Saturday, January 14, 2017

MAKE ROOM FOR SATURDAY COMICS


From Wikipedia:
'The Danny Thomas Show' (known as 'Make Room for Daddy' during the first three seasons) is an American sitcom which ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. A revival series known as 'Make Room for Granddaddy' aired on ABC from 1970 to 1971. Episodes regularly featured music as part of the plot by Danny Thomas, guest stars and occasionally by other cast members.

In March 1953, Danny Thomas first signed the contract for the show with ABC and chose Desilu Studios to film it using its three-camera method. Two proposed titles during pre-production were 'The Children's Hour' and 'Here Comes Daddy'.


For me, it will always be 'Make Room For Daddy'.  For a long time, the show lay in syndicated limbo although I remember it being on every afternoon around the late 1960s, early 70s.  But thanks to renewed interest in old shows on various retro networks (in this case COZI-TV), DVD rebirth, and a fervent following on Facebook, 'Make Room For Daddy' is enjoying a growing popularity (even if it is shown during the middle of the night.)

So for today's edition of Saturday comics, we present you with a few examples of the Williams Family as they were seen in the universe of comic books.





BCnU!

Friday, January 13, 2017

BIG SCREEN TV: ALL ABOUT "ALL ABOUT EVE"



"You can cut the sweetness act, ballerina! 
I've seen that movie too." 
Maggie Tarrow
'Murder, She Wrote'

Maggie didn't have to tell Barbara the name of the movie; she knew what it was.  A lot of people in Toobworld know about "All About Eve".

From Wikipedia:
"All About Eve" is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It was based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although screen credit was not given for it.

The film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star. Anne Baxter plays Eve Harrington, an ambitious young fan who insinuates herself into Channing's life, ultimately threatening Channing's career and her personal relationships. George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, Barbara Bates, Gary Merrill, and Thelma Ritter also appear, and the film provided one of Marilyn Monroe's earliest important roles.

Praised by critics at the time of its release, "All About Eve" received 14 Academy Awards nominations (a feat unmatched until the 1997 film "Titanic") and won six, including Best Picture. "All About Eve" is the only film in Oscar history to receive four female acting nominations (Davis and Baxter as Best Actress, Holm and Ritter as Best Supporting Actress). "All About Eve" was selected in 1990 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry and was among the first 50 films to be registered. "All About Eve" appeared at #16 on AFI's 1998 list of the 100 best American films.



Based on that, it would be unlikely that the citizens of Earth Prime-Time would not know about it.

Kate & Allie:
Allie's Graduation 
(1987)
Kate and Allie hear the week's line-up of classic movies at the 9th Street Cinema:
  • "All About Eve"
  • "The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg"
  • "The Misfits"
  • "The 400 Blows"
  • "Sunset Boulevard"
  • "Godzilla"  (Once a week they show something for the bloodthirsty.)
The Golden Girls: 
Dorothy's Prized Pupil 
(1987)

Rose Nylund: 
The president's married to Nancy Davis now.
Sophia: 
From "All About Eve"?
Rose Nylund: 
That was Bette Davis.

Charmed: 
Run, Piper, Run 
(2005)
LEO: 
Hey, that was all about Eve
PIPER: 
Mm-hmm
PAIGE: 
Wasn't "All About Eve" some old movie? 
PIPER: 
One that I don't wanna see again anytime soon. 
LEO: 
Fine by me.

Beverly Hills, 90210:
U4EA 
(1991)
Jim and Cindy are watching the movie on TV.

Days of Our Lives: 
Episode #1.11621 
(2011)
Maggie says this is her favorite old movie.

Mr & Mrs Murder: 
Lost Soul 
(2013)
Charlie compares the case they are working on to the plot of "All About Eve"

Smash: 
The Dress Rehearsal 
(2013)

Derek Wills:
I've got an idea for the beginning as well...
I want to try and tell the story in flashback.
You know, like "Sunset Boulevard"
or "All About Eve". 

