FANFIC, FIT TO A TEE

This was posted on the Classic Television Shows FB page back in January:

I happened to notice this anachronism on ‘Have Gun Will Travel’ this morning. The episode is “The Kid” (Seaon 5 Episode 15.)

Paladin is wearing a V-neck T-shirt, which did not exist in the 1870s and 1880s. During that time, men typically wore full undershirts made of wool or cotton, often with high, round necklines or buttons at the chest. The V-neck T-shirt as we know it today was not introduced until the mid-20th century, as a variation of the basic crewneck T-shirt.
[Alan DeCampli]

I think we know, as Whovians, the Time Lord responsible for this pollution of the timeline….

The Meddling Monk, of course.

I have no idea why he felt it was an important anachronism, however.

That is the stuff fanfic is for.

Care to give it a whirl? 

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS, 08/24/2020 - "GUNSMOKE"

 
Last Friday of the month and as is our custom (this year), I’m inducting a TV show which has its own televersion in the main Toobworld.  No consideration for the alternate Toobworlds, like Skitlandia, the Tooniverse, or even Nosferatoob.  In this case, with August being the month for Westerns, there are enough other shows which verify the existence of…..

From Wikipedia:
‘Gunsmoke’ is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television. When aired in the United Kingdom, the television series was initially titled ‘Gun Law’, later reverting to ‘Gunsmoke’.

The radio series ran from 1952 to 1961. John Dunning wrote that among radio drama enthusiasts, "’Gunsmoke’ is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind and any time." The television series ran for 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975, and lasted for 635 episodes. At the end of its run in 1975, Los Angeles Times columnist Cecil Smith wrote: "Gunsmoke was the dramatization of the American epic legend of the west. Our own ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’, created from standard elements of the dime novel and the pulp Western as romanticized by [Ned] Buntline, [Bret] Harte, and [Mark] Twain. It was ever the stuff of legend."

And that legend was recounted over and over again by those who watched it.

The show ran twenty years, yet only spawned one spin-off.  But it did have several sequel movies.

THE SPIN-OFF

Dirty Sally (1974)
Sally Fergus is introduced on ‘Gunsmoke’: “Pike: Part 1” (1971) & ‘Gunsmoke’: “Pike: Part 2” (1971).

THE SEQUEL MOVIES

• Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)
• Gunsmoke: The Last Apache (1990)
• Gunsmoke: To the Last Man (1992)
• Gunsmoke: The Long Ride (1993)
• Gunsmoke: One Man's Justice (1994)

So that give the historical events of ‘Gunsmoke’ a solid base in the “Reality” of Earth Prime-Time; plenty to work with in making the idea of a TV series based on that history believable.

There is no Zonk in other TV shows mentioning ‘Gunsmoke’ as a TV show.  On the Toobworld timeline, it took place during the mid-1800s and into the early 20th Century of Earth Prime-Time and would be considered History by “modern-day” Toobworlders. It would be the perfect candidate for a TV series.

Every mention of the TV series, every time a character is referenced or imitated, every imitation of the series serves as a qualification for the Toobworld version of the TV show to be inducted into the TVXOHOF.

Here are the examples of TV shows in which it could easily be treated as both History and a TV series.

The Phil Silvers Show:
Bilko's TV Pilot (1958)
While watching another show, Rizik recognizes a bad guy from "Gunsmoke".

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet:
Top Gun (1958)
While wearing cowboy hats and western-style vests, Dave introduces a limping Rick as "Chester".

Hancock's Half Hour:
The Set That Failed (1959)
Hancock acts out a scene from this show.

The Larkins:
All the Answers (1960)
Eddy likes this show

The Danny Thomas Show:
Everything Happens to Me (1961)
One of four western series from which Rusty wants autographs from everyone.

Dennis the Menace:
The School Play (1961)
Dennis's school play is a takeoff on Gunsmoke. It includes characters such as Marshal Mellon and his limping sidekick, Lester.

The Danny Thomas Show:
The P.T.A. Bash (1962)
Danny mentions the show, while performing a comedy routine for the P.T.A.

Car 54, Where Are You?:
No More Pickpockets (1962)
Wearing a cowboy hat, while working undercover, Muldoon is mistaken for Marshal Dillon.

Mister Ed:
Ed the Beachcomber (1962)
Mister Ed mentions Matt Dillon.

Stoney Burke:
Child of Luxury (1962)
Stoney is told he'll ride in "like Marshal Dillon."

The Andy Griffith Show:
 Lawman Barney (1962)
Barney is called Marshall Dillon.

Dennis the Menace:
Wilson's Second Childhood (1962)
While the neighborhood kids are playing cowboys and Indians, Mrs. Wilson calls her husband "Matt", and Mr. Wilson calls his wife "Miss Kitty".

O’Bservation – Sorry to sully your childhood memories, but could this have led to a little “afternoon delight” role-playing upstairs?

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis:
Will the Real Santa Claus Please Come Down the Chimney? (1962)
Maynard says that even though he's never actually seen him, he believes in Marshal Dillon (but he's not so sure about Chester).

The Andy Griffith Show:
Aunt Bee's Medicine Man (1963)
Aunt Bee calls Andy "Sheriff Matt Dillon" and asks "Where's Chester?"

The Dick Van Dyke Show:
Racy Tracy Rattigan (1963)
Sally limps out of the office calling for Mr. Dillon

Dennis the Menace:
A Man Among Men (1963)
Dennis mentions Sheriff Matt Dillon, and then he starts to limp.

Gilligan's Island:
The Sound of Quacking (1964)
In the "Marshal Gilligan" dream sequence, which also features limping deputy Skipper and barmaid "Miss Ginger"

The Andy Griffith Show:
Fun Girls (1964)
Gomer says Goober can walk just like Chester on "Marshall Dillon", which was the title for the half-hour episodes of "Gunsmoke" when the series was expanded to a full hour.

