THE WHO'S ON FIRST BLOG-A-THON 2025

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope everybody had a great New Year's Eve?

Welcome to the 17^th anniversary edition of the "Who's On First?" blogAthon.  For the next 24 hours, there will (hopefully) be twenty-four posts about 'Doctor Who', one every hour.

I wrote this WELL in advance:
This round-the-clock celebration of 'Doctor Who' began somewhat modestly - there were only seven "episodes" for that first outing.  But it has grown to the point where for the last couple of years we have tried to present a new blog post about the universe of the Doctor every half hour.   That may not be the case this year.  We'll at least try to get one in every hour.

And I always amaze myself that I find enough topics each year.  But then, I have yet to see every episode of the 59 year old series.

Because of their time-sensitive nature, there were a few posts I published earlier in the year.  Some are just mentions of the Doctor, most of them dealt with the breaking news about the show.  If so, I'll re-post them early in the day's schedule (when it's the middle of the night for most visitors.)

This edition will hopefully be special.  (I'm setting up this post on January 1, 2024!)  And I see this as the perfect moment to thank everybody who came up with the wonderful memes and artwork which I hope is okay to share.  (If not, I'll replace it.)

So here it is - the kick-off to the 2025 edition of 'Who's On First'!  And as always, we begin with the frame grab from 'Robot Chicken' which has become our mascot.... 

TVXOHOF BIRTHDAY HONORS LIST - WAREHOUSE 13 (THE LOCATION, NOT THE SHOW)

Usually when I’m inducting a TV series into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, it is the show’s televersion which is watched by the fictional characters of other TV series.  But this year with my version of the “Birthday Honors List”, it may seem like I’m inducting the show but it’s not the title; it’s the actual location….

WAREHOUSE 13

From Wikipedia:
Warehouse 13 is an American science fiction television series that originally ran from July 7, 2009, to May 19, 2014, on the Syfy network, and was executive produced by Jack Kenny and David Simkins for Universal Cable Productions. Described as "part The X-Files, part Raiders of the Lost Ark and part Moonlighting", the show's blend of science fiction, comedy and drama is said to have borrowed much from the American-Canadian horror television series Friday the 13th: The Series (1987–1990). The program follows a team of field agents who retrieve artifacts that have become charged with energy that can give them dangerous powers if misused. Once retrieved and neutralized, the objects are stored in Warehouse 13, the latest in a line of storehouses with infinite capacity that have served this purpose for millennia.

The series follows U.S. Secret Service Agents Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) and Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) when they are assigned to the secretive Warehouse 13 for supernatural artifacts. It is located in a barren landscape in South Dakota, and they initially regard the assignment as punishment. As they go about their assignments to retrieve missing artifacts and investigate reports of new ones, they come to understand the importance of what they are doing. In episode 4 of the first season, they meet Claudia Donovan (Allison Scagliotti), who is searching for her missing brother; in season 2, she joins the team as their technology expert. In episode 1 of season 3, Steve Jinks (Aaron Ashmore), an Agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives comes aboard.

The series posits that there have been a dozen incarnations of the warehouse before the present-day 13th in South Dakota. Warehouse 1 was built between 336–323 BC on the orders of Alexander the Great as a place to keep artifacts obtained by war. After Alexander died, the warehouse was moved to Egypt, establishing the practice of locating the warehouse in the most powerful empire of the day, under the reasoning that it will be best defended there. Egypt's Ptolemaic rulers appointed a group of people, known as the Regents, to oversee the warehouse and act as its first "agents" and collectors of artifacts. Warehouse 2 lasted until the Roman conquest of Egypt. Other warehouses throughout history include: Warehouse 3 in Western Roman Empire (Italy), Warehouse 4 in Hunnic Empire until the death of Attila the Hun, Warehouse 5 in Byzantine Empire, Warehouse 6 in Cambodia under the Khmer Empire, Warehouse 7 in the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan, Warehouse 8 in Germany during the Holy Roman Empire (1260–1517), Warehouse 9 in the Ottoman capital of Constantinople until the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, Warehouse 10 in Mughal Empire (India), Warehouse 11 in the Russian Empire under the Romanov Dynasty (the 1812 Napoleonic War with Russia was an attempt to seize control of Warehouse 11), and Warehouse 12 in the United Kingdom from 1830 until 1914. It was during the time of Warehouse 11 that the Regents began to employ agents to gather and protect artifacts. This practice continued under Warehouse 12, with British agents traveling further and further searching for artifacts to add to the collection.