Smash: 
Pilot 
(2012)
Derek Wills tells Karen Cartwright that "by the time she was 24, Marilyn had already done 'The Asphalt Jungle' and 'All About Eve'."

Nip/Tuck: 
Trudy Nye 
(2004)
The clerk gave Christian advice to rent "All about Eve", Christian says not yet, he want to see it alone.

Queer as Folk: 
Escalating Violence 
(2004)
Deb suggests watching the film with Michael, Ben and Hunter.

Glee: 
The Spanish Teacher 
(2012)
Sue says she's seen "All About Eve".

Suits: 
Leveraged 
(2014)
In the final scene, Jessica shows two DVDs, the top one being "All About Eve".


TV scripts are riddled with pop culture references and "All About Eve" is the go-to movie when the plot deals with ambitious underlings conniving to get their mentors' positions in life.  And sometimes all that takes is a play on the movie's title to clue in the audience about what the plot entails.  Here are a few examples:
  • "All About Adam"
  • "All About Christmas Eve"
  • "All About E.E.V."
  • "All About Steve"
  • "All About Nina"
And several "All About Eva"s.

Here are several examples in which TV characters realized their lives mirrored "All About Eve":

Caroline in the City:
Caroline and the Twenty-Eight-Pound Walleye
 
(1996)

CHARLIE: 
She could be after your job.
It's just like that old movie, "All About Eve".
DEL: 
Oh yeah, Caroline dragged me to see that film. 
Slept like a baby.

That Girl:
Break a Leg
 
(1966)
Ann's friend, Sandy, lands a role in a Broadway show, and asks Ann to be her understudy. While Sandy is staying with her, Ann is such a safety hazard, it is becoming even more likely that she'll have to take Sandy's place on stage.

Judy:
You ever see 'All About Eve'?
Ann:
Yeah....
Judy:
Now there was a girl who knew how to get what she really wanted.



The Carrie Diaries: 
Hungry Like the Wolf 
(2014)

Bennett:
All the times I've watched "All About Eve," 
and I didn't even realize you were "All About Eve-ing" me.


Will & Grace: 
My Fair Maid-y 
(1999)

KAREN: 
I've got your number, sister. 
I've seen "All about Eve."
APRIL: 
Who?
KAREN 
(Imitating Bette Davis): 
"Poor, Eve." 
Yeah, that's right, go ahead. 
Play the poor, naive little maid with a heart of gold. 
But I've got Grace's back! 
Trust me. You're not going to win the Tony in this version.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent: 
Icarus 
(2011) 

Bryce Calder:
You're asking if I had anything to do with him getting killed
Detective Robert Goren:
Did you? 
You know, Marc out of the way, 
you put on the wings, and you're icarus.
Bryce Calder:
That's a little all about Eve-ish, don't you think


Sordid Lives: The Series: 
The Fall and Rise of Brother Boy 
(2008)
Henry and Ty talk about the film.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed the movie from his own script and it was full of blistering, memorable quotes.  But if there's one line that is most quoted.....

Modern Family
The Late Show
(2013)

Lily:
Fasten your seatbelts. 
It's going to be a crazy night. 
Cameron;
No, honey, it's gonna be a bumpy night. 
Mitchell:
Remember, you can't have two dads and make that mistake. 
Lily:
Bumpy night.


90210: 
All About a Boy 
(2011)

Ian:
Fasten your seat belts.
It's gonna be a bumpy night.
Teddy:
All About Eve.
Ian:
See? I am teaching you something.

Mork & Mindy: Mork Gets Mindy-itis 
(1979)
Mork spouts off the famous line, "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night! "

Lab Rats: 
Drone Alone 
(2012)
Eddy paraphrases Betty Davis' famous line "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night."

Night Court: 
Educating Rhoda 
(1988)
"Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night"

Saved by the Bell: 
Cream for a Day 
(1989)
Screech says, "Fasten your seatbelt. It's gonna be a bumpy ride."