Password:
Lucille Ball & Gary Morton vs. Luci Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. (1964)
When the password is COWBOY, Gary's clue is GUNSMOKE, to which Desi Jr.'s reply is CHESTER. That is the first name of a central character played by Dennis Weaver on the TV show.

O’Bservation – I included this since ‘Password’ has its own televersion thanks to ‘The Odd Couple’.

My Favorite Martian:
The Time Machine Is Waking Up That Old Gang of Mine (1965)
Mistakenly believing that Tim and Martin are claiming to be Frank and Jesse James, the railroad detective sarcastically introduces himself as Marshal Dillon.

Gilligan's Island:
The Postman Cometh (1966)
The Skipper pretends to be Marshal Dillon

Green Acres:
The Deputy (1966)
When Oliver becomes deputy sheriff, Eb calls him 'Mr. Dillon'

The Monkees:
Monkees in a Ghost Town (1966)
Davy calls up Chester who tells him Marshal Dillon is absent.

O'Bservation - It's the Monkees; I'm not going to throw my back out trying to splain that away!

Gilligan's Island:
Gilligan Goes Gung-Ho (1966)
Newly appointed Deputy Gilligan limps and calls the Skipper, "Mr. Dillon"

The Monkees:
Monkees in Texas (1967)
referenced in musical cues

Petticoat Junction:
One of Our Chickens Is Missing (1969)
Buck refers to Orrin as Marshal Dillon.

All in the Family:
Flashback - Mike and Gloria's Wedding: Part 2 (1972)
Mentioned by Archie

The Bob Newhart Show:
Last TV Show (1973)
Mentioned several times, including Mrs. Bakerman claiming she hasn't missed it in seventeen years.

All in the Family:
Archie the Gambler (1973)
Archie says Edith whips out a pencil like Matt Dillon.

Here's Lucy:
The Carters Meets Frankie Avalon (1973)
In their comic banter as Sonny and Cher, Avalon (Sonny) mentions being cast in "Gunsmoke"

O'Bservation - I'd have to see the actual quote.  But I don't see evidence either Bono or Avalon were actually on 'Gunsmke'.  If the quote asserts one of them was a guest star, then Toobworld has a fictional episode of the Western.

Q & Q:
Ding dong!!! (1976)
Title mentioned by Yvonne

Sanford and Son:
The TV Addict (1976)
Fred says he's in love with Miss Kitty.

The Muppet Show:
Juliet Prowse (1977)
"Cowboy Time" sketch spoofs Gunsmoke

CHiPs:
High Explosive (1978)
Grossman compares Jon to Matt Dillon

The Twilight Zone:
Gramma/Personal Demons/Cold Reading (1986)
Rockne S. O'Bannon wrote for the series.

The A-Team:
The Say U.N.C.L.E. Affair (1986)
Mentioned by Tour Guide

Night Court:
The New Judge (1986)
Characters referenced

Night Court:
Contempt of Courting (1986)
"Let's go, Ms. Kitty."

The Golden Girls:
Long Day's Journey Into Marinara (1987)
Sophia says that Angela still tries to watch Gunsmoke on Sunday nights.

O'Bservation -'Gunsmoke' first aired on Saturdays before moving to Mondays.  So that quote probably questioned Angela's mental state - not ony trying to watch it on Sundays, but because the show had been off the air for twelve years. 

The Golden Girls:
A Piece of Cake (1987)
Sophia mentions by name.

Cheers:
The Crane Mutiny (1987)
Carla calls Woody "Festus".

It's Garry Shandling's Show:
No Baby, No Show (1987)
Expectant-couple mistakes Bob Dylan for Marshal Matt Dillon.

Wiseguy:
Last Rites for Lucci (1987)
Referred to.

Miami Vice:
The Cows of October (1988)
Izzy says "Get out of Casablanca", which he was bumbling the quote "Get out of Dodge", heard in one manner or another on the old series set in Dodge City.

Quantum Leap:
How the Tess Was Won - August 5, 1956 (1989)
Sam sarcastically quips, "Aw, gee shucks, Mr. Dillon."

Hey Dude:
Amnesia (1990)
Title is referenced

Quantum Leap:
Rebel Without a Clue - September 1, 1958 (1990)
Sam jokingly refers to Dillon as "Marshal Dillon."

The Gambler Returns:
The Luck of the Draw (1991)
 (TV Movie)
action takes place in the Longbranch Saloon

The Larry Sanders Show:
Hey Now (1992)
Larry tells Hank that he looks like Kitty from Gunsmoke

Baywatch:
A Matter of Life and Death (1993)
When Hobie mentions actor Matt Dillon from “The Flamingo Kid”, Mitch's dad thinks it's the James Arness character.

Married... with Children:
Get Outta Dodge (1994)
Reference to "Get the hell out of Dodge [City]"

Friends:
The One with the Breast Milk (1995)
Chandler tells Joey to go see Miss Kitty who will fix him up with a nice hooker.

3rd Rock from the Sun:
Dickmalion (1997)
The show is on when Dick turns on Mary's new TV.

Law & Order:
Castoff (1998)
Congressman Maxwell refers to the series.

Nash Bridges:
Skin Deep (1998)
A tattoo artist looks at Evan's old-time sheriff badge he bought and says he must be Miss Kitty. Though Kitty was not an officer of the law or deputized.

3rd Rock from the Sun:
Dr. Solomon's Traveling Alien Show (1998)
Mary tells Don that she and Dick have a game based on the show.

Nash Bridges:
Shoot the Moon (1999)
Joe tells Nash, "Come on, Chester" while helping him walk after being shot in the butt and having trouble. This refers to a deputy named Chester who walked with a limp.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer:
This Year's Girl (2000)
"I tell you, if I were her, I'd get out of Dodge post hasty." This phrase originated on Gunsmoke

American Dreams:
The One (2003)
Roxanne refers to the series.

Monk:
Mr. Monk and Little Monk (2005)
"Gunsmoke" lunchbox in Young Sherry's locker.

Veronica Mars:
Debasement Tapes (2007)
Marshal Dillon mentioned.