The next move brought the warehouse to South Dakota in the United States. Unlike previous warehouses, which were placed in the centers of their empires, Warehouse 13 was located in a remote area of South Dakota to hide it. The first Warehouse 13 was built in 1898, but the structure burned down because of an insufficient understanding of how to safely store artifacts. The move to the rebuilt and current Warehouse 13 occurred in 1914 at the onset of World War I. The warehouse was designed by Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and M. C. Escher, while the warehouse's expansion joints were created by Albert Einstein.

Originally, artifacts are items connected to some historical or mythological figure or event. Each artifact has been imbued with something from its creator, user, or a major event in history. Some are well known: Studio 54's Disco ball; Lewis Carroll's looking glass, which contains an evil entity called "Alice" that can possess other people's bodies (Myka in Season 1 episode "Duped"), leaving their minds trapped in the mirror; and Edgar Allan Poe's pen and a volume of his writing, which can make whatever the user writes a reality. Some are not: Lizzie Borden had a mirrored compact that today compels users to kill their loved ones with an axe; Marilyn Monroe owned a brush that now turns its user's hair platinum blonde, which Myka once used on herself while under the influence of W. C. Fields' juggling balls that induce drunkenness and blackouts. Others may have humorous effects, such as Ivan Pavlov's bell, which will call any dog to you but causes excessive drooling for 24 hours, and a magic kettle that grants wishes but produces a ferret if the wish is impossible. The artifacts react with electricity and can be neutralized by immersion in a mysterious purple goo or placed inside a neutralizing reflective bag, both produced by Global Dynamics, a research laboratory from Warehouse 13's sister show, Eureka. Artie has also mentioned that ingesting neutralizer will make you "see things". During episode 43 (season 4), Mrs. Frederic shows Claudia an artifact being created—a silver bracelet worn by an ordinary person who exhibits extraordinary courage.

These are just a few of the examples of artifacts which might have come from other TV series.  The trick in searching through the massive artifact list at the wiki is to determine which have authenticated connections and which were created by visitors to the site.  The following summaries are from the Warehouse 13 Wiki….

ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S TOP HAT

When worn, the hat fills the user with the desire to see all African-American people 'freed from the service of their masters', though the definitions of slave and master are rather loosely defined. The wearer will make attempts to step between a black and white person under the excuse of liberating them, regardless of the actual amount of 'liberation' needed. It would seem the hat is either unaware of changes in slavery and racial discrimination laws or is simply unable to change its nature.  Later referenced by Pete Lattimer to Steve Jinks as imbuing the wearer with the overwhelming urge to free nearby African-American people, believing them to be slaves, an impulse which apparently got Pete into hot water with Mrs. Frederic.

TV EPISODE MENTION: First mentioned in a behind-the-scenes video.  I don’t know in which episode Pete made the reference.
TV SHOW CONNECTIONS: ‘The Time Tunnel’, ‘The Twilight Zone’, ‘Captains and the Kings’

BRUTUS’ DAGGER

Makes you have the compelling desire to kill your closest friends and confidantes. Person will try persuasion, coercion and conspiracy to finish the task if necessary. The user will then experience tremendous waves of guilt and anguish that can push them to the brink of life and insanity.

TV EPISODE MENTION:  None found so far, but along with the other 22 blades used to kill Caesar, it is listed in the wiki and was too good to pass up because of the connections.
O’Bservation - It would also be multidimensional due to the inclusion of productions of the Shakespeare play, which are all situated in the dimension of Toobstage, unless the production retains its theatrical motif.
TV SHOW CONNECTIONS: ‘Rome’, Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, ‘Xena, Warrior Princess’

BABE RUTH’S BASEBALL BAT

Makes objects fly like projectiles.  It is mentioned in the episode “Mild Mannered” as a possible source of the artifact energies.  Alters density to send objects that it strikes flying for the equivalent length of a home run. Surface area and weight appear to have little effect, as the bat seems to only provide more force with unusually shaped objects.