NewsRadio: 
Led Zeppelin 
(1996)
Jimmy "it's going to be a bumpy..." line and "Jimmy James: all about me".

Frasier: 
You Can Go Home Again 
(1996)
Frasier says, "Fasten your seatbelt, Eddie, it's going to be a bumpy ride."

Chuck: 
Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff 
(2011)
Volkoff says, "Fasten your seat belt; it's gonna be a bumpy match."

Hope Island: 
The Whole Kettle of Fish 
(1999)
Callie and Alex say a version of the line from the movie, "hang onto your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride".

Robson Arms: 
All About Kitty 
(2007)
An older Toni - speaking to Bao - states the line from the movie, "fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride" in reference to how she's going to deal with her younger rival, Kitty.

Bette Davis was the star of "All About Eve", but it's the name of Anne Baxter's character in the title.  And Eve is the one who is most central to so many of the references found in Toobworld.

Law & Order: 
Maritime 
(2003)
One of Julie Eastman's co-workers used to refer to her as Eve Harrington.

Gilmore Girls: 
Teach Me Tonight 
(2002)
Lorelai makes up a fake conflict between the new bag boy and Dean, and calls the new bag boy "Eve Harrington."

Gossip Girl: 
The Serena Also Rises 
(2008)
Laurel threatens to expose Jenny's "Eve Harrington ways."

Political Animals: 
Pilot 
(2012)
Susan Berg says:"If Eve Harrington was an actual person today she would look like Georgia."

Scream Queens: 
Seven Minutes in Hell 
(2015)
Chanel Oberlin calls Hester "Evil Harrington".

Gilmore Girls: 
But Not as Cute as Pushkin 
(2004)
[Knock at door]
PARIS: 
Eve Harrington has arrived.
[Rory opens the door]
ANNA: 
Hi. I'm looking for Rory Gilmore.

And in another TV dimension....

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: 
Monday 
(2007)
Jordan says Hallie was "all about Eve."

Finally, there are some episodes in which the plot line of the movie is played out but is never referenced, except maybe in the title.  It's likely many of these were due to the characters having seen the movie and picked up pointers.

Gilligan's Island: 
All About Eva 
(1966)
In the episode title and the plot, in which soft spoken young woman tries to take a famous actress's place.

Popular: 
All About Adam 
(2000)
Adam is taking over Brooke's life, just like Eve in "All about Eve".

Mary Tyler Moore: 
A New Sue Ann 
(1974)
Sue Ann's wide-eyed assistant Gloria is revealed to be a conniving schemer

ER: 
All About Christmas Eve 
(2005)
The episode title, in part, alludes to the 1950 film "All About Eve" in which a young upstart actress conspires to bring down an older leading lady. In the episode, Eve accuses Sam of conspiring behind her back to get her job.

That Girl: 
All About Ann 
(1966)
The reference is both in terms of the title, but also the story line, where Ann is seen as the potentially backstabbing young actress to the more established actress.
(O'BSERVATION: Actually, it was more along the lines of Ann taking out her anger on the young actress whom she mistakenly believed was dating Donald behind her back.)

All of the summaries and many of the quotes were found in the IMDb.

Margo Channing and Eve Harrington did appear on TV back in 1973, but not in Earth Prime-Time.  They were to be found in the theatrical dimension of the greater Television Universe, the dimension of ToobStage, as seen in "Applause".  (That does not say "Applesauce".)

And that's all I have to say about that.

Margo Channing:
Slow curtain...
The end.


Thursday, January 12, 2017

AS PRIME-TIME GOES BY - "BARNEY MILLER 2037 AD"




Adam Boyer: 
Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you all. 
You know, it's a shame to think that you're all dead now.

Sgt. Dietrich: 
Imagine how we feel.
'Barney Miller'

Boyer claimed to be a cultural historian from Columbia University in 2037 AD when he was arrested by the detectives of the 12th Precinct in January of 1980.  

