Gonzo:
Alright then, forget about the music.
How about an act like Penn and Teller?
Clifford:
Oh, yeah. Right. Let me guess.
You got a ballpoint pen and a guy who works in a bank.
Gonzo:
Wow. That would have been great!
But all I have is a guy named Penn
and a guy named Teller.
and a guy named Teller.
MUPPETS TONIGHT
I puzzled over who to induct for the June 2023 membership into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame. I wanted one more duo if I could find two TV characters or League of Themselves members who, at the very least, fulfilled the minimum requirement of three appearances in separate productions – TV shows, TV movies, commercials, TV animation, or online projects.
And then I thought of Penn & Teller.
The duo has been featured in numerous stage and television shows such as ‘Penn & Teller: Fool Us’ and currently perform in Las Vegas at The Rio, the longest running headliners to play at the same hotel in Las Vegas history. Penn Jillette serves as the act's orator and raconteur. Teller generally does not speak while performing, and instead communicates through mime and non-verbals, though his voice can occasionally be heard during their live shows and television appearances. Besides magic, the pair has become associated with the advocacy of scientific skepticism and libertarianism, particularly through their television show ‘Penn & Teller: Bullshit!’.
My only hesitancy was that I wanted to base their candidacy on their fictional televersions appearing in TV shows which would have had a better chance to cross over with other fiction programs, comedy or drama, or even better, with other members of the TVXOHOF. I didn’t want to rely on their reality-based programs or talk show appearances to fill out their tally.
I needn’t have worried.
As magical members of the League of Themselves, Penn & Teller are multidimensional; their fictional televersions not only appear in Earth Prime-Time, but they have a presence in an alternate Toobworld as well as in the Tooniverse. And they still found time to interact with other members of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame and with puppets. (Sometimes that can prove to be one and the same.)
Here is the tally of their qualifications for membership:
7 episodes
O'Bservation - 'Saturday Night Live' can be found on Earth Prime-Time and it is a member of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame. Its sketches become part of the alternate dimension of Skitlandia as soon as they are performed/broadcast.
THE GARY CAHUENGA EPISODE
O'Bservation - The duo performed a trick and then did it again to show how it was done "for a couple of stupid pigs."
60 Episodes
O’Bservation – ‘Hollywood Squares’ was inducted into the TVXOHOF.
KNEE DEEP
O’Bservation – Penn & Teller were guests on an episode of ‘Tool Time’, during which they locked Tim Taylor into a box and Al took over the show.
CELEBRITY FEAR FACTOR 3
O’Bservation – Teller dove into a tank full of snakes in order to complete a challenge.
2003
LAS VEGAS
LUCK BE A LADY
O’Bservation - Ed was walking around the casino when Penn and Teller asked for particular equipment for their act. Ed okayed their request and in gratitude, they performed a magic trick for him.
Is it considered ironic if this is the one appearance for which I can't find a picture of them with James Caan (who is a member of the TVXOHOF?
MAGIC JORDAN
O’Bservation – Penn & Teller gave Bernie advice on how a little boy could impress girls with magic tricks.
MAGIC SHOW
O’Bservation – Penn Jillette was solo when he served as a magic consultant to the team while they investigated the death of a magician.
Penn competed and Teller appeared for support.
O’Bservation – I included the two ‘Apprentice’ shows because Penn interacted with Donald Trump who was the host. Trump was inducted into the Hall in April of 2009 as an April Fool.
PILOT
O’Bservation – The duo made a cameo appearance as talking heads on some news/commentary show to talk about magician Cameron Black not being honest with his audience.
ALIEN VS. NEDATOR
O’Bservation – The magicians were guests on the late night talk show hosted by a pop culture-O’Bsessed alien.
S.25, E.65
O'Bservation - Not many talk shows make it into the TVXOHOF - 'The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson' & 'with Jay Leno' are members, mainly because they were incorporated into other TV shows. That's the edge which 'The View' has; they were featured in an episode of 'SportsNight'.
[Disguised as Hydra]
O’Bservation – Yeah, it’s a reality competition show. So what? I may not watch it, but I think it’s a fun premise.
And then there are the appearances in other Toobworlds....
ALTERNATE TOOBWORLD
IN THE ROOM
From the IMDb:
Magicians Penn and Teller give a controversial performance at Zoey's birthday party in the White House that threatens to drown out the news of the impending China trip.
In one of their most thoughtful and politically charged tricks, Penn and Teller (Penn Jillette) make a U.S. flag seem to disappear by wrapping it in a copy of the United States Bill of Rights, and apparently setting the flag on fire, so that "the flag is gone but the Bill of Rights remains."
In the episode, the flag remains missing, unlike in the stage version. Penn is quick to point out that, as seen in their stage show, the flag-burning routine "is astonishingly patriotic." It includes his observations about the greatness of being able to perform such a trick in a free country, proceeding to do the same trick but with the "Chinese Bill of Rights" - a sheet of cellophane - and turning around to show what happens to the flag, and finally, the flag not only reappears unscathed, but "up on the flag pole where it started, waving in the breeze."
And then I thought of Penn & Teller.
From Wikipedia:
Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette and Teller, are American magicians, entertainers, and scientific skeptics who have performed together since the late 1970s. They are noted for their ongoing act that combines elements of comedy with magic.The duo has been featured in numerous stage and television shows such as ‘Penn & Teller: Fool Us’ and currently perform in Las Vegas at The Rio, the longest running headliners to play at the same hotel in Las Vegas history. Penn Jillette serves as the act's orator and raconteur. Teller generally does not speak while performing, and instead communicates through mime and non-verbals, though his voice can occasionally be heard during their live shows and television appearances. Besides magic, the pair has become associated with the advocacy of scientific skepticism and libertarianism, particularly through their television show ‘Penn & Teller: Bullshit!’.