TV EPISODE MENTION: “Mild Mannered”
TV SHOW CONNECTIONS: “Babe Ruth”

PERRY COMO’S GOLD RECORD

Like the song it contains, the record is intended to sooth the listener and brighten the atmosphere. It does this by sucking some of the stress from the immediate area into itself. When the record is played, it releases all of the stress and turmoil it has collected.

Artie collected the record after it was played in tribute at Perry Como's funeral. During the ceremony, several attendees suffered from migraines, backaches, alopecia, and full-blown panic attacks. After it was neutralized the artifact was taken back to the Warehouse. In an attempt to reduce tension in the office, Mrs. Frederick instructed Artie to hang the record on the wall.

TV EPISODE MENTION: "A Touch of Fever".  
TV SHOW CONNECTIONS: ‘The Perry Como Show’

AGATHA CHRISTIE'S TYPEWRITER

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, DBE (born Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English crime novelist, short story writer, and playwright. Agatha Christie’s typewriter predicts crimes 24 hours in advance but has a limited range and never mentions butlers.

It was first seen in "Pilot", and its effects briefly mentioned on the Syfy site.

TV EPISODE MENTION: “Pilot”
TV SHOW CONNECTIONS: “Agatha And The Truth Of Murder”

ADOLF HITLER'S MICROPHONE

Orders or statements spoken into the microphone are broadcast over a large space, and have an large amount of influence over those that hear it. Commands or even ideas heard by the listeners will be accepted as true and they will be acted upon immediately. Disturbingly, the darker and more hostile the speech, the more influential it will be. The more the microphone is used, the more power-mad the user becomes, adding a further sinister twist to this unpleasant artifact.

O'Bservation - Contributing to Hitler's overall evil, other factors would include that he was one of the creatures from 'Grimm' and not even the real Hitler anyway.  (He was drowned as an infant and his father took a gypsy baby to replace it as seen in 'The Twilight Zone' continuation.)  Plus, he was often replaced by other men who had fallen foul of a genie whenever they wished to have ultimate power, as seen in the original 'Twilight Zone'.

TV EPISODE MENTION: Mentioned in a podcast with Allison Scagliotti.  (But too good to pass up!)
TV SHOW CONNECTIONS: ‘Grimm’

AL CAPONE'S MACHINE GUNS

These Tommy guns were wielded by Capone's men during the events of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, where they shot and killed seven members of a rival gang. Due to their impressive firepower, it is believed Capone lent these guns to his men specifically for the job.

When held, the guns unleash a wild storm of bullets when the trigger is so much as touched. The guns don't stop until either the round is empty or all targets are dead. Noted not to work when separated and, in fact, will not fire at all. Accompanying the guns is a pair of ammo belts that, if worn at the same time, provide the guns with infinite ammunition.

Attracted to the most valuable or high-profile targets. Will curve around worthless drivel to hit anything with a large net worth. Failing that, it shoots at whatever would get the biggest buzz for being shot, such as a rival figure in violent fashion. Otherwise, they just spread uncontrollably in their immediate path.

TV EPISODE MENTION: "Endless Terror"
TV SHOW CONNECTIONS: ‘Boardwalk Empire’

ALBERT EINSTEIN'S COMB

By combing it through your hair, it sparks the brain into understanding or conceptualizing concepts that seemed impossible or confusing. Each use seems to spark new understandings, though the static energy released makes hair impossible to tame.

Overuse via addiction to knowledge is possible and attempting to process too much can fry the brain or allow the static to ignite.

TV EPISODE MENTION: "Burnout".
TV SHOW CONNECTIONS: ‘Doctor Who’ both in the Classic series (with the Seventh Incarnation) and in “Nu-Who” (with the Eleventh Incarnation.)

B.F. SKINNER'S DIPPY BIRD

During WWII, B. F. Skinner tried to train pigeons to operate bombs. The pigeon would be inserted into a missile with a lens in it. The bird would peck at the target through a screen, thereby guiding the missile. The program was eventually cancelled. This artifact came about as the result of his training and possibly his reinforcement psychology.