That was thirty-seven years ago this month.  There are twenty more years to go.  The odds are pretty good that Professor Boyer will be proven correct,

It's usually a rule that a TV character closely associated with a particular actor should be considered deceased around the same time as when that actor dies,  However, Toobworld Central will bow to the dictates of the script (unless we can find a way around it!)  

So because Ron Glass died this past year, it is our contention that Detective/Author Ron Harris had died as well.  (But because he was living in the Future - and perhaps another timeline), Shepherd Book on board the "Serenity" hasn't even been born yet.

Although he was already retired by the time Boyer was brought in, Detective Phil Fish must also be considered dead as Abe Vigoda also passed away in 2016.  In Fish's case, he might even have passed away earlier, even decades ago,

Detective Nick Yemana died during the show's run due to the death of actor Jack Soo.  It was even addressed in several episodes.

By the beginning of 2007, retired Detective Carl Levitt, like actor Ron Carey, passed away.  Three years later, just before Christmas, retired Detective Arthur Dietrich died... soon after the death of Steve Landesberg. 

Inspector Frank Luger retired on October 12th, 1984, but enjoyed a long retirement until his death in 2002, following that of  James Gregory.  And when George Murdock died in 2012, I have a feeling Lt. Ben Scanlon died years before - betrayed by his own seething contempt for the world.

So that leaves very few of the men of the 12th Precinct left, and all of them retired now if they are still alive: Captain Barney Miller, Detective Sgt. Stanley Wojciehowicz, and Detective Sgt. Chano Amenguale, who had transferred out in 1976.  Captain Miller should be 86 years old if his birthday jibes with Hal Linden's, so I doubt he'll beat the odds for him to meet up with Dr, Boyer again someday.  As for Wojo, the show went to the trouble of setting him up with an ex-prostitute named Nancy living with him and I'd like to think they eventually got married,

Never would have lasted, of course......

Officer Zatelli got transferred to One Police Plaza and would be retired by now, assuming he's still alive.  (Hopefully he wasn't affected by the AIDS crisis.)  

Detective Eric Dorsey was seen in only three episodes, but since actor Paul Lieber is still alive, Dorsey should be as well.  I'd like to think that once she became of age, Dorsey started dating former teenaged hooker Rhonda Haleck and eventually married her.  (It's the romantic in me.)

And it isn't just the men - although Professor Boyer never met them during his time in the "cage" at the 12th, Detectives Janet Wentworth, Maria Battista, Rosslyn Licori, and Sgt. Holly Scofield still walk the earth of Toobworld.


Prime-Time marches on......

BCnU!


Wednesday, January 11, 2017

ZONKS MAKE A "HOUSE CALL"


Nothing I hate more than Zonks - those TV discrepancies that end up needing a splainin.  (That's why I hate them - they make more work for your humble Curator!)

The usual kind are when a TV show is mentioned on another TV show when both of them should exist in the same universe.

Here's a classic one from 'Barney Miller':

(Two warring merchants who are neighbors - one of Arabic descent, the other Jewish - are quarreling in the 12th Precinct's "cage" about the "Zionist hoodlums who stole the Palestinian territories.)


Cotterman:
Zionist hoodlums?
Where did you pick that up? Lynn Redgrave
?

Hadad:
That's Vanessa, stupid!
Lynn is the one that's in the hospital show
.

Cotterman:
What hospital show?

Hadad:
You know, the one with the guy who used to be on 'M*A*S*H'.

Cotterman:
Oh yeah…
Why isn't he on 'Trapper John'
?

Hadad:
How do I know?
Ask the guy from 'Bonanza'
!

Cotterman:
You ask him!
What am I, your slave
?

Hadad: 
You were once!

Until the mention of 'M*A*S*H', it was salvageable.  Within Toobworld, the televersion of Lynn Redgrave could have appeared in some fictional hospital show that was already part of some other TV show.  My candidate would have been 'Those Who Care', the soap opera which starred Dick Preston and Margot Brighton.

