ROBERT CULP SOUNDS OFF

It's not what you think.....

This is an oddity preserved by The Museum of Classic Chicago Television: a scene from a TV special presentation, "Give Me Liberty", with Robert Culp as John Freeborn and also with Richard Kiley. For most of the excerpt, you hear nothing but that irritating hum and then two different announcers alerting viewers that they are experiencing technical difficulties. Only at the very end do you hear anyone speak, and that's Kiley's character, not Culp's.

[It looks like the embed code won't work. So you'll have to click over to the site to see it.]

Apparently, this was the first of several proposed specials in which Culp's character of John Freeborn would be present at pivotal moments in the growth of America. This one was about the settlers in the Eastern region of the country, leading up to the Revolution. The next one had Burgess Meredith as Culp's co-star, "Land Of The Free". I don't think the rest of the series was ever filmed.

I'd like to see more of these productions, so I've added them to my museum trip list. Not that I'll probably ever find the screen captures, but there are at least two viable candidates for the "As Seen On TV" showcase: Paul Revere (John Chappell) in the first and Andrew Jackson (Jeff Corey) in the second one.

As it seems nearly a century passes in the proposed series of specials, I'm wondering if John Freeborn, was - like Trent in the "Demon With A Glass Hand" episode of 'The Outer Limits' - an Eternal Man.

Hrmmmmmm..... One might even have a bit of fun in suggesting that Trent used time travel to go back to the 1770s to avoid the Kyben. (After having found a way to disguise his glass hand to look like a real hand, of course.....)

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: A PAIR OF BIRTHDAY BOYS

Today is my brother Bill's birthday. And to celebrate, here are two historical figures - As Seen On TV, of course! - who share his birthday.

SEAN O'CASEY
[March 30, 1880]

AS SEEN IN:
'The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'

AS PLAYED BY:
John Lynch

From Wikipedia:
Seán O'Casey (Irish: Seán Ó Cathasaigh, born John Casey) (30 March 1880 in Dublin, Ireland; 18 September 1964 in Torquay, England) was a major Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes.

McGEORGE BUNDY

[March 30, 1919]

AS SEEN IN:
"The Missiles Of October"

AS PLAYED BY:
James Olsen

From Wikipedia:
McGeorge "Mac" Bundy (March 30, 1919 – September 16, 1996) was United States National Security Advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson from 1961 through 1966, and president of the Ford Foundation from 1966 through 1979. He is known primarily for his role in escalating the involvement of the United States in Vietnam during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.

Happy Birthday, Brothermine!

Two for Tuesday!

BCnU!

TRACKING REDJAC: HIRED POWER

For the last two weeks, the "Wilhelm Scream" has not been heard in the show 'Human Target'. This is a shame since we'd have had "sightings" in Washington D.C. and in Brussels.

As Toobworld Central theorized a month ago, when the Wilhelm Scream is heard in a TV program, it could be signaling the escape of the alien entity known as Redjac from the body of a dying man. But the opportunity hasn't presented itself since Chance and his crew were down in South America.

There were a couple of other theories tossed out there about the relationship between Chance and Redjac - how was it that Chance always seemed to be there when the Wilhelm Scream was heard? One theory was that Redjac used Chance either as a carrier or was just tagging along until it found its next victim.

It could be that as far as Chance is concerned, everything is left up to exactly that: chance.

Coincidence.

But there might be a higher power at work here.....

It's been established in Toobworld that God works in mysterious ways and through agents - like Jonathan Smith on the 'Highway To Heaven'. Or people have their lives changed when they are 'Touched By An Angel'. Eventually Dr. Sam Beckett learned that he was acting on behalf of a higher power every time he made a 'Quantum Leap' and changed somebody's life.

Many of those being used for God's work in Toobworld don't even know they are. So it could be that Chance doesn't even realize that he's being guided all the time to wherever Redjac has taken up its latest victim. And then Chance unwittingly finds a way to destroy its host so that it has to move on.

No idea where it could be now, but the Caretaker of Toobworld is patient. The little sucker will show itself again soon enough....

Suddenly I feel like running my fingernails down a chalkboard......

BCnU!

WHAT? NO CORINTHIAN LEATHER?

SHHHHHH!

Here's a sneak peek at the new TARDIS interior!

BCnU!

GOING TO THE MOVIES IN SKITLANDIA

While jumping around the web on various Toobworld searches, I found this entry at Film Babble:

10 Movie Characters Revived Via 'Saturday Night Live'

Check it out!

BCnU......

SETTING THE SCENE - HELP THE TOOBSTER!

Okay, I'm throwing this out there to my discerning visitors.....

In "Demon With A Glass Hand", my favorite episode of 'The Outer Limits' which starred Robert Culp as Trent, I want to know where the episode was supposed to be taking place. The interiors of the building are O'Bviously that of the Bradbury Building in Los Angeles. But then this is the opening shot:
One of my co-workers is convinced that it's definitely Times Square. But even though we work just around the corner, it doesn't feel right to me.

If it is Times Square, Toobworld has no problem with an L.A. building in NYC. It just means that there was a replica of the Bradbury Building constructed in Manhattan. Look how many mansions in 'Burke's Law' were exact duplicates of each other. And then there's that white modernistic home in so many episodes of 'Poirot' (and even in one of the 'Marple' mysteries.)

Am I wrong? Let me know what you think.....

BCnU!

REMEMBERING ROBERT CULP: A TRACKDOWN EPISODE

We usually celebrate the TV Western in July and August, but with the passing of Robert Culp, I thought it might be nice to show you an episode of 'Trackdown'. This featured his first major TV character, Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman, who'll soon be joining the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

As an added treat, the guest star and villain of the piece is played by DeForest Kelley, who was making a name for himself in many a Western before he finally found his true calling in outer space - as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy on 'Star Trek'.

Hope you enjoy this....







BCnU!

"BIG BANG THEORY" - A VERY PRECIOUS EPISODE

On a recent episode of 'The Big Bang Theory', the four geeks/nerds/whatevers picked up a big box o' crap from some shop that was going out of business. Looking through their treasure trove, they found what they believed to be the one last remaining prop ring from the movie version of "The Lord Of The Rings".* As you might expect from Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj, they fought over