ZONKS: MIAMI, VIA TAMPA

Media focus has been on Miami the last two weeks with the Super Bowl, and now that the Saints have won and taken the trophy back to New Orleans - site of the future HBO series 'Treme' - it's FINALLY time for Toobworld to address a Miami zonk from last year......

Back in May of 2009, CBS began showing a logo for 'CSI: Miami' in its promotional materials that displayed the city skyline with palm tree bookends. And one particular building jammed up against the title of the show.

Unfortunately, the imagery wasn't of Miami; but of Tampa.

I suppose I could have gone into a long-winded and probably boring - if it isn't already! - splainin about how the tele-Miami would look different from that of the real world. After all, there are plenty of buildings in the televersion of New York City that don't exist in the Big Apple I know. (Especially since a lot of shows supposedly set in NYC are often filmed in other cities like Vancouver.)

But instead I'm just going to invoke the same rule I use with the credits - this logo just doesn't apply to Toobworld. It's something only the audience viewing at home would have seen, and I'm fairly certain that unless you lived in Miami or Tampa, or at best, Florida in general, you had no clue there was something wrong with the image anyway.

Now, if they ever showed Horatio Caine whipping off his sunglasses in front of that building, then they better have established that he was visiting Tampa. Otherwise, then we would have to make the claim that the same architect got paid twice for designing the same building in two different cities.

Actually, that wouldn't be so odd in Toobworld. Eventually I'll have a post ready about how the same design for a mansion must have been used at least twenty times in the Los Angeles area - considering how many times it shows up in episodes of 'Burke's Law'..... BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: OLIVER NORTH

'Saturday Night Live' spoofed Oliver North this past weekend, and it wasn't the first time that the formerly convicted felon was lampooned on the show....

OLIVER NORTH

AS PLAYED BY:
Will Forte
AS PLAYED BY:
William Shatner

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'
From Wikipedia:
Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is a retired United States Marine Corps officer best known for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Currently, he is a political commentator, host of 'War Stories with Oliver North' on Fox News Channel, and a New York Times best-selling author. His latest book, "American Heroes", offers a first-hand account of his extensive coverage of U.S. military units engaged in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Philippines. He is a 1968 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and was a career officer in the Marine Corps, retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel after twenty-two years of service.

North was at the center of national attention during the Iran-Contra affair, a political scandal of the late 1980s. North was a National Security Council member involved in the clandestine sale of weapons to Iran, which served to encourage the release of U.S. hostages from Lebanon. North formulated the second part of the plan: diverting proceeds from the arms sales to support the Contra rebel group in Nicaragua. North was charged with several felonies and convicted of three, but the convictions were later vacated, and the underlying charges dismissed due to the limited immunity agreement granted for his pre-trial public Congressional testimony about the affair.

Two for Tuesday!

BCnU!

ZONKS OVER EGIE

At one point during his overview of the series 'East Side/West Side', my blogging buddy Ivan Shreve said:

Allan Rich plays the lawyer assigned to the boyfriend (and Brock joshingly calls him “E.G.” at one point, which should set off a few alarms at Tubeworld.)
First off, my thanks to Ivan for the plug. You'll find the link to his site "Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear" there to the right in my blog-roll.....

As for the mention of "EG", Allan Rich's character was a lawyer named Mellon, but the "EG" had to be an in-joke reference to EG Marshall who was the star of 'The Defenders' at the time.

I know Ivan didn't mean for it to be a challenge, but of course I can't just let it go for the TV in-joke that it was meant to be. No, I have to figure out why Brock would call him that when 'The Defenders' should be sharing the same TV dimension as 'East Side/West Side'. Because of that, we can't just let it go as a TV reference.

'The Defenders' has caused Toobworld Central problems in the past. There's the original pilot, 'The Defender', which was shown on 'Studio One' with a different cast: Ralph Bellamy and William Shatner as the Prestons, who would be portrayed by EG Marshall and Robert Reed in the actual series. Scenes from that pilot would be used in a 2007 episode of 'Boston Legal' to stand in for flashback scenes about Denny Crane (also played by William Shatner) and his father.

With that original pilot, Toobworld Central decided to shuffle it off to an alternate TV dimension and let the series stand as the official version in Earth Prime-Time. So it was okay to use the clips in the main Toobworld as background for Denny Crane's life.

It was use of the clips from the TV series in an episode of 'Mad Men' that caused a bigger Zonk.

Here's what TV.com had to say about that episode, "The Benefactor":

The title of this episode ("The Benefactor") is also the title of the controversial episode of 'The Defenders' which Harry tries (unsuccessfully) to get the Belle Jolie cosmetics company to sponsor. The episode of 'The Defenders', which discussed the issue of abortion, aired on CBS on April 28, 1962. It was so controversial at the time that none of the regular sponsors for the series would advertise during its broadcast.

(Collin Wilcox was the guest star of that episode; she passed away last year.....)