Makes pigeons line dance in time with the birds bobbing. Agents are unsure if it works on other birds or only pigeons.

TV EPISODE MENTION: "13.1".
TV SHOW CONNECTIONS: ‘Ted Lasso’, ‘Mad Men’, ‘Mission Impossible’, ‘Arrested Development’.  It is a multidimensional artifact as it also appeared in ‘The Simpsons’, and ‘American Dad’.

BILL TODMAN'S PENNY ANTE MACHINE

This "Penny Ante" board was used in the game show, "The Price is Right." Contestants were given three pennies, and were then showed an item with four possible prices. Contestants would need only one penny left to win the game, and if they lost all three pennies after guessing incorrectly, they lost. The machine has four buttons, each of which either lead to a "YES" or a "NO" sign.

When someone presses one of the buttons on the machine, it will turn on and play the classic "Penny Ante" game. The machine compels the player to guess the price of the item that is displayed. Sometimes, the people who are compelled to play the game guess wrong, and as a result they lose one penny. However, there is a 50% chance that the player will have one penny left and win the game. If the player loses, they will be temporarily unable to read prices correctly. If money is not inserted into the machine, then it will compel people to play with it, even if they don't touch the buttons.

TV EPISODE MENTION: As seen on Leena's list in "Parks and Rehabilitation", it requires an extra two cents added to it at regular intervals to keep it 'happy'.
TV SHOW CONNECTIONS: Where else?  ‘The Price Is Right’!

ANNETTE FUNICELLO'S BEACH BALL

Encompassing that "beach party" atmosphere, this ball is known to seek out fun times by the sea. And if it can't find any, it's more than content to make its own. Whenever the ball lands on a solid surface, it transmutes it into fine beach-quality sand. The effects have a bit of a splash zone, but don't affect living organisms. It does, however, affect clothing, and being hit by the ball has a habit of leaving the poor victim in their undergarments. Perfect for a quick dip in the waves.

The ball has yet to be collected. It never stays in the same place for long, and whenever it does it is usually at a beach party where its effects go mostly un-noticed. Reports first surfaced in the early 70s around Florida and continued until the ball was last seen at a 1985 Spring Break rave.

O’Bservation – Something had to happen to trigger one particular beach ball into becoming an artifact.  It could be that one of them appeared in all five of the official Frankie & Annette Beach movies, all of which have been referenced in other TV series.  (A whole episode of ‘Full House’ was dedicated to the genre.)

TV EPISODE MENTION: "3...2...1".
TV SHOW CONNECTIONS:
“Beach Party” – ‘Batman’
“Muscle Beach Party” – ‘WKRP In Cincinnati’
“Bikini Beach” - ‘The Tonight Show’ (with Don Rickles as the guest, talking about being in the third movie – both the talk show and Rickles are in the Hall)
“Beach Blanket Bingo” (This is the movie which has had the most references, which I think is largely due to the title.) – ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’, ‘Here’s Lucy’, ‘The Bob Newhart Show’, ‘Silver Spoons’, ‘California Dreams’, ‘Roseanne’, ‘NCIS’, ‘Veronica Mars’, ‘Last Man Standing’, ‘Masters Of Sex’, ‘The Tonight Show’ (again, because Don Rickles was the guest, talking about being in the third movie.  Both the talk show and Rickles are in the Hall)
“How To Stuff A Wild Bikini” – ‘Sabrina The Teenage Witch’, ‘Mama’s Family’

And ‘Full House’, ‘Gilmore Girls’, & ‘Mork & Mindy’ for the overall genre.

So there you have it – my Birthday Honors Inductee, with more than enough examples to qualify “America’s Attic” for inclusion in the TVXOHOF.

Happy birthday to me....

TVXOHOF MAY 2021 - MORTICIA FRUMP ADDAMS

 
This month, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame continues its mini-theme for 2021 of inducting select members of the Addams Family… but only the incarnations from Earth Prime-Time, the main Toobworld and one of Morticia's Tooniverse appearances.

