TVXOHOF - JUNE, 2026.... BABA LOOEY!

Last year, Quick Draw McGraw was the TV Western inductee into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  It seemed only right that his sidekick should tag along as well.

BABA LOOEY

As the Western entry is usually inducted in August, this year that honor is going to a very special real life historical figure of the Old West who is multidimensional.  So Baba Looey is joining "Queek Straw" in June, which is geared toward a loose definition of the Gemini concept of duos.

From Wikipedia:
Baba Looey is a fictional Mexican donkey that appeared in 'The Quick Draw McGraw Show.' He is the deputy and familiar to Sheriff Quick Draw McGraw. He speaks English with a Mexican accent. He was originally voiced by Daws Butler.

Baba Looey, McGraw's sidekick, is often portrayed as the more thoughtful half of the duo. At times realizing some detail about a given situation, Baba Looey tries desperately to caution Quick Draw of a trap or other danger, before Quick Draw charges headlong into the fray without listening or giving consideration to his surroundings. His masked vigilante identity is El Kapoli, "champion of champions" as he declared. In the episode "Dizzy Desperado", he gets knocked in the head and switches to the criminal Little Cucaracha.

In an episode of 'The Brady Bunch', Marcia can be seen watching Baba Looey and Quick Draw McGraw on TV.

Baba Looey, along with Quick Draw McGraw, makes an appearance in the 'Samurai Jack' episode "The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful", voiced by Joe Lala.

He appears in the 'Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law' episode "Guitar Control", voiced by Rob Paulsen. He is seen hanging out with Peanut and shows him Quick Draw's guitars. Peanut wonders how it works and kills Baba Looey with it.

Baba Looey made a brief cameo in a MetLife commercial in 2012.

In the 'Drawn Together' episode "Breakfast Food Killer", Baba Looey made an appearance going by the name "Baba Booey". He was waiting in line to become the new mascot of Quackers cereal and randomly started jumping around and attacking people.

Baba Looey appears in the series 'Jellystone!' and is female and Cuban in this version called "Bobbie Louie" due to the character being voiced by Jenny Lorenzo. She works for the Jellystone government and has an American accent.

Baba Looey and Quick Draw McGraw make a cameo as silhouettes in the 2020 'Animaniacs' revival segment "Suffragette City".

From the Yogi Bear Wiki:

• "Yogi's Birthday Party" (The Yogi Bear Show, no lines)
• Yogi Bear (comic strips) (August 5, 1962)
• Yogi's Ark Lark
• Yogi's Gang
• "Yogi's Heroes" and "Yogi and the Beanstalk" (Yogi's Treasure Hunt)
• The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound
• Fender Bender 500
• "Yippee-Yo, Yogi" (Yo Yogi!)
• Jellystone!
  O'Bservation:
  This is an alternate Tooniverse, where characters previously established as one gender are instead rendered as the other.
  

And of course, there was the commercial work for Kellogg's:

Bienvenidos al Salón, Baba Looey!

TVXOHOF, JANUARY 2026 - REMEMBERING DENNIS MITCHELL

Every January, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame kicks off another year of inductions into the Hall with a classic TV character.  This year is no different, but I never would have guessed this entry would be so sad.  And so soon.

DENNIS MITCHELL

From The Hollywood Reporter:
Jay North, who starred as the young mischief maker with the characteristic blond cowlick on the 1959-63 CBS comedy 'Dennis the Menace', has died. He was 73.

On Sunday, 04/07/2025, Jay North died at his home in Lake Butler, Florida, after years of battling colon cancer, according to Jeannie Russell, who played Margaret Wade on his show, told The Hollywood Reporter. She called him her “otherworldly brother.”

Here are the credits which qualified him for membership in the Hall....

DENNIS THE MENACE
149 EPISODES (1959-1963)

From the IMDb:
The live-action adaptation of the Hank Ketcham comic strip of the same name. Dennis Mitchell was a loveable young boy, dressed in overalls and carrying a slingshot in his pocket. Everywhere he went, Dennis' wide-eyed curiosity, well-meaning attempts to help out, and his simply being a normal, red-blooded American boy growing up always seemed to lead to trouble. Usually on the receiving end was Dennis' next-door neighbor, retired business machine salesman George Wilson.

Dennis worshiped Mr. Wilson, but he usually displayed a less-than-cordial attitude around the young lad. Mr. Wilson's wife, Martha, adored Dennis and saw him as a surrogate grandson (since the Wilsons never had any children). Dennis' long-suffering parents were Henry (an engineer) and Alice (a stay-at-home mother).