I wrote about that Zonky situation already, and I'm still on the fence on how to handle the place of 'Mad Men' in the Great Link of Toobworld. I may have to place it in the same dimension as shows like 'The Larry Sanders Show' and 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' because of all the references to real TV shows. But I'd really hate to lose such an elegant piece of television programming in the main Toobworld. At any rate, 'The Defenders' has reared its head once more as a potential Zonk threat. Only this time, it may be a lot easier to splain our way out of it.

If that's all that was said on the matter - that Brock called Mellon "EG" - then there is no obvious reference to 'The Defenders' within the reality of Toobworld. I have faith in the writers of 'East Side/West Side' that they respected the intelligence of their audience and so wouldn't feel the need to beat them over the head with a splainin of the reference. You hardly get that type of respect from the TV writers of today. They go overboard with the details to make sure the audience gets it.

I've only seen one episode of 'East Side/West Side' and it wasn't this one, "Age Of Consent". So I don't know if we ever learned the full name of the lawyer Mellon. If not, then this splainin is over and done with now - Brock called Mellon "EG" because those were the initials of his first and middle name. Failing that, perhaps it was just some odd nickname. Maybe on paper, Mellon would write out that nickname as "Egie".

Egie Mellon. Has a nice ring to it.....

For the time being, I'm going to stick with that as the splainin, citing Occam's Razor: the simplest explanation tends to be the best one. Or the simplest splainin, when it comes to matters of Toobworld....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: TEMPLE GRANDIN

HBO is now showing a TV movie based on the life of Temple Grandin..... AS SEEN IN:
"Temple Grandin"

AS PLAYED BY:
Claire Danes

From Wikipedia:
Temple Grandin (born August 29, 1947) is a Doctor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, bestselling author, and consultant to the livestock industry in animal behavior. As a person with high-functioning autism, Grandin is also widely noted for her work in autism advocacy and is the inventor of the Hug machine designed to calm hypersensitive persons.
[Claire Danes is seen here with the real Temple Grandin, not something that happens often with our ASOTV subjects.....]

BCnU!

TAKING A HEADER.....

If you find the time, can you add a comment here, and let me know if the new Inner Toob header looks centered from your point of view? Hopefully the new template isn't too jarring either......

Thanks!

WE ARE EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES; PLEASE STAY TUNED...

I'm trying out a new template from work. I'll have to wait until I get home to fix the header.......

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME TOOB-BALL?

For Super Bowl Sunday, here's a list of pro football teams that can be found in the TV Universe. (I've also included a few teams from the Tooniverse as well.)

Some of these teams, like the Metropolis Sharks, will be found in alternate TV dimensions. Others which share the same team name - and that would be the "Cougars" - may have moved around in the league between their appearances on other shows.

California Wildcats - 'Monk'

Los Angeles Cougars - 'The Incredible Hulk'
Dayton Cougars - '1st & Ten'
Cougars - 'Playmakers'
(In 'Playmakers', the Cougars could have been the second team from Toronto, after the Mustangs of '1st & Ten'. This is because of the use of Toronto locales, including the stadium, during filming. Based on the series timelines, the Cougars would have moved from Los Angeles to Dayton to Toronto.)

London Jets - 'Red Dwarf'

New Jersey Blazers - 'Magnum P.I.'

Pittsburgh Ironmen - 'Queer as Folk'

San Diego Sabres - 'The Game'

San Francisco Condors - 'Monk'

Seattle Cobras - 'iCarly' (I may be wrong on this one; it could be a high school team.)

Texas Angels - 'The A-Team'

Los Angeles Mighty Bucks - 'Coach'

Orlando Breakers - 'Coach'

London Royals - 'Earth: Final Conflict'

Los Angeles Quakes - 'Earth: Final Conflict'

Metropolis Sharks - 'Smallville'

Leopards - 'Murder, She Wrote'
(No city affiliation given. Looks to be in California or American Southwest.)

San Francisco Hawks - 'McMillan & Wife'
(I wrote about them in the past - they probably became the Condors from that 'Monk' episode.....)

California Bulls - '1st & Ten'

Chicago Huskies - '1st & Ten'

Houston Stallions - '1st & Ten'

Houston Riggers - '1st & Ten'

Phoenix Warriors - '1st & Ten'

Toronto Mustangs - '1st & Ten'

Other cities were mentioned on '1st & Ten' as having teams, but they were not identified by nickname. These include Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Miami. We can make the theoretical link that the Pittsburgh team was the Ironmen from 'Queer As Folk'.

FROM THE TOONIVERSE
London Silly Nannies - 'Family Guy'

South Park Cows - 'South Park'

Boston Colonials - 'Batman: The Animated Series'

Shelbyville Sharks - 'The Simpsons'

Springfield Atoms - 'The Simpsons'

Springfield Meltdowns - 'The Simpsons'

As for this year's Super Bowl, I have no vested interest in either team. I'll be recording it for the blipverts!

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: VINCE LOMBARDI

It's Super Bowl Sunday!