And per tradition, a new May Queen is crowned, so it only makes it O’Bvious that the May 2021 would be….

MORTICIA ADAMS

From Wikipedia:
Morticia Addams (née Frump) is a fictional character from ‘The Addams Family’ television and film series. The character was created by cartoonist Charles Addams in 1933.

Morticia is the wife of Gomez Addams and mother of Wednesday and Pugsley Addams. The character originated in the Charles Addams cartoons for The New Yorker magazine in the 1930s. In the cartoons, none of the family members had names. When the characters were adapted to the 1964 television series, Charles Addams' selection of her name was inspired by "mortician". Morticia's maiden name is "Frump" and she has an older sister named Ophelia (also played by Carolyn Jones, in the original TV series). In the television series, her mother (Uncle Fester's sister) was named Hester Frump (played by Margaret Hamilton). Her mother-in-law is Grandmama Addams.

Morticia is described as a witch; she is slim, with extremely pale skin and long flowing straight black hair. In one episode she is seen wearing a black pointed hat. She commonly wears black hobble dresses to match her hair, tightly form fitting, with a fringe of octopus-like cloth "tentacles" at the lower hem. According to Wednesday, Morticia applies baking powder to her face instead of actual makeup. In each episode, she easily allures her husband Gomez by speaking French (or any other foreign language for that matter).

Morticia is musically inclined, and is often seen freely strumming a Japanese shamisen. She frequently enjoys cutting the buds off of roses, which she discards (keeping only the stems), likes cutting out paper dolls with three heads and making sweaters with three arms, collecting the mail from the hand-in-the-box Thing, and cooking unusual concoctions for her husband, including eye of newt. Her personal pet is Cleopatra, a fictitious breed of carnivorous plant called an African Strangler, to which she feeds hamburgers and other various meat.

Morticia's family tree can be traced back to Salem, Massachusetts, and witchcraft is also implied at times in the television series. For example, Morticia likes to "smoke," an activity that does not involve cigarettes or cigars (such as her husband frequently enjoys), but smoke instead emanates from below her.

In 2009, she was included in Yahoo!'s Top 10 TV Moms from Six Decades of Television for the time period 1964–1966. AOL named her one of the 100 Most Memorable Female TV Characters.

Morticia was portrayed by Carolyn Jones in the TV series.  Jones also voiced this character in an episode of ‘The New Scooby-Doo Movies’ that featured the family.

From ADDAMS FAMILY WIKI:
Morticia is the wife of Gomez Addams, and the mother of [Wednesday, Pugsley, Wednesday Jr., [and] Pugsley Jr. She is also the sister of the daisy-headed Ophelia Frump and daughter of Granny Frump and Grandpa Frump.

Morticia also has an affinity for making certain that her family upholds the traditional Addams way, and is usually the most taken aback when one of the clan goes astray and does something "pleasant."

From HEROES WIKI:
Her creator Charles Addams describes her as the real head of the family, being low-voiced, incisive and subtle, has stunning beauty, and has a fierce loyalty to her family. She has a garden full of deadly nightshade, henbane and dwarfs hair.

She also wants the her family to uphold the Addams Family traditions.

VOGUE:
Morticia Addams. Passionate wife, hostess, mother of two boys to whom she leaves everything to do… she has become a role-model to women all over the world, thanks to her confidence and glamorous allure. Morticia Addams makes the gothic style sexy and is revered as an object of absolute desire. In both film and television, she has been regarded by many actresses as having quite a legendary charm.

Carolyn Jones

On September 18, 1964, the ABC channel introduced the television version of ‘The Addams Family’. After winning over audiences in The New Yorker, Charles Addams and his family find new life in a series that depicts the daily life of a family like no other. To play Morticia Addams, the producers chose Carolyn Jones. Pale complexion, long black hair, doll face… Carolyn Jones represents the ideal image of a femme fatale, in every sense of the word. When taking on the role, she enjoyed a certain amount of freedom to play the character originally. Carolyn Jones plays the zesty and irresistible personality of a character that is still iconic today. The actress then reprises her role as Morticia in the TV movie “The Addams Family: It's Party Time” in 1977.

