership in the TVXOHOF.  

But a blipvert puts him over the top.......


While Lloyd is not specifically identified as Reverend Jim, everything about his appearance in this commercial points to that cosmic truth:
  • He's driving a taxi.
  • He's in NYC.
  • He's a little spacey. 
He's also kind of scary, which might be what happened to him after ingesting all of those drugs after so many decades.

This year we're inducting British TV characters into the Hall, but I see no reason why Jim couldn't make it in next year for the April Fool's edition!

BCnU!

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