Episodes revolved around Dennis' adventures and the trouble that usually followed. Also involved in the fun were Dennis' friends Tommy, Margaret, and Seymour. During the final year of the show, Mr. Wilson's brother, John, moved in after George and Martha left the neighborhood (due to the death of Joseph Kearns). The live-action "Dennis the Menace" ran for years in syndication; an animated series showed up in the 1980s.—Brian Rathjen

THE DONNA REED SHOW
DONNA DECORATES (1960)

From the IMDb:
Donna has her kitchen remodeled and new appliances installed.

While crossover appearances are not uncommon in television shows (it is an easy way to promote a second show), this particular instance was unusual. Even though the two shows were produced by the same studio (Columbia), they were broadcast by different networks. Donna's show was on ABC while Dennis' show was on CBS.

Jay North and Joseph Kearns reprise their roles from the CBS series "Dennis the Menace" in this episode, which aired on ABC. This marks one of the earliest times in TV history that two scripted series on different networks cooperated on a multi-network crossover, not counting variety shows.

SKITLANDIA

THE RED SKELTON HOUR
FREDDIE'S MILLIONS (1960)

From the IMDb:
Just as he's about to apply for unemployment insurance, Freddie the Freeloader finds himself a multimillionaire, but has to contend with small boys, newspapers, bureaucrats and police.

O'Bservation:
North plays Dennis in this episode.  Two seasons later, he returns, playing himself.  So Freddie is one of those rare TV characters to meet both the actor and the character he played.)

COMMERCIALS
FOR RICE KRISPIES, BOSCO'S, BEST FOOD MAYONNAISE, SKIPPY PEANUT BUTTER

O’Bservations:
I can only vouch for the Skippy and Rice Krispies commercials that North appeared as Dennis.  Both can be found online.

Because he also appeared in the commercial for Skippy, George Wilson (as played by Joseph Kearns) will one day be inducted into the TVXOHOF as well.  (That's Gale Gordon as George's brother John in the Rice Krispies picture above.)

As Red Skelton would say, “Good night and may God bless.”
Welcome to the TVXOHOF, Dennis….

OCTOBER/HALLOWEEN 2025 - DEATH COMES TO THE TVXOHOF

October is usually given over to the Spooky when it comes to the monthly induction into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  (And because the theme is suited for it, I sometimes hold off on posting until Halloween.  Like this year.)

Famous monsters have made it into the Hall during October – Frankenstein’s Creatures, the “embraced bloodline” of Dracula, even the Tribbles.  But human monsters have also gained access because they not only met the criteria for membership, but it was too tempting to let slide when Halloween season rolled around.  Hitler unfortunately was a natural.  Lee Harvey Oswald.  Q of the Q Continuum.  Frank Barone.

Originally for this month, I was going to play fast and loose with the candidate, choosing to induct a horror movie from Earth Prime which has a televersion in Earth Prime-Time with plenty of references in TV shows.  

It would not have been unprecedented; back in December of 2023, “It’s A Wonderful Life” entered the TVXOHOF.  (Granted, TV series are more likely to be inducted with a higher number of references.)

But that movie will have to be shelved because recent events sadly gave us a candidate who is/are perfect for a membership ceremony in October….

DEATH

As you can see, it was the death of Robert Redford on September 16, 2025 which led me to consider this option.  But it was not the first time I dealt with the topic of Death’s portrayal in the greater Multiverse of Toobworld.  And being an adherent to the Church of Lazy Boy Saints, I decided to give them a rerun, to serve as the induction speech.

Both of these blog posts ran in May of 2006….

On a recent episode of 'Medium', Allison's dreams were haunted by the visitations of Death himself, armed with a dry wit rather than a scythe and dressed to the nines in a tuxedo instead of the usual black hooded robes.

In fact, had she been a resident of Seattle rather than Phoenix, she might have noticed his resemblance to a certain radio talk show host/psychiatrist.

Death has appeared on a lot of TV shows in a variety of forms. Had it been an appearance by Satan or one of the alt. dimensional aliens who passed themselves off as the Greek gods, or an appearance by God Almighty, the splainin for their change in appearance would be easy. Each of them has the power to alter their appearance whenever they see fit.

God once appeared as the very character He was visiting in his coma, explaining that Wayne Fiscus was made in His image after all. ('St. Elswhere')

But when it comes to Death, it's not that he's altering his image with each appearance in a TV show. If he could, don't you think he'd always look like a matinee idol? ('The Twilight Zone' - "Nothing In The Dark")

Each time he shows up, it's a different "Death", because it's not the “man”, it's the occupation. Death is nothing more than a job title. (Officially, it's "Angel of Death"). It's something for them to put down on their tax forms each year.