From SYFY WIRE:
Morticia Addams is a bad witch in the best way. She’s the brainchild of cartoonist Charles Addams, whose talent for creating ghoulish and darkly humorous characters led to the infamous Addams Family single-panel comics in The New Yorker during the late 1930s. Actress Carolyn Jones expertly brought the slim, pale, and black-clad family matriarch to life in 1964's ‘The Addams Family’ television show which detailed the aristocratic odd family’s constant culture differences with their neighbors.

The series only lasted for two seasons, but later gained a cult following with re-runs as well as two '90s movies with Anjelica Huston giving a brilliant take on Morticia, complete with raised eyebrows and red lips. Most TV moms during the show's original run had a June Cleaver type of vibe as exemplary homemakers with immaculate kitchens, scheduled meals, and rather bland personalities. Or they were supernatural beings who desperately tried to assimilate to our world, like Samantha Stephens [of ‘Bewitched’], but Morticia bucked societal norms in several ways.

She oozed sexiness with a signature style featuring a form-fitting black dress, long black tresses, and a decidedly pale face — a look that inspired millions of future goth girls. She wasn't afraid to be overtly sexual with her husband Gomez by enticing him with “the look,” relishing in his peppered kisses on her arms, donning new lingerie, or whispering sweet nothings in French.

It was a stark contrast to the squeaky-clean portrayal of '60s TV marriage that didn’t even allow most couples to sleep in the same bed, much less show sexual advances from a wife. This passion carried over into the movies with Morticia instructing her hubby to let her do the torturing and complimented him on, ahem, a job well done the previous night. Yesssss.

Her marriage is absolutely #RelationshipGoals for anyone who wants a healthy long-term relationship because it challenges the stereotype that years of love and kids automatically leads to passive misery. Her guy is passionately in love with her, views her as his equal, supports her endeavors, respects her thoughts sans mansplaining, and frequently compliments her brains and beauty. Oh, and let's not forget that he's filthy rich. It’s a bold, refreshing portrayal of a marriage that was certainly revolutionary then and isn’t explored as often as it should be on TV today.

Morticia is the voice of reason and the queen of zen, even when things get a little chaotic in her home. Her ability to find beauty in thunderstorms (literal and metaphorical) and other things normally perceived to be dark while exhibiting a relentless optimism about life is admirable and inspirational. She’s valuable and interesting outside of her mom and wife roles and has imperfect moments that root her in reality.

Typical “ladylike” activities like knitting, picking fresh flowers, and cooking are never mundane with Morticia as she makes items out of odd materials, conjures up strange concoctions, and arranges thorny stems in vases. And what other witch is an expert at cultivating carnivorous plants, playing the shamisen, emitting smoke from her body, challenging local politicians, taming beasts, fencing, painting, and being effortlessly cool while chilling at home 99% of the time? Morticia is truly the GOAT of all activities.

Her excellence is also exhibited via her unconventional yet supportive and smart parenting style. Yeah, she allows Wednesday and Pugsley to raise poisonous spiders and play with guillotines, but she also listens to them, values their feelings, and encourages their autonomy. She will quickly jump into action in their best interests, whether it involves hiring a psychologist or advocating for changes at their school. When Pugsley joined the Boy Scouts — which was their equivalent of him joining a wayward gang — she was concerned but she gave him the space to explore things on his own terms. He was her “unconventional” child who sometimes wanted to be like everyone else and Morticia didn’t try to force him fit perfectly into their family dynamic. She was generally patient, kind, and respectful towards her children and encouraged them to stay true to themselves even when it goes against the grain.

Morticia Addams expertly balances family and her unconventional personal interests alongside a rosy general outlook on life. She has a partner who adores her and works with her in a partnership to solve problems and rear their children with a loving hand. And she’s no doubt a witch icon, from her fashion sense to her occasional penchant for potions and “smoking.” We absolutely stan this creepy, kooky, and incredibly dope character who is dearer to us than all the bats in all the caves in the world.

Here are the appearances by Carolyn Jones in the role which qualified the multidimensional Morticia Addams for membership in the TVXOHOF:

The Addams Family
64 episodes

Halloween with the New Addams Family
(TV Movie)

The New Scooby-Doo Movies
- Wednesday Is Missing (1972)
(voice)

Welcome to the Hall, Mrs. Addams!