My only hesitancy was that I wanted to base their candidacy on their fictional televersions appearing in TV shows which would have had a better chance to cross over with other fiction programs, comedy or drama, or even better, with other members of the TVXOHOF. I didn’t want to rely on their reality-based programs or talk show appearances to fill out their tally.
I needn’t have worried.
As magical members of the League of Themselves, Penn & Teller are multidimensional; their fictional televersions not only appear in Earth Prime-Time, but they have a presence in an alternate Toobworld as well as in the Tooniverse. And they still found time to interact with other members of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame and with puppets. (Sometimes that can prove to be one and the same.)
Here is the tally of their qualifications for membership:
1985-1986
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE7 episodes
O'Bservation - 'Saturday Night Live' can be found on Earth Prime-Time and it is a member of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame. Its sketches become part of the alternate dimension of Skitlandia as soon as they are performed/broadcast.
1997
MUPPETS TONIGHTTHE GARY CAHUENGA EPISODE
O'Bservation - The duo performed a trick and then did it again to show how it was done "for a couple of stupid pigs."
1998-2004
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES60 Episodes
O’Bservation – ‘Hollywood Squares’ was inducted into the TVXOHOF.
1999
HOME IMPROVEMENTKNEE DEEP
O’Bservation – Penn & Teller were guests on an episode of ‘Tool Time’, during which they locked Tim Taylor into a box and Al took over the show.
2002
FEAR FACTORCELEBRITY FEAR FACTOR 3
O’Bservation – Teller dove into a tank full of snakes in order to complete a challenge.
2003
LAS VEGAS
LUCK BE A LADY
O’Bservation - Ed was walking around the casino when Penn and Teller asked for particular equipment for their act. Ed okayed their request and in gratitude, they performed a magic trick for him.
Is it considered ironic if this is the one appearance for which I can't find a picture of them with James Caan (who is a member of the TVXOHOF?
2003
THE BERNIE MAC SHOWMAGIC JORDAN
O’Bservation – Penn & Teller gave Bernie advice on how a little boy could impress girls with magic tricks.
2008
NUMB3RSMAGIC SHOW
O’Bservation – Penn Jillette was solo when he served as a magic consultant to the team while they investigated the death of a magician.
2012
THE APPRENTICEPenn competed and Teller appeared for support.
O’Bservation – I included the two ‘Apprentice’ shows because Penn interacted with Donald Trump who was the host. Trump was inducted into the Hall in April of 2009 as an April Fool.
2013
CELEBRITY APPRENTICE
2018
DECEPTIONPILOT
O’Bservation – The duo made a cameo appearance as talking heads on some news/commentary show to talk about magician Cameron Black not being honest with his audience.
2021
EARTH TO NEDALIEN VS. NEDATOR
O’Bservation – The magicians were guests on the late night talk show hosted by a pop culture-O’Bsessed alien.
2021
THE VIEWS.25, E.65
O'Bservation - Not many talk shows make it into the TVXOHOF - 'The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson' & 'with Jay Leno' are members, mainly because they were incorporated into other TV shows. That's the edge which 'The View' has; they were featured in an episode of 'SportsNight'.
2022
THE MASKED SINGER[Disguised as Hydra]
O’Bservation – Yeah, it’s a reality competition show. So what? I may not watch it, but I think it’s a fun premise.
And then there are the appearances in other Toobworlds....
ALTERNATE TOOBWORLD
2004
THE WEST WINGIN THE ROOM
From the IMDb:
Magicians Penn and Teller give a controversial performance at Zoey's birthday party in the White House that threatens to drown out the news of the impending China trip.
In one of their most thoughtful and politically charged tricks, Penn and Teller (Penn Jillette) make a U.S. flag seem to disappear by wrapping it in a copy of the United States Bill of Rights, and apparently setting the flag on fire, so that "the flag is gone but the Bill of Rights remains."
In the episode, the flag remains missing, unlike in the stage version. Penn is quick to point out that, as seen in their stage show, the flag-burning routine "is astonishingly patriotic." It includes his observations about the greatness of being able to perform such a trick in a free country, proceeding to do the same trick but with the "Chinese Bill of Rights" - a sheet of cellophane - and turning around to show what happens to the flag, and finally, the flag not only reappears unscathed, but "up on the flag pole where it started, waving in the breeze."
Penn Jillette:
What if we burned a flag, not in protest, but in celebration of the very freedoms that allow us to burn a flag - the freedoms that everyone who has ever worked in this magnificent building has pledged to preserve and protect?
Josh Lyman:
Did you go to law school?
Penn Jillette:
No, clown school.
Toby Ziegler:
Did they just burn an American flag in the White House?
Josh Lyman:
Uh-huh.
THE TOONIVERSE
What if we burned a flag, not in protest, but in celebration of the very freedoms that allow us to burn a flag - the freedoms that everyone who has ever worked in this magnificent building has pledged to preserve and protect?
Josh Lyman:
Did you go to law school?
Penn Jillette:
No, clown school.
Toby Ziegler:
Did they just burn an American flag in the White House?
Josh Lyman:
Uh-huh.
THE TOONIVERSE
1999
THE SIMPSONSHELLO, GUTTER, HELLO, FADDER
2002
¡MUCHA LUCHA!THE RETURN OF EL MALEFICO
2009
FUTURAMA: INTO THE WILD GREEN YONDER
2011
THE SIMPSONSTHE GREAT SIMPSINA
2019
SCOOBY-DOO AND GUESS WHO?
THE CURSED CABINET OF PROFESSOR MADDS MARKSON!
Welcome to the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, Gentlemen!
THE CURSED CABINET OF PROFESSOR MADDS MARKSON!
Welcome to the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, Gentlemen!