Although some of them are addressed as "Mr. Death" ('General Electric Theater' - "The Rider On The Pale Horse"), many of them have actual names. Andrew was often teamed up with the angels Monica and Tess for their missions on Earth ('Touched By An Angel'), while Michael was spotted down on 'Fantasy Island' working in cahoots with the Gallifreyan Time Lord known as Rourke ("The Angels' Triangle/Natchez Bound"). And that "matinee idol" who posed as a wounded policeman to gain access to Wanda Dunn's hovel used the name of Harold Beldon ('The Twilight Zone' - "Nothing In The Dark").

Over in the Tooniverse, however, Death could be the same guy no matter what show he appears on, from 'Family Guy' to 'The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'.

Death for the Tooniverse is also a traditionalist.  Most of the time, he wears the standard issue hooded black robe and wields the regulation scythe, as he was portrayed in the Broadway production of 'Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol'. While he's on the clock as the Grim Reaper, he wears that hood pulled forward so that his face can't be seen. But when he's kicking back with his young friends Billy and Mandy, Death has no trouble with allowing his grim visage to be seen.

As to the changes in his voice, that can be attributed to role-playing on his part. After a while, harvesting souls and snuffing out lives gets to be kind of a hum-drum civil service occupation; not unlike being a mailman I should think. So Death livens it up a bit by assuming different personalities.
Or it could be that he's just wacked. If you had a Mother like Death's, maybe you'd be driven crazy too. ('Family Guy' - "Death Lives")

Back on Earth Prime-Time, we have seen a lot of the employees in the Death Industry. Some of them obviously got hired because of who they know... or knew, considering the hazards of being acquainted with Death.

I'm not sure if they have any sort of SATs that they have to take in order to apply for the job of Death, but they should at least be given psychiatric evaluations before they take up the profession.

There was one Death who was suicidal, until he was talked out of doing his job by an idealistic doctor. Once that doctor realized the downside of a world in which Death no longer operated, it took all of his persuasive skills to convince Death to get back in the game... only to learn too late that his name had been next on Death's list. That's why he found Death "hanging" around the hospital where he worked. ('The Twilight Zone' - "One Night At Mercy")

Some of them may even have been actual Toobworld characters in other shows who had passed on to find something else to do in the afterlife.

This could have been the case with former photojournalist Dennis "Animal" Price, who used to work for the Los Angeles Tribune ('Lou Grant'). Perhaps after his career faltered at the newspaper, "Animal" explored his interest in the Dark Arts.

Finally he attained the ranking of First Warlock and served in that capacity in the New England town of Harmony, until his untimely death ('Passions'). But then, less than a year later, he returned to Harmony in his new guise as Death.

No sense in wasting good talent.

Some of these members of the Death Squad are able to cross over into other TV dimensions. One of the most imposing employees in the Death program - six foot five and with a rumbling voice that could have found a home in the Hammer films - used to work over in France ('Les Redoutables') at the dawn of the new Millennium.

However, nearly a quarter of a century before, he was plying his trade in the alternate TV dimension dedicated to comedy sketches. There, he visited a young girl to comfort her after he came to claim her dog Tippy. And he promised to visit her again on her sixteenth birthday...... ('Saturday Night Live')

Another Death who was visiting from a universe created from Man's Imagination crossed over from the Operatic Universe. He was probably summoned to Toobworld by the daemonic powers and musical stylings of Mr. Sweet ('Buffy The Vampire Slayer' - "Once More With Feeling").

As noted above, Death does not always act alone. Obviously he oftentimes uses others to actually carry out the Deed - it can be so messy, after all, - but he sometimes also has assistants for the grunt work. Usually for the clerical stuff; lots of filing, that sort of thing.

Occasionally, Death recruits from the very ranks of those he was sent to ferry over to the Other Side. There was one woman who actively sought out Death and he was so taken by her enthusiasm, he allowed her to accompany him on his rounds ('The Twilight Zone' - "Rendezvous In A Dark Place").

And that brings up another point. I'm sorry if I sounded sexist in what I've already written, usually addressing Death as "he"; when in fact, there are several employees in the program who are females. (I'm not sure, considering they are only assuming the human form, if I can actually call them men and women.)

Female Deaths have been known to work the Chicago area ('Chicago Hope' - "Cold Hearts"), Llanview, Pennsylvania, ('One Life To Live'), and a remote plateau in South America where dinosaurs still roam ('The Lost World' - "End Game").