TVXOHOF, OCTOBER 2020 - THE BODY OF ROBBY THE ROBOT

Because Halloween caps October, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame usually inducts “monsters” as the monthly showcase.  Now, these could be friendly monsters, like the Munsters, classic monsters as seen in Toobworld (like all of the Frankenstein’s Creature variations), even real-life monsters like Hitler and Lee Harvey Oswald.  On occasion, the TVXOHOF has inducted a monster who is a combination from both Earth Prime and Earth Prime-Time – like Jack the Ripper AKA Redjac from ‘Star Trek’.

And so for this year’s October showcase, we’re going with a less organic “monster”, but one who often is considered “cuddly” albeit clunky.

ROBBY THE ROBOT'S CASING

From Wikipedia:
Robby the Robot is a fictional character and science fiction icon who first appeared in the 1956 film “Forbidden Planet”. He made a number of subsequent appearances in science fiction movies and television programs, usually without specific reference to the original film character.

Robby was reused by MGM in “The Invisible Boy” (1957) and then made several further appearances in other films and TV shows during the next few decades; these include episodes of ‘The Gale Storm Show’, ‘The Thin Man’, ‘Columbo’, ‘The Addams Family’, and ‘Lost in Space’ where he battles The Robot.

The original Rod Serling incarnation of ‘The Twilight Zone’ - which was substantially filmed at MGM Studios - made extensive use of props and costumes originally created for “Forbidden Planet”, including Robby. The Season 5 episode "Uncle Simon" (1963) featured Robby, although his appearance was considerably different, combining the familiar body with an alternative head. According to Robby's current owner, director William Malone, the head used in this episode was a prototype created during Robby's original construction. It featured a highly simplified and rather old-fashioned cylindrical "oil can" robot head with stylised 'eyes' (that were illuminated and movable) and a circular 'mouth'; this was enclosed under the distinctively-shaped conical plexiglass dome, but this head's front grille also did not have the blue neon tubes and lacked the rotating external 'ear' pieces seen in “Forbidden Planet”. It is not known whether this internal "oil-can'" head was original, but its rather rudimentary design and appearance is clearly not of same exacting MGM standards that are evident in all other “Forbidden Planet” props, and suggests it may have been custom-made for the filming of this ‘Twilight Zone’ episode. However this version of the prop survives and is currently also owned by William Malone.

In other appearances, Robby usually retained the moving parts inside his transparent dome, although the details of his "brain" and chest panel were sometimes altered; in ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ episode "The Bridge of Lions Affair", only Robby's head dome was used as part of a regeneration machine. Robby also appeared in the ‘Mork & Mindy’ second-season episode "Dr. Morkenstein", this time representing a character called Chuck (voiced by actor Roddy McDowall) whom Mork befriends while working as a security guard in the science museum where Chuck is on display. Robby was given a major 'makeover' for his appearance in the TV series ‘Project U.F.O.’ (1978). The original head was removed and replaced with a newly constructed "Cyclops" head that had new internal 'brain' fittings, a much squatter (roughly hemispherical) perspex dome, and a large circular glowing green 'eye' on the front, mounted in a protruding triangular panel. The front panel on Robby's torso was also modified with the addition of a new protruding panel, and additional appliances and cables were added to the front of both legs. This 'Cyclops' version of Robby was also used in the 1977 TV series ‘Space Academy’. All appearances of Robby after 1971 are a replica, as the original was retired and on display in a museum.

He was also featured in a 2006 commercial for AT&T.

Robby the Robot was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in 2004.

With all of the TV episodes in which Robby appeared, I think it would be ridiculous to consider them all to be Robby.  There’s no way the robot menace in that ‘Thin Man’ episode could be the same robot built by tween genius Stevie Spelberg in the ‘Columbo’ episode fifteen years later.