Chuck:
Chuck Versus the Predator (2009)
Emmett, comparing the situation to a Western, says, "It was a lawless town: Shane, Marshal Dillon, Clint Eastwood."

Justified:
Riverbrook (2010)
Mentioned in dialogue

iCarly:
iSam's Mom (2010)
Name of the overly macho bodyguard protecting Freddie

Sam & Cat:
#BlooperEpisode (2014)
Two fans mention some of Maree Cheatham's past work

Cocaine Cowboys:
Reloaded (2014)
The Matt Dillon character is mentioned.

Masters of Sex:
Kyrie Eleison (2014)
Dr. Greathouse says that Dr. Masters has a bigger following than "Gunsmoke".

Masters of Sex:
Story of My Life (2014)
mentioned by Lester

This Is Us:
Moonshadow (2017)
Darryl mentions the show to Jack.

Endeavour:
Pylon (2019) 
Mrs Thursday was watching this on television.

Inspector Fred Thursday:
'Gunsmoke', is it?
Win Thursday:
I don't know. Something....

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit:
I'm Going To Make You a Star (2019)
short clip of unidentified black-and-white episode seen on TV.

And so the televersion of another TV series has been added to the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  It’s 635 episodes and five TV movies probably guarantee its place as the member series with most viewing hours.

Get outta Dodge, ‘Gunsmoke’, and into the TVXOHOF!

FRIDAY'S HALL OF FAMERS, 08/21/2020 - BENITO JUAREZ

 We’re getting closer to catching up….

We have an historical figure for this week’s TV Western candidate for the Television Crossover Hall of Fame….

BENITO JUAREZ

From Wikipedia:
Benito Pablo Juárez García (21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican lawyer and politician, who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in 1872. He was the first president of Mexico who was of indigenous origin. Born in Oaxaca to a poor Zapotec rural family and orphaned young, he moved to Oaxaca City at the age of 12 to go to school. He was aided by a lay Franciscan, and enrolled in seminary, later studying law at Institute of Sciences and Arts and becoming a lawyer. After being appointed as a judge, in his 30s he married Margarita Maza, a socially prominent woman of Oaxaca City.

From his years in college, he was active in politics. Appointed as head justice of the nation's Supreme Court, Juárez identified primarily as a Liberal politician. In his life, he wrote briefly about his indigenous heritage.

When moderate liberal President Ignacio Comonfort was forced to resign by the Conservatives in 1858, Juárez, as head of the Supreme Court, assumed the presidency and the two governments competed. His succession was codified in the Constitution of 1857 but he survived in internal exile for a period. He weathered the War of the Reform (1858–60), a civil war between the Liberals and the Conservatives, and the French invasion (1861–1867), which was supported by Conservative monarchists.

Never relinquishing office, although forced into exile to areas of Mexico not controlled by the French, Juárez tied Liberalism to Mexican nationalism. He asserted his leadership as the legitimate head of the Mexican state, rather than Emperor Maximilian, whom the French had installed.

When the French-backed Second Mexican Empire fell in 1867, the Mexican Republic with Juárez as president regained full power. For his success in ousting the European incursion, Latin Americans considered Juárez's tenure as a time of a "second struggle for independence, a second defeat for the European powers, and a second reversal of the Conquest."
Juárez is revered in Mexico as "a preeminent symbol of Mexican nationalism and resistance to foreign intervention."

He understood the importance of a working relationship with the United States, and secured its recognition for his government during the War of the Reform. He held fast to particular principles, including the supremacy of civil power over the Catholic Church and part of the military; respect for law; and the de-personalization of political life. Juárez sought to strengthen the national government, asserting its central power over the states, a position that both radical and provincial liberals opposed.

After his death, the city and state of Oaxaca added "de Juarez" to their formal names in his honor, and numerous other places and institutions were named for him. His birthday (March 21) is celebrated as a national public and patriotic holiday in Mexico. He is the only individual Mexican to be so honored.

In January 1959, the episode entitled "The Desperadoes" of the ABC/Warner Brothers western television series, ‘Sugarfoot’, starring Will Hutchins in the title role, focuses upon an imaginary plot to assassinate Juárez. Set at a mission in South Texas, the episode features Anthony George as a Catholic priest, Father John, a friend of the series character Tom "Sugarfoot" Brewster.

O'Bservation - President Juarez doesn't appear in this episode, but his existence is confirmed.

The actor Jan Arvan (1913-1979) was cast as President Juárez in the 1959 episode, "A Town Is Born" on the syndicated television anthology series, ‘Death Valley Days’, hosted by Stanley Andrews. Than Wyenn played Isaacs, a storekeeper in Nogales, Arizona Territory, who hides gold for the Mexican government in the fight against Maximilian. Jean Howell played his wife, Ruth Isaacs.

Frank Sorello (1929-2013) portrayed Juárez in two episodes of Robert Conrad's ‘The Wild, Wild West’, an American espionage adventure television program: "The Night of the Eccentrics" (1966), and "The Night of the Assassins" (1967).

O’Bservation – All four of these episodes would have to take place before July of 1872, the month and year in which Juarez died.
Trying to “reschedule” the dates for the televersions of historical figures.  The only time I felt comfortable in doing so was with Jules Verne, whose televersion in ‘The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne’ was at least a decade younger than he was in the Real World.

As for Juarez, I think it makes things simpler on a global scale even in Toobworld to stick with the facts as they truly stand.

I've seen a WWW timeline in which "The Night Of The Assassins" takes place in 1873.  One of these days I'll have to let them know about this glitch; they do incredible work otherwise.

Welcome to the Hall, Mr. President!

"President Benito Juarez" with
fellow Hall of Famer James West

TVXOHOF, 08/01/2020 - TOM "SUGARFOOT" BREWSTER

 
It’s been a tough couple of weeks – had no power for a week due to Hurricane Isaias; and I lost a beloved family member.

And during it all, my enthusiasm for doing this, even once a week, seriously flagged.

But let’s start catching up!