Death can be found anywhere, from the mundane to the fabulous. From the mean streets of New York City ('The Twilight Zone' - "One For The Angels") and the hills of San Francisco ('Charmed' - "Styx Feet Under" & "Apocalypse, Not." [Two different Deaths worked that beat.])

And in the City of Angels ('Six Feet Under' - "In The Game") to the fabled empire of China ('Shirley Temple's Storybook' - "The Nightingale") to the palaces of Atlantis ("The Emperor Of Atlantis") and the hallways of crypt-like "Gormenghast".

Death is not Earth-bound, as any red-shirt on 'Star Trek' could tell you that. Death has found his way to the farthest reaches of outer space ('Red Dwarf' - "Only The Good....")

Where will he show up next? So long as there are TV shows like '24' and 'Lost' and 'ER', Death will always be around. But so far as a physical manifestation, who's to say? 'Supernatural' is a possibility for next season; even 'Smallville'.

O'Bservation:
Death finally did show up in 'Supernatural'.

Personally, I'd start watching 'American Idol' if Death could be involved in the elimination rounds.

"Seacrest Out" indeed!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"Abra Cadabra,

The guy's a cadaver."

David Addison

'Moonlighting'

And here was the other blog post from May of 2006:

Thanks to the IMDb.com, here's a list of the actors who have portrayed the Spectre of Death in Toobworld. (This includes alternate dimensions such as Earth Prime Time Toon, the Tooniverse, and Sketchworld aka Earth Not Ready For Prime Time.)

O’Bservation:
Sketchworld is known as Skitlandia now.

Also in this list are Death's assistants (who would probably go on to become full-fledged Angels of Death themselves), as well as family members and even one of Death's pets.

O’Bservation:
This is probably not a complete list as I used only the terms "Death" and "Grim Reaper" to find these characters.  And I couldn’t find pictures for all of them.  Still, it’s a nice collection to show that the Concept of Death as a TV character(s) belongs in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.

Jason Alexander
. . . "Twilight Zone, The" (2002) {One Night at Mercy (#1.2)}

Daryl Anderson
. . . "Passions" (1999) {(#1.1141 & 1.1142)}

Sebastian Bach
. . . "Strange Frequency" (2001) {Don't Fear the Reaper (#1.12)}

Lawrence Bayne
. . . "Big Wolf on Campus" (1999) {Clip Show: The Kiss of Death (#2.22)}
. . . "Big Wolf on Campus" (1999) {Don't Fear the Reaper (#1.21)}

Gary Bullock    
. . . "Sisters" (1991) {Angel of Death (#5.17)}

Corey Burton    
. . . "Toonsylvania" (1998)

Ed Bye    
. . . "Red Dwarf" (1988) {Only the Good... (#8.8)}

1] Adam Carolla    
. . . "Family Guy" (1999) {Death Lives (#3.6)}    
. . . "Family Guy" (1999) {Family Guy Viewer Mail #1 (#3.21)}   
. . . "Family Guy" (1999) {I Take Thee, Quagmire (#4.21)}    
. . . "Family Guy" (1999) {Mr. Saturday Knight (#3.9)}    
. . . "Family Guy" (1999) {The Perfect Castaway (#4.12)}    
. . . "Family Guy" (1999) {Wasted Talent (#2.20)}  
2] Tom Kenny        
. . . "Family Guy" (1999) {Brian: Portrait of a Dog (#1.7)} 
3] Norm MacDonald
. . . "Family Guy" (1999) {Death Is a Bitch (#2.6)}  

O'Bservation:
They are in alphabetical order, not by order of appearance.

Gower Champion (Mr. Death)
. . . "General Electric Theater" (1953) {The Rider on the Pale Horse (#5.7)}    

Gary Collins (Michael, the Angel of Death)
. . . "Fantasy Island" (1978) {The Angel's Triangle/Natchez Bound (#6.4)}    

Gregory Scott Cummins    
. . . "Step by Step" (1991) {Never on Sunday (#3.3)}    

Neil Dickson    
. . . "Iron Man" (1994) {The Grim Reaper Wears a Teflon Coat (#1.5)}    

John Dye (Andrew, Angel of Death)
. . . "Touched By An Angel" (1995 - 2002)
. . . "Promised Land" (1996 - 1998)

Greg Eagles
. . . "Grim & Evil" (2001)    

Noel Fielding 
. . . "Mighty Boosh, The" (2004) {Bollo (#1.3)}    

Alistair Fullarton
. . . "Storyteller, The" (1988) {The Soldier and Death (#1.1)}    

“There's an old saying:

The enemies of Death are Luck and Hope.

Not true by the way.