However, that reference to 'M*A*S*H' leads to the fact that Wayne Rogers played 'Trapper John' in that show but not in the spin-off.  No, that was Pernell Roberts and as this Zonk suggests, he starred in 'Bonanza'.  Arrrrrgh!

But at least both 'M*A*S*H' and 'Bonanza' are historical shows so there could be TV shows about each of them.  And then we can go back to the idea of Lynn Redgrave and Wayne Rogers acting in 'Those Who Care'.  Maybe Preston and Brighton quit the soap opera and were recast as so often happens in soap operas.

Otherwise, it's a funny Zonk; how could I hate it?

BCnU!

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

TWO FOR TUESDAY - AN UNREEL HULLABALOO


In the post from earlier today, I gave this description of what UNreel does:

UNreel was a shadow organization dedicated to fooling the public into thinking that some of the most famous heroes of Toobworld were fictional.  In this way, those heroes could continue their work unimpeded by the notoriety that might otherwise have accompanied it.  Unreel accomplishes this through the use of movies, TV shows, books - anything that might convince people that heroes like the Time Lord known only as the Doctor, the immortal Tarzan, the aforementioned 007, and the possible future caused by Skynet and its Terminators are really fictional.  It's a more complicated riff on the old "swamp gas and weather balloons" splainin for UFOs.  (The idea began in the Victorian Age with the stories about Sherlock Holmes by Dr. Watson which were further distanced from reality by the editor, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.)

UNreel is my own creation as a fix-it measure for the Toobworld Dynamic.  Too many Zonks have been created by mentions of these Men from UNCLE, the Doctor and James Bond etc which can't be splained away as references to the "real" people.  Even worse, too many writers don't trust the audience to understand the reference and so they have to lay the splainins on thick with mentions of the actors involved, or the movies, TV shows, and books from which they came.

Here's a good example from Laura Holt, the owner of the 'Remington Steele' Detective Agency:

Columbo... Peter Falk... Universal Studios... 1975!

In an episode entitled "Playback", Oscar Werner kills his mother-in-law. He seems to have the perfect alibi until Columbo discovers he used a video tape to alter the apparent time of the murder.

Now all we need to do is find that tape. If Columbo can do it so can we!


It's because of such Zonks that I had to come up with a splainin: Lt. Columbo became so famous during his career for nabbing high-profile murderers - a Senate candidate, a symphony conductor, a famous country singer, movie stars and directors, that he finally wrote a book about his cases.  (This is something he said he might do to publisher Riley Greenleaf.  In the end I don't think Greenleaf would have been too keen on the project, considering.... But there are plenty of other publishers to be found in Toobworld.)  And then a TV series was commissioned which starred Peter Falk, who bore an amazing resemblance to the rumpled detective.

In the example cited by Ms. Holt, Oskar Werner was hired to play the real murderer, Harold Van Wyck.  (What we saw on our screens was the actual case played out.  Who knows how the televersion of that case looked to Laura Holt.)

Lt. Columbo had no need for UNreel.  He created that scenario - that other TV characters might think he was actually fictional - himself, by publishing his book and having actual producers take in interest in it.  Besides, his work isn't the type that needed to be kept top secret.

But Illya Kuryakin's work for U.N.C.L.E. needed deep cover, and so UNreel was called in.


Illya Kuryakin with the Beau Brummels

The covert group took over the introduction of 'Hullabaloo for that third episode of the second season, which aired on September 27, 1965.  It was highly publicized that U.N.C.L.E. agent Illya Kuryakin would host the program that week.  But the production staff was replaced other U.N.C.L.E. agents before rehearsals even began (and that meant a huge payout to the various unions.)  

Code Name: 00-Soul

Throughout the televised show, fake THRUSH agents kept making attempts on Kuryakin's life - knives, bombs, a collapsing wall, etc. - but he adeptly handled it all with savoir faire.  By this point in time, a TV series was already broadcasting about Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin and so this provided an extra layer of deniability.


Even today, if you asked any of the surviving musicians about who hosted the 'Hullabaloo' episode in which they all appeared together, they more than likely would tell you "David McCallum".