We begin with the August showcase for the Television Crossover Hall of Fame which traditionally celebrates the TV Western.  And the cowboy in the spotlight this year?

TOM BREWSTER

From Wikipedia:
‘Sugarfoot’ is an American Western television series that aired for sixty-nine episodes on ABC from 1957-1961 on Tuesday nights on a "shared" slot basis – rotating with ‘Cheyenne’ (1st season); ‘Cheyenne’ and ‘Bronco’ (2nd season); and ‘Bronco’ (3rd season). The Warner Bros. production stars Will Hutchins as Tom Brewster, an Easterner who comes to the Oklahoma Territory to become a lawyer. Jack Elam is cast in occasional episodes as sidekick Toothy Thompson. Brewster was a correspondence-school student whose apparent lack of cowboy skills earned him the nickname "Sugarfoot", a designation even below that of a tenderfoot.

Its pilot episode was a remake of a 1954 Western film called “The Boy from Oklahoma” starring Will Rogers, Jr., as Tom Brewster. The pilot and premiere episode, "Brannigan's Boots," was so similar to “The Boy from Oklahoma” that Sheb Wooley and Slim Pickens “reprised their roles from the film.

Hutchins appeared as Sugarfoot in crossover episodes of Cheyenne and Maverick, and in an installment of ‘Bronco’ called "The Yankee Tornado" with Peter Breck as a young Theodore Roosevelt. Jack Kelly appeared as Bart Maverick in the Sugarfoot episode "A Price on His Head."

Trivia from various episodes:

Sugarfoot's father, George Brewster, was a highly regarded law-enforcement officer.  

Tom Brewster spent his childhood in Vermont before coming to the Oklahoma Territory.

In "The Desperadoes" (January 6, 1959), Sugarfoot c. 1870 visits his friend Padre John (Anthony George) at a Roman Catholic mission in South Texas, where he learns of a mysterious plot to assassinate Mexican President Benito Juarez. Abby Dalton and Jack Kruschen guest star in this episode as Elizabeth Bingham and Sam Bolt, a military officer with a Napoleonic complex.

O’Bservation – Benito Juarez is eligible for membership in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.

Wayde Preston, who played Christopher Colt on the ABC western Colt .45, appeared four times in that same role on Sugarfoot in the episodes dealing with "The Canary Kid," a role also played by Will Hutchins. In the semi-comical "The Return of the Canary Kid" (February 3, 1959), Hutchins and Preston are joined by Don "Red" Barry as Arkansas, Richard Reeves as Blackie Stevens, and Sandra Edwards as Prudence, the Canary Kid's girlfriend who instead falls for the kindly Tom Brewster.

Welcome to the Crossover Hall of Fame, Mr. Brewster!  You'll find Bart, Bret, and Beau Maverick, Cheyenne Bodie, and a few others you might know... even if it was off-screen.

 

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS 04/10/2020 - JONAS GRUMBY, THE SKIPPER

For the second week of April Fools being inducted as a Friday Hall of Famer into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, I’ve decided it was time to bring Jonas Grumby into the mix?

“Who?” you may be asking.  And well you may be!

JONAS GRUMBY

“THE SKIPPER”

(Brave And Sure)

From Wikipedia:
The Skipper is the title and nickname of Jonas Grumby, a fictional character from the 1960s situation comedy ‘Gilligan's Island’. Played by Alan Hale Jr., the Skipper (the character's actual name was rarely mentioned after the show's pilot episode) was the owner and captain of the S. S. Minnow on its "three-hour tour" in Hawaii when he, the first mate Gilligan (portrayed by Bob Denver), and their tourist passengers were caught in a violent storm and stranded on a deserted island.

He acts often in his legal role as the group's leader, albeit with a decidedly collegial and democratic bent; the only individual whom he routinely orders about is Gilligan. In times of crisis, the Skipper tends to defer to the more level-headed and educated passenger, Professor Roy Hinkley (portrayed by Russell Johnson). He is sort of a strongman succumbed to lack of exercise, despite doing most of the physical work on the island or making Gilligan do it. He is also the most superstitious castaway, sometimes putting him in conflict with the Professor's rationalism.

The Skipper is lovable but is irritated continually by the clumsiness and ineptitude of his "little buddy" Gilligan, despite that they are good friends. A running gag is that whenever Gilligan messes up a rescue, the skipper conks Gilligan on the head with his hat; a variation of this gag is that whenever Gilligan is in a tree as a lookout and falls down, he usually lands on the Skipper, or if Gilligan (on rare occasion) does something right or correctly predicts an outcome, the Skipper is about to conk Gilligan, then restrains himself due to the fact Gilligan was right. The dynamic of their relationship, at times, resembles that of Laurel and Hardy.

Before the producers hired Alan Hale Jr., Carroll O'Connor had been considered for the role of the Skipper, but was rejected because he was too unsympathetic.

In the 2003 book “Gilligan's Wake”, Esquire film and television critic Tom Carson writes a backstory that the Skipper served with John F. Kennedy of the PT-109 and Quinton McHale of ‘McHale's Navy’. The book was acclaimed critically, drawing comparisons to the works of Thomas Pynchon.

John F. Kennedy was also skipper of his boat, and the 1964 ‘Gilligan's Island’ would follow the 1961 pilot episode of ‘McHale's Navy’, the 1962 series, and the 1963 movie “PT 109” as films about PT-sized boats that were shipwrecked with Navy sailors on board. Little was ever learned about his past, but in several episodes, he mentions variously having several ships blown out from under him, and his veteran's status, implying that he'd served in World War II.

Two episodes indicate the Skipper was a veteran of the Battle of Guadalcanal as he relived an experience from the battle where he turned the radio into a transmitter, reliving the scenario in his sleep. In one episode he gets amnesia, and thinks he's on a covert mission behind enemy lines, mistaking the others to be Japanese soldiers, including Ginger, whom he mistakenly believes to be a ventriloquist.