I'm good friends with both.”

Kelsey Grammer    
. . . "Medium" {Death Takes A Policy (#2.22)}    

Murray Hamilton  
. . . "Twilight Zone, The" {One for the Angels (#1.2)}    

Erik Hell
. . . Blodsbröllop (1965)    

Brian Huskey    
. . . "Upright Citizens Brigade" (1998) {Hospital (#3.3)}    

Tony Jay    
. . . "Darkwing Duck" (1991) {Dead Duck (#1.47)}    

Stanley Kamel    
. . . "Six Feet Under" (2001) {In the Game (#2.1)}    

Patrick Kilpatrick    
. . . "Charmed" (1998) {Apocalypse, Not (#2.21)}    

Igor Kolva    
. . . Johanka z Arku (2003)    

Christopher Lee (segment "Confession"))
. . . "Redoutables, Les" (2001)    
. . . Saturday Night Live
. . . Wyrd Sisters (1997)    

Denis Lill    
. . . "Red Dwarf" (1988) {Gunmen of the Apocalypse (#6.3)}    

Leon Lishner    
. . . "NBC Opera Theater" {The Labyrinth, 1963}

Dayton Lummis
. . . "Shirley Temple's Storybook" (1958) {The Nightingale (#1.3)}

Alexander Malta    
. . . Emperor of Atlantis, The (1977)    

William Marshall    
. . . "Benson" (1979) {The Stranger (#7.4)}    

Tom McCamus    
. . . Death and the Maiden (2003)    

Patrick McCartney    
. . . "Upright Citizens Brigade" (1998) {Hospital (#3.3)}    

Stephen McHattie    
. . . "Twilight Zone, The" (1985) {Rendezvous in a Dark Place (#3.26)}    

Spike Milligan    
. . . "Gormenghast" (2000)    

Erik Mørk    
. . . Sanct Hansaften-spil (1979)    

Kendo Nagasaki
. . . "Send in the Girls" (1978) {The Wild Bunch}    

Martin Novotny        
. . . "New Addams Family, The" (1998) {Pilot (#1.1)}    

Regis Parton    
. . . "Faerie Tale Theatre" (1982) {The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers (#3.7)}    

Gunnar Randin
. . . Förlorade sonen, Den (1964)    

Robert Redford (AKA Harold Belden)
. . . "The Twilight Zone" (1962) (Nothing In The Dark)    

Ian Richardson        
. . . Hogfather (2006)    

William Sadler
. . . "Tales from the Crypt" (1989) {The Assassin (#6.8)}    

Paul Scheer    
. . . "Upright Citizens Brigade" (1998) {Hospital (#3.3)}    

Tom Schiller    
. . . "Saturday Night Live" (1975) {(#1.23)}    

Angus Scrimm    
. . . "Nutt House, The" (1989) {Suites, Lies and Videotape (#1.6)}    

Andrew Secunda    
. . . "Upright Citizens Brigade" (1998) {Hospital (#3.3)}    

Corey Sevier    
. . . And Then There Was One (1994)    

Jonny Spanish    
. . . "Upright Citizens Brigade" (1998) {Hospital (#3.3)}    

Simon Templeman
. . "Charmed" (1998) {Styx Feet Under (#7.5)}    
. . . "Charmed" (1998) {Vaya Con Leos (#8.10)}    
. . . "Charmed" (1998) {Death Takes a Halliwell (#3.16)}    

Danny Thomas (AKA Mr. Dee)
. . . "It's a Living" (1985) {A Very Special It's a Living (#4.19)}    

John West  (Death’s Assistant)
. . . Labyrinth, The (1962)    

Birger Åsander
. . . Fan ger ett anbud (1963)    

THE LADIES' AUXILIARY
Mary Kay Adams
. . . "One Life to Live" (1992)    

Sofia Andersson    
. . . Ingen som jag (1999)    

Danielle Carter    
. . . "Lost World, The" (1999) {The End Game (#3.12)}    

Estelle Harris
. . . "Family Guy" (1999) {Death Lives (#3.6)}    

Kate Hodge (Celesta, Goddess of Death)
. . . "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995) {Death in Chains (#1.9)}    

Dot Jones
. . . "Chicago Hope" (1994) {Cold Hearts (#6.17)}    

DEATH’S PET

Jimmy Kimmel (Death's Dog)
. . . "Family Guy" (1999) {Mr. Saturday Knight (#3.9)}    

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"Death, is good. Death is necessary.
And with a little bit of planning,
Death can even be a win, win.
I honestly marvel at
how passionately some people resist it."
The Angel of Death
'Medium'