O’Bviously, the scenario I’m going to suggest won’t satisfy everybody; it can’t be considered canon.  But it works for Toobworld and I’m only concerned with pleasing my needs.  LOL

As was the case in the real world, the televersion of Robert Kinoshita built the original body of Robby for the movie. (We know “Forbidden Planet” exists in Toobworld thanks to references in ‘Cheers’, ‘The Big Bang Theory’, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, ‘Gilmore Girls’, ‘Six Feet Under’, ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Fringe.’

But in Toobworld, tele-Kinoshita then made custom copies of that casing to sell. It turns out that it proved to be a popular casing for scientists to house the computer systems they developed, to make their computers mobile. (Stevie Spelberg bought one with funding from the Cybernetics Institute for the seventh incarnation of his MM series of robot.)

Some were maybe bought for cosplay, as seen in that ‘Wonder Woman’ episode; others were ordered only for parts, like that headpiece used for the regeneration machine in ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’.  As I mentioned, they were customized, some with different heads, at least one with no legs. 

Tele-Kinoshita even sold use of the miniaturized model to a toy company for a line of toy robots.

Eventually, scientists in the future would hew to the tradition of using that body form.  Aliens on Earth, probably disguised as humans, must have stolen the basic design and took it back to their home planet to use in their creation of that robot which faced off against B9.

Here are the TV appearances which can be considered linked via the theory I suggested above.

The Thin Man

"Robot Client"
February 28, 1958

The Gale Storm Show

"Robot from Inner Space"
December 13, 1958

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis 

"Beethoven, Presley, and Me"
March 13, 1963

The Twilight Zone

"One for the Angels" (1959)

"Uncle Simon" (1963)

"The Brain Center at Whipple's" (1964)

Hazel

"Rosie's Contract"
September 27, 1962

The Addams Family

"Lurch's Little Helper"
March 18, 1966

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
"The Bridge of Lions Affair"
(1966)

Lost in Space

"War of the Robots"

(1966)

"The Condemned Of Space"

(1967)

Ultraseven (1967)
A race of Robots called the 'U-Toms' bear Robby's likeness in one episode.

The Banana Splits Adventure Hour 

"The Coronation of Bakaar"
(1968 and 1970)

Columbo
Mind Over Mayhem

(1974)

Ark II

"The Robot"
(1976)

Holmes & Yo-Yo
(1976)
O'Bservation - There is debate over whether or not a Robby copy appeared in an episode.

Music Machine
(1977)
K-tel compilation LP, photographs featured on both the front and back of the cover. In the commercial for the LP, Robby dances to some of the album's songs.

Project U.F.O. 

"Sighting 4010: The Waterford Incident"
(1978)
Here, the costume has a different, flatter head and 'brain' elements with a large "Cyclops" eye, a modified torso panel and assorted add-ons to the legs.

Television commercial for Starlog Magazine
(1978)

The New Adventures of Wonder Woman

"Spaced Out"
(1979)
O'Bservation - This was one of those times the casing was sold to be a cosplay costume.

Mork & Mindy 

"Dr. Morkenstein"
(1979)
O’Bservation – “Chuck” may have been built by young Stevie Spelberg five years earlier.

Space Academy 

"My Favorite Marcia"
(1979)
This program used the 'Cyclops' head variation previously seen on ‘Project U.F.O.’.

Pink Lady 

Episode 5
(1980)

Charmin Television commercial

(1981)

The Love Boat

"Programmed for Love"

Likely Stories, Vol. 3

(1983)

Stacked 

"Gavin's Pipe Dream"
(2005)

Television commercial for AT&T
(2006)

Television commercial for General Electric
(2012)

The Big Bang Theory 
"The Misinterpretation Agitation"
(2014)

O'Bservation - Supposedly, a statuette of Robby is on the right-side night stand.  It could be of the same toy line as seen in 'The Twilight Zone'.  

But in this episode, Robby is in the basement playroom of Dr. Lorvis.  It can be seen in the back and to the left ("back and to the left") behind Billy Bob Thornton. 

So, it’s not exactly Robby the Robot who’s being inducted.  But whether it's Bix, Smiley, Squeezax, Alphie, Arnold, Chuck, Mildred, or Uncle Simon, the shell which was custom-built for all the examples listed here is based on that original model.

Welcome to the TVXOHOF, "Robby"!