VINCE LOMBARDI

AS SEEN IN:
"Code Breakers"

AS PLAYED BY:
Richard Zeppieri

From Wikipedia:
Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football coach.

Lombardi played football at St. Francis Preparatory School, and later Fordham University. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at St. Cecilia, a Catholic high school in Englewood, New Jersey. In 1942, he became the head coach at St. Cecilia. He left for Fordham in 1947 to coach freshman football and freshman basketball, and later became an assistant coach for the varsity football team. Lombardi went on to become an offensive line coach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for five years under Colonel Red Blaik.

He became the offensive coordinator for the New York Giants in 1954 under Jim Lee Howell. Lombardi, along with defensive coordinator Tom Landry, helped coach the Giants to a league championship in 1956. Lombardi was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League from 1959-67, winning five league championships during his nine years. Following a one-year retirement from coaching in 1968, he returned as head coach of the Washington Redskins for the 1969 season.

Lombardi's record in the post-season was 9–1, the loss coming in the first of those games, the 1960 NFL Championship Game.

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD: IAN CARMICHAEL

Ian Carmichael has passed away at the age of 89. His work on stage and in the movies was mostly in light comedies, with his best known film probably being "I'm All Right, Jack" with Peter Sellers and Terry-Thomas.

But for the TV Universe, he endeared himself over here in America with his portrayal of Dorothy L. Sayers' detective Lord Peter Wimsey. And he was playing Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster long before Hugh Laurie did. (Laurie's version must thus be relegated to the remakes dimension, as would Edward Petherbridge's portrayal of Lord Wimsey.)

Both Wooster and Wimsey play roles in the Wold Newton Universe; and although Toobworld isn't associated with those research endeavors, at least in the TV Universe we might make the claim that the two men could be related due to their similarity in appearance.

Here's a sampling of Lord Peter Wimsey putting his deductive powers to work. I believe this is from "The Unpleasantness At The Belladonna Club"......



Good night, Mr. Carmichael, and may God bless.

BCnU.....

THE DANNY THOMAS SPECIAL

"Danny Thomas?
WHAT is a Danny Thomas?"
Kolac
'The Dick Van Dyke Show'

I always like finding TV characters reading actual magazines from the real world because it helps lock in the time period for that episode. (Unless of course the scene takes place in the dentist's office - who knows how long those magazines have been there?)

Anyway, I was watching an old episode of 'Make Room For Daddy' and there was Danny Williams reading "Look" magazine, so I sprang into action. ("Sprang" being a matter of perspective for one so sedentary.)

Learning first that "The Visiting Englishman" was broadcast in 1953, I googled for 1953 "Look" covers. (What also helped in the search of course was the subject of the cover. Who couldn't recognize Marilyn Monroe?)

So it turned out to be easy enough to find, but that's when the real Toobworld fun began.

Check out the cover: One of the other stories in that issue was a profile of Danny Thomas, the comic who plays Danny Williams.

This is a classic in-joke that I'll be sending along to David Bianculli, who collects them. But for the televisiology of Toobworld, it's something more.

As with a lot of real life actors, we know their televersions exist in Toobworld alongside the characters they play. Their appearances on talk shows and game shows guarantee that. (Although we don't like to rely on those for Toobworld purposes unless the game show or talk show figures into a fictional plot. Like when George Wendt and Corbin Bernsen did the 'Tonight' show on an episode of 'Seinfeld', or when Betty White and Allen Ludden played 'Password' with 'The Odd Couple'.) We know that Danny Thomas has a bona-fide televersion without the crutch of game shows and talk shows (despite my fondness for his final appearance on the 'Tonight' show, doing the spit take with fellow guest Macauley Culkin), because of his appearances as himself in several shows:

"That Girl"
- Those Friars (1971)

"The Lucy Show"
- Lucy Helps Danny Thomas (1965)

"The Joey Bishop Show"
- Weekend in the Mountains (1964)

"The Jack Benny Program"
- Jack Goes to Nightclub (1959)
- Johnnie Ray Show (1953)
In "It May Look Like A Walnut!", an episode of 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', Danny Thomas appeared in Rob Petrie's dream as Kolac, leader of the Twiloites. Everyone remarked on the similarity of appearance between Kolac and Danny Thomas, so even Rob's sub-conscious acknowledged that Danny Thomas existed in the TV Universe.

Sometimes the TV characters got to meet the actors who played them: Mork and Robin Williams, Moesha and Brandy Norwood, and Lucille Carter and Lucille Ball. But in this case, Danny Williams only got to read about Danny Thomas. (He was probably checking out the competition. After all, how many big-nosed Lebanese comics named Danny were playing the clubs at that time?)

BCnU!

PS:
I started writing up this piece because I stumbled on a cache of 'Make Room For Daddy' episodes at VintageTV4U. It wasn't until I was finishing it up on Friday morning that I found out that today, February 6, marks the 19th anniversary of his death.

So in the end, this became a Hat Squad memorial to a very funny and a very good man......