He claims to be the CO of the 177th Infantry Regiment, which is a U.S. Army regiment, but whether that actually happened or was just a wish-fulfilling fantasy is open to debate, for later on in the series he says that he was simply a cook. In one episode he claimed to have been a Navy Bandmaster and in another he claims to have been the best poker player in the US Navy.  

O’Bservation:
I don’t count those discrepancies as Zonks.  Skipper was just telling tall tales, yarns like any sailing man would.

Captain Grumby was a multidimensional in that he also has a presence in the Tooniverse and in Toobworld Toobworld, the dimension of remakes.

Here are the shows which qualify the Skipper to finally join his ‘Little Buddy” Gilligan who was inducted in the Hall’s sophomore year as the first official April Fool inductee.
Jonas 'The Skipper' Grumby

Gilligan's Island
99 episodes

Rescue from Gilligan's Island
(1978 TV Movie)

The Castaways on Gilligan's Island
(1979 TV Movie)

The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island
(1981 TV Movie)

Those are the four official qualifications for Skipper Grumby’s eligibility into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame – the original series plus three reunion movie sequels.  From this point, here be theories….

Crazy Like a Fox
- Just Another Fox in the Crowd (1986)

From the IMDb:
Harrison finds a photo from the 1961 All-Star Game with Harry in the background and gives it to him for his birthday. However, when Harry sees it, he claims he never went to the game. So, he and Harrison go to see the photographer who took it, who tells them the photo is authentic. However, after they leave someone pulls a gun on them demanding the photo.  

O’Bservation:
Unfortunately, the name of Hale’s character in this episode is not listed at the IMDb.  I’m going to assume he was one of the guys in the picture with Harry.  Or maybe the guy in the photo shop.  At any rate, this will remain here as a placeholder until I can find out the details, one way or t'other.

There are only three ways this fellow could be disqualified from being conflated with the Skipper:

1] His character’s name is revealed.
If he is only identified by a nickname, I think it could still be the Skipper.  Splainin: People get different nicknames from the various aspects of their lives.  A nickname in college, a nickname from co-workers, nicknames from the exes.  (No need to share those here….)

2] His character is the bad guy.
People change.  But there are certain characters I refuse to believe would ever become evil.  The Skipper falls into that category.

3] His character dies.
All characters eventually die.  I know the Skipper is dead there in Toobworld now.  But not in 1980.  Too soon.  Besides, I have other theories of conflation to go.

Simon & Simon
- Rough Rider Rides Again (1982)
... Bartender

O’Bservation:
Bartending has always been a great way for people to pick up a little extra gilt.  The Skipper may have needed the money once that ridiculous resort idea crashed due to some unscrupulous financier, a roman a clef televersion of Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken.  (Harold Hecuba’s identical cousin Shifty Shaefer, perhaps?)

ALF
- Somewhere Over the Rerun (1987)

From the IMDb:
ALF dreams being on ‘Gilligan's Island’.
ALF has taken a liking to watching ‘Gilligan's Island’ (1964). He dresses accordingly and has coconut drinks. He's bored at the Tanners' house and takes things one step too far towards ‘Gilligan's Island’ (1964)

O’Bservation:
There is no Zonk! here.  The fate of the people on board the SS Minnow would have made the news and eventually would have led to a TV show about what might have happened to them.  Sure, it would have been cruel to turn it into a farce, but that’s show business.

Growing Pains
- This Is Your Life (1987)
... The Cabbie

From the IMDb:
When Ben is in the taxi, he comments on how much the driver looks like the Skipper on ‘Gilligan's Island’, and notices that the license has the name J. Grumby on it. The cab driver was played by Alan Hale Jr. who played the Skipper, and his character's real name - which was mentioned only in the pilot episode - was Jonas Grumby.

O’Bservation:
The Seaver family lived in Long Island.  But who knows what might have happened in the five years since the Skipper was last seen tending bar in California?

Before we get to the Skippers from alternate Toobworlds, I’d like to hang around Earth Prime-Time a little while longer and delve into the Grumby family tree for a few theories of relateeveety.

McMillan & Wife
- The Fine Art of Staying Alive (1973)
... The Port Captain

O’Bservation:
At this point in the Toobworld timeline, the Skipper was still marooned on the island.  It’s a shame, because a job like this would have been perfect for Jonas Grumby getting back into the swing of things.  I imagine there were plenty of crossoverists who saw this episode before the first TV reunion movie came out who might have thought it was the perfect example of conflation.

But ‘twas not to be.  However, there’s nothing to say that he couldn’t have been the Skipper’s identical cousin… in the more insidious interpretation of that term.

Batman
- The Ogg and I (1967)

From the IMDb:
Alan Hale, Jr. plays the owner/chef of the restaurant Chief O'Hara goes to for lunch. The character's name is 'Gilligan.' Alan Hale, Jr. is best known as The Skipper from "Gilligan's Island," with first mate named Gilligan (played by Bob Denver).  

O’Bservation:
Not only do I think this Gilligan is an “identical cousin” to the Skipper, but I’m going to go all in on the claim that this Gilligan is also related to that Gilligan.

That common ancestor to all three lookalikes either had two or three children who carried that particular DNA combination onwards, or he took the more direct route and dallied with three women himself to spread his seed, making him the father to the Skipper, the Port Captain, and the Bartender.

But if we went with that first option, the common ancestor could go back a few generations, perhaps back to a Toobworldling from the Old West….

The Wild, Wild West
- The Night of the Sabatini Death (1969)
... Ned Brown

O'Bservation:
Ned Brown was a Secret Service agent who spent most of his career behind a desk in Washington and was finally able to get a chance in the field working with Agent James T. West.  When it was over, having sated his desire to see action, Ned planned to take a vacation.  His dream was to travel to a deserted island in the South Pacific.  (Unbeknownst to either Ned or Jim, a snippet of the ‘Gilligan’s Island’ theme began playing at that moment.)

So I’m thinking Ned Brown was the great-grandfather to Jonas Grumby, the San Francisco Port Captain, and the Publican.