Even today the ruse is maintained.....


By the way, Illya got to introduce some big name groups of the time:

  • Brenda Lee
  • Eric Burdon & The Animals
  • The Beau Brummels
  • Peter & Gordon

Illya Kuryakin with Eric Burdon

And Section Chief Alexander Waverly also worked on his plausible deniability cover by literally phoning in his appearance.  (By the way - Kuryakin's conversation with Mr. Waverly was via shoe-phone which was worn by a loverly U.N.C.L.E. agent disguised as a go-go dancer.  So that in a way validates U.N.C.L.E. exisiting in the same TV dimension as CONTROL.)


Illya Kuryakin & the Shoe Phone

With all that splainin out of the way, allow me to reward your patience with the actual episode of 'Hullabaloo' with Illya Kuryakin as the host:


BCnU!



I apologize for the quality of the screencaps.  The YouTube video must be many generations old.  I just feel lucky to have learned about it,




TVXOHOF, 01/2017 - THE MEMBERS FROM U.N.C.L.E.


For 2017, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame will be inducting characters each month who were played by actors who passed away in the last year or so. As everybody knows, 2016 was one hell of a year for the Grim Reaper and so we want to honor those actors who deserved to be in the Hall of Fame on their own merits but who may not have been on the fast track for induction previously.

Traditionally, January has been the month in which we induct someone from classic TV. And there were several candidates this year who passed away last year, two of whom will be inducted together during my birth month – two characters who have nothing in common but the fact they were played by the same late actor.

Our latest – as well as late – classic TV character passed away this past fall. (And yes, I believe that when a character is so indelibly connected to the actor who played him, then we must consider that the character died around the same time as the actor.)

However, this character is best known as being paired with another classic TV character, and that actor is still alive. But it would not be right for one to be inducted without the other. So I have chosen to bring them both into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame at the same time.

(By the way, this will not be the only time this happens for this year.)

For January, I'm speaking about the two most famous agents in the spy agency known as the United Network Command for Law Enforcement... otherwise known by its acronym U.N.C.L.E: 


NAPOLEON SOLO & ILLYA KURYAKIN

It was Robert Vaughn who passed away on November 11, Memorial Day.  And this is our memorial to his memory, bringing his character of Napoleon Solo into the fold.  Despite having been reactivated for duty back in the mid-1980s, I don't think Solo was still working for U.N.C.L.E. by the time he died as well, soon after the death of Robert Vaughn in the real world.  (Vaughn's televersion should also be considered as having died, but he would have had no effect on the life of Solo.)  


ONE OF THE LAST PICTURES TOGETHER
of
ILLYA KURYAKIN & NAPOLEON SOLO

As such, I don't think he died in the line of duty; after all, he was just over a week away from his 84th birthday.  I'm sure it was more likely old age rather than THRUSH which was responsible for his death.


His partner in espionage was a Russian agent by the name of Illya Kuryakin who became a successful fashion designer after receiving his burn notice which forced him out of the spy game.  Illya is still alive and once again no longer a spy, leading a highly publicized life splayed across the gossip columns.  Ironically this keeps him safe from any sanctioned assassination attempts by one side or the other.  His fame is such, mostly from his life in high fashion, that regular people could mention him by name and the people with whom they're talking understand the reference.



As mentioned above, Solo and Kuryakin were brought back into the business, now answering to Sir John Raleigh as the Section Head after the death of Alexander Waverly.  


(Sir John Raleigh was his real name, but he used to be a spy himself, using the alias of "John Steed".)


During that case, Solo had his biscuits rescued by a fellow agent who used to work for MI6....
  

(The splainins behind all of the recastaways is too complex to go into here.  But if you search Inner Toob, I'm sure you'll find the many articles I wrote about the televersion of Bond.  James Bond.)


You'll have noticed that "JB" was a practicing Serlinguist - somebody who knows there is another universe out there in constant surveillance of Toobworld and who then regularly "converses" with the Trueniverse audience.  At least in Toobworld this may be a requirement for spies because we saw Illya and Napoleon do the same thing at one point:


If you're new to the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, you should know that a candidate for membership requires three appearances in different TV shows, movies, and/or commercials in order to qualify.  So a TV series and a TV movie sequel make up 2/3rds of their requirements.  What other action/adventure series did they show up in to complete the trifecta.....?



There's no shame in that.  Sitcoms and dramas coexist in Toobworld.

Both Napoleon and Illya have entries separate from each other to embellish their resumes.  And Solo even dragged an entire movie out of the Cineverse and into Earth Prime-Time on the strength of a five second cameo!


Solo also gave another U.N.C.L.E. agent, the second April Dancer, a hand on her own TV series when they tangled with nefarious Mother Muffin, one of the ugliest women in the world at that time.  


As for Kuryakin, he didn't even have to show up in another TV series to make a connection.  All he needed was somebody who looked just like him.....


That's what I mean by Illya Kuryakin being so famous that people know who he is when he's mentioned.


Illya worked on a case not only for U.N.C.L.E., but for UNreel* as well when he hosted the televersion of the real world variety show 'Hullabaloo' in 1965.  Employing fake THRUSH agents attempting to kill him, Illya and UNreel created a fiction that Kuryakin was just a character on TV.  Should anybody come forward and claim that a blonde moptop with a Russian accent was involved in shoot-outs, kidnappings, and explosions, that person would be discredited as confusing fantasy with reality.


I'll have more about this strange blend of a spy series with a variety show over the weekend.

Gentlemen, welcome to the club.  You will find that the original April Dancer has already preceded you into the ranks of our membership.  And Mr. Waverly should be along soon....


BCnU!
UNreel was a shadow organization dedicated to fooling the public into thinking that some of the most famous heroes of Toobworld were fictional.  In this way, those heroes could continue their work unimpeded by the notoriety that might otherwise have accompanied it.  Unreel accomplishes this through the use of movies, TV shows, books - anything that might convince people like the Time Lord known only as the Doctor, the immortal Tarzan, the aforementioned 007, and the possible future caused by Skynet and its Terminators are really fictional.  You know, a more complicated riff on the old "swamp gas and weather balloons" splainin for UFOs.  (The idea began in the Victorian Age with the stories about Sherlock Holmes by Dr. Watson.)

Monday, January 9, 2017

TVXOHOF UPDATE - THE NATIONAL INQUISITOR





Cassandra:
The Clippings Book said that some world-renowned chef 
gifted his mansion to some cult leader only known as "Cyndi." 

Jake:
This doesn't sound like our kind of investigation.

Eve:
What do we know about this Cyndi? 

Ezekiel:
Not much. I read about her in the "National Inquisitor" online. 
It's really mysterious. She only goes by her first name, 
there are no known photos of her 
and all kinds of people follow her, young, old, celebrities. 

Jake:
You read the "Inquisitor"? 

Ezekiel:
Every day. 

Jake:
Library has the complete collection of lost classics of all human civilization. 
Panoply of literature and you read the "Inquisitor."
from
'The Librarians'
"And The Curse Of Cyndi"

A cause of joy for Toobworld Central!  After so many speculative connections to bring this fun series into the Great Link of Toobworld, this is the first offiicial link, and to a member of the Television Crossover Hall of Fame!

The National Inquisitor is a sensational tabloid which was inducted into the TVXOHOF back on my birthday in 2003.

Here are the TV shows which have mentioned and sometimes even shown the publication:
  • 'The Naked Truth'
  • 'Guiding Light'
  • 'Wiseguy'
  • 'Columbo'
  • 'Alf'
  • 'The Bold & The Beautiful'
  • 'Franklin & Bash'
  • 'Saved By The Bell'
  • 'Don't Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23'
And now we can add 'The Librarians'.....


The Inquisitor might even overtake Playpen magazine someday!

BCnU!