But one of his sons or grandsons might have had an affair with Mrs. Gilligan of Gotham City and “donated” a cousin to Willy Gilligan.  (Not that Gilligan ever mentioned this fact to his boss on that pleasure boat.  But surely he had to have noticed the resemblance between the Skipper and his cousin.)

The Fates are strong in Toobworld.  It could be that this desire by Ned Brown to visit a deserted isle was later forced upon his grandson Jonas Grumby.

As I stated earlier, the Skipper had a presence in alternate Toobworlds, making him multidimensional….

TOOBWORLD-TOOBWORLD
[The Land O’ Remakes]

The New Gidget
- Gilligidge Island (1987)
... Captain Hale

O’Bservation:
I have no other information on this episode other than Bob Denver also guest starred as Gilligan.  It could be that this was similar to the appearance in ‘ALF’ – a dream sequence.  If so, that would go far in splainin why his last name was ‘Hale’ and not Grumby.  Dreams always jumble things up.

THE TOONIVERSE

The New Adventures of Gilligan
24 episodes

O’Bservation:
This is basically a continuation of the adventures from the live-action TV show.  I see no reason to think that there was a cartoon version of all of the original series episodes.  I can’t say whether or not the cartoon stories happened to the live-action castaways, however; there could have been storylines even too weird for what happened to them in real life.  (Full disclosure, I’ve never seen it.)

The only difference was that Ginger Grant had white hair.  I see no Zonk! in that.  They were always tripping over weird plants, irradiated meteors, and other items which altered them in some way.  So, this is what happened to Ginger’s tooniversion.

Gilligan's Planet
13 episodes

From the IMDb:
The same passengers that got shipwrecked in the tv series get space-ship-wrecked on distant planet.  

O’Bservation:
As this is considered one of the worst TV shows ever produced (according to the IMDb), and with me not knowing anything about it, I thought I might be able to at least come up with a cool idea to make it interesting to die-hard televisiologists.

Originally I thought it had to be set in the far Future to have them be castaways on an alien planet.  I could have worked with that, calling upon the ‘Futurama’ episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before” as inspiration.

The cloned heads of the stars of ‘Star Trek’ were grafted to robotic bodies and that could have been what happened to the original castaways a thousand years after they all died and before they went off on their tour.  (A three light year tour?)

But now I know better.  The Professor built an actual rocket on that island and they blasted off, eventually landing on that planet.

::sigh::

“Forget it, Jake.  It’s the Tooniverse.”

Yeah.  The Tooniverse is not my bailiwick; I’m the curator for Earth Prime-Time and as far as that is concerned, I think I’ve made the case for how much of the main Toobworld can be connected by Jonas Grumby.

There's one other incarnation of Jonas Grumby which we have to consider - that of the Skipper as seen in the original pilot of 'Gilligan's Island'.

Gilligan's Island
- Marooned (1963/1997)

From the IMDb:The pilot episode that tells the tale of a tiny ship which set off on a three-hour tour but got caught in a storm and beached on an island. The pilot was filmed in November 1963, and not aired until almost 30 years later.  

It can''t be the same Jonas Grumby because three of his passengers were played by other actors;

• John Gabriel - The Professor
• Kit Smythe - Ginger
• Nancy McCarthy - Bunny

As you can see, two of the Castaways are Recastaways, and Bunny was a totally different character from Mary Ann.

So I have an alternate Toobworld for pilot episodes which would go on to have cast changes before the first actual episode.  This dimension also contains failed pilots.  Might as well fill up that Toobworld, you know?

I just need a good name for it....

Here's to you, Skipper.  Welcome to the Hall!

LAST ROUND-UP FOR THE 2019 TV WESTERN SHOWCASE

I gave up regular posting on the weekends for Inner Toob a while ago; your old Curator needs some time off.  But as the last day of August was falling on a Saturday, with of course the first of September on Sunday, I felt I needed to deal with both of them.  Particularly with today being the last day of the annual tradition of the TV Western showcase.
So let me close out the month with this wonderful picture of Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick.  Bart is a member of the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, inducted even before his older brother Bret.

This was originally in black and white, but it was brilliantly and lovingly colorized by my FB friend Sharon Viljoen, one of the two leading experts in Bartology.  (Linda Alexander being the other.  Hi Linda!)
Sharon posted this picture with a note that it is not from any particular ‘Maverick’ episode and in fact, Mr. Kelly never even wore the outfit in any of the episodes of the show.  It's a publicity picture!
So this could serve as inspiration for any TV Western fanficcers out there who want to write about Bret Maverick’s baby brother.  
He’s obviously (to me, at least) on board a riverboat – perhaps the Cynthia B? – and looks rather pleased with Life.  Maybe he’s just concluded a very profitable turn at the tables.
A good fanficcer will probably find a way to leave him on his uppers soon enough!
If you’re so inclined to write about such a situation, have at it!
I hope you enjoyed this month of TV Western posts.  Every year I surprise myself that I find something new to write about, considering the genre has faded from the heights of popularity it once held.  But while it was at the top, there were so many series which I haven’t even covered yet.  And then there’s that sub-plot in “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” which dealt with ‘Lancer’….  I never even got a chance to cover that!  Oh well, there’s always next year… I hope!
Thanks for checking in, Y’all.
Happy Trails!

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS - RANDOLPH AGARN AND HIS DNA

And now for something completely different - we're inducting into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame a TV character's genetic makeup.

From Wikipedia:
Lawrence Samuel Storch (born January 8, 1923) is an American actor, voice actor, and comedian, best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for cartoon shows, such as Mr. Whoopee on ‘Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales’, and his live-action role of the bumbling Corporal Randolph Agarn on ‘F Troop’.  

His most famous role was the scheming Corporal Randolph Agarn on the situation comedy ‘F Troop’ (1965–1967), with Forrest Tucker, Ken Berry and Melody Patterson.

Corporal Randolph Agarn (Larry Storch) – Randolph Agarn is O'Rourke's somewhat dimwitted sidekick and business partner in the shady O'Rourke Enterprises (his name is a play on both Randolph Scott and John Agar who were cowboy stars).

The character Agarn, originally from Passaic, New Jersey, took six years after enlistment to become a lowly corporal. At the time of the series, Agarn has been in the cavalry for 10 years, and has been posted to Fort Courage for the last four, apparently spending the Civil War years at Fort Courage.

He has impersonated Generals George Washington and Ulysses Grant. However, in dual roles, Storch played numerous lookalike relatives of Agarn, including his French-Canadian cousin Lucky Pierre, his Russian cousin Dmitri Agarnoff and his Mexican bandito cousin Pancho Agarnado, known as "El Diablo." (In the same episode he also played Granny Agarn, Uncle Gaylord Agarn of Tallahassee and Pancho's sister Carmen Agarnado). 

Confrontational and often overly-emotional in every respect, Agarn frequently collapses in tears with the phrases "Oh, Cap'n!" or "Oh, Sarge!" (depending on whose chest he buries his head in). To get the men to attention, he barks out his trademark loud and exaggerated (but unintelligible) "Aaaaa-aaahh" command.

Whenever he becomes frustrated by something one of the troopers does wrong (which is often), short-tempered Agarn hits him with his hat which, unlike everyone else's, is white. A hypochondriac, Agarn thinks he's contracted the illnesses he reads or hears about or which others around him have (including a horse).

One running gag during the second season involves Agarn's delayed reactions, which usually ran: Agarn would make a suggestion; O'Rourke would respond: "Agarn, I don't know why everyone says you're so dumb!" At the beginning of the next scene (which could be several hours or days after the original comment), Agarn, suddenly indignant, demands: "Who says I'm dumb?"

Agarn was briefly promoted to Sergeant in the episode "Lieutenant O'Rourke, Front and Center". Larry Storch was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding performance by an actor in a leading role in a comedy series" in 1967.

To be a member of the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, a TV character has to connect three different series.  In the beginning, that meant strictly three actual appearances in those shows.  I expanded that to include references to the character in other shows.  (Batman and Captain Kirk are really good for that.)

Well, I’ve been doing this for twenty years now; I’m getting older.  And basically flirted with death a few times in the last five years.

So I’m not as strict with the TVXOHOF as I once was.  I need to remember this is just a site with which I can have some fun and keep my mind relaxed.  Life literally is too short to get hung up about stuff.

But I’m still excluding the printed word and audio dramas.  Toobworld will always be a visual medium universe.  (But there are times when I admit that certain things in BookWorld or the Audioverse could have happened in Toobworld.  But on the whole it leaves me free to toss aside things that don’t work for my telly vision… like “Oswald Cobblepot” being the real name of the Penguin from Earth Prime-Time.  (The alternate TV dimension of ‘Gotham’ can do as it pleases.)

I did have another character whom I was claiming was Randolph Agarn using an alias, as was often the case in the tall tales of the Old West.  What made this “Game of the Name” tempting is that he was teamed up with another TV character who looked EXACTLY like Agarn’s former sergeant and business partner, Morgan Sylvester O’Rourke….

The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams
- Gold Is Where You Find It (1977)
... Wally 

From the IMDb:
Two inept men with dreams of gold search for it on the mountain, with a map they got for ten dollars. Their efforts upset the calm balance of nature around them, leading Adams and others to try and stop them before real damage is done. 

The real John “Grizzly” Adams died in 1860, and Toobworld has seen the lives of historical figures be altered with regards to their timelines in the past (example: Jules Verne in ‘The Secret Adventures Of Jules Verne’.)  And that’s nothing compared to some of the changes made to historical figures – like Lily Langtry as a vampire in ‘The Kindred’.

But in the end, after watching the episode, I decided it was getting too complicated.  So citing Occam’s razor, I’m going to claim that Wally Tait and Ernie Ketcham (or were they Ernie Tait and Wally Ketcham?) were identical cousins to O’Rourke and Agarn.  It was already established in ‘F Troop’ that the Agarn Family had strong genetics, but in the case of Morgan O’Rourke and Ernie, I think we saw a case of infidelity on the part of Sgt. O’Rourke’s father back in Ireland, 1819.  (The mother of this bastard child must have fled the Emerald Isle in shame and raised young Ernest in America*.) 

One easement to my rules about TVXOHOF was on display last week as I honored the memory of Sir Roger Moore with the induction of Beau Maverick for a theory of relateeveety in which I posited that he was responsible for extended family trees for the Mavericks, the Templars, and the Sinciairs.  And this week we’re continuing that theme with perhaps the greatest example of Toobworld’s strong telegenetics with the induction of Corporal Agarn.

In this case, I think we're inducting Agarn's DNA sequence.  

Anyhoo

As mentioned above, every so often on the sitcom a new member of Agarn’s family would show up at Fort Courage.  And each of them was played by Larry Storch.

LUCKY PIERRE

DMITRI AGARNOFF

PANCHO AGARNADO (“EL DIABLO”)

CARMEN AGARNADO

UNCLE GAYLORD AGARN

GRANNY AGARN

I’ve often written about the power of tele-genetics, that  Toobworld combinations of DNA can repeat several times over down through the generations.  And as we see here, it doesn’t have to be a direct line of descent.  All of these cousins and other relatives had an ancestor who looked like them and that DNA sequence then was passed down through the many branches of the Agarn family tree.

In this particular case, I call the phenomenon of this particular DNA combination “agarnosis”.

But with all of those cousins, they do nothing more to establish Agarn’s eligibility for the Hall than to establish how strong the Agarn DNA chain is.

Based on that, however, I don’t think it’s hard to imagine that any characters portrayed by Larry Storch in later years of the Toobworld Timeline could be descended from Randolph Agarn.

Here are the main Storch characters who are likely to call Randolph Agarn “Great Grandpa”:

Eddie Spencer
‘The Ghostbusters’

Charlie Duffy
‘The Queen And I’

Duke Farentino
‘The Doris Day Show’

Charlie Adamopolis
‘Car 54, Where Are You?’

In my theory of relateeveety, Agarn had gone back to Passaic, New Jersey, and married a girl back home.  And he probably had daughters, perhaps even just one who gave Agarn a lot of granddaughters.  They all married and took their husbands’ names so that’s why we never see any characters from the 1960s to the 1990s who named Agarn. 

But he could have had a son, because there was one of his single-shot characters who could have had the last name of “Agarn”:

The Groovy Guru
‘Get Smart’

So here are just a few more TV characters who could be descended from Randolph Agarn.  First off, since he may have left his wife and brood of daughters in New Jersey while he went back to Fort Courage in Kansas, then it’s more believable that any of Storch’s NYC-based characters are more likely to be descended from Agarn.

McCloud 
Return to the Alamo (1975)
... Parkes

All in the Family
- Oh Say Can You See (1973)
... Bill Mulheron

The Persuaders!
- Angie. Angie 
... Angie

Charlie Duffy of ‘The Queen and I’ and Charlie Adamopolis of ‘Car 54, Where Are You?’ would be included in that New York contingent.  In fact, it could be that the two of them shared not only Randolph Agarn as their great-grandfather, but a man named Charles as their grandfather.  And that might explain why they shared the first name, named after that grandfather in tribute.

Here are some other TV characters of interest who were either descended from Agarn, or from somebody in that family tree.

‘Columbo’
- “Negative Reaction”
Mr. Weekley

The driving examiner is probably one of the most seen of Storch’s characters, because of the popularity and availability of the shaggy detective’s series.  I think he’s one of the Agarn descendants who stands alone without identical cousins or twin brothers.  But even so, he’s considered still to have Agarn as his great-grandfather.

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
- The Mystery of the Silent Scream (1977)
... Jesse Miller

Kolchak: The Night Stalker
- The Vampire (1974)
... Swede

Miller was a nightclub performer in Las Vegas.  Duke Farentino was a prize fighter who became a dance instructor and then an entertainer in San Francisco several years earlier.  I was tempted to conflate them into one character, but decided against it.

However, I think “Jesse Miller” was a stage name; that his last name used to be Grytofsky.  His twin brother is James Grytofsky who used to be a newspaper reporter in Las Vegas.  And he changed his name as well to “James Bright” before taking a job as the anchorman at a TV station in Cincinnati.  But no matter what name he used, everybody called him “Swede”.

Switch
- The Case of the Purloined Case (1976)
... Benny Shore

Like Jesse Miller, Benny Shore was a Las Vegas nightclub comic who went bad and ended up murdering his girlfriend to protect himself.  But I don’t think they can be conflated, just because of the timeline and jail sentences.  But I’m open to the idea of Jesse (and his twin brother Swede) having an identical cousin in Benny.  And by “identical cousin”, I’m thinking of the darker interpretation – that Pops Grytofsky carried on an illicit relationship with Benny’s mother while his own wife was heavy with twins.

The Flying Nun
- The Not So Great Impostor (1969)
... Joe Barnes/Roy Barnes

Barnes could be another one of the “identical cousins” of the Grytofsky boys whose father was biologically the same as Jesse and
James’.

This is an interesting one…..

The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo
- Buttercup, Birdie, and Buried Bucks (1979)
... Pappy Beauregard

Pappy Beauregard….  Sounds familiar, right?  If you’re a fan of ‘Maverick’, it should be.  Had “Beauregard” been Pappy’s first name, I would have a field day with creating a family tree connection to Beauregard “Pappy” Maverick.    

But as it stands, with “Beauregard” as the family name, it’s just a fabulous coincidence.  And it doesn’t invalidate the Agarn genealogical connection.

Phyllis
- Off the Bench (1976)
... Bum 

From the IMDb:
Phyllis's bum friend Van has a crush on a higher class woman, Lucille. Phyllis tries to clean him up to make him into a more presentable gentleman.

CPO Sharkey
- A Wino Is Loose (1977)
... The Bum

From the IMDb:
When a homeless drunk enters the barracks and makes himself at home, Sharkey is livid. And nothing that the men do dislodges the man from his comfy quarters. 

Neither of these two bums were given names in the episode, so I’m going to claim that they are not only the same man, spending time in San Francisco before traveling down the coast to San Diego, but also that he’s actually Charlie Adamopolis who used to haunt the 53rd Precinct in the Bronx.

As such not only am I considering Charlie for the Agarn family tree, but he’ll also be a Friday Hall of Famer in January of 2020 when we celebrate the Classics.

Randolph Agarn wasn’t the only member of the family who had a descendant in modern times:

Phyl & Mikhy
- The Seduction of Mikhail Orlov (1980)
... Ivan

Being from behind the Soviet Iron Curtain, it’s O’Bvious to me that he must be descended from Dmitri Agarnoff.  I wouldn’t be surprised if that was his last name as well.  (But I could be wrong.  I usally am.)

Finally….

I Dream of Jeannie
- Fly Me to the Moon (1967)
... Sam

How strong was Agarn’s DNA sequence?  It’s possible that it exists even in a different evolutionary branch, as Jeannie was able to transform Sam, a NASA chimp, into a human who looked just like Agarn.  Those who do magic in Toobworld can’t just summon results out of thin air; they have to have something to work with.  So the basic building blocks were there and probably within the genetic makeup of Sam’s chimp ancestors since the original divergence.

Just sayin’ is all…..

I just thought of another possibility - Larry Storch played himself in an episode of 'Married... with Children'.  So the televersion of Mr. Storch could even be related to Randolph Agarn!

As of 1919, Randolph Agarn was still alive, born a century before Larry Storch.  Here's to them both having many more years to come!

At any rate, welcome to the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, Corporal Agarn.  I don’t why people think you’re not worthy……

Happy Trails!

O’Bservation:
* It’s pozz’ble, just pozz’ble, that Ernie was named after his father, even if he didn’t marry Ernie’s mother.  Therefore, Mr. O’Rourke’s given name could have been Ernest.  But I’ll have to watch that episode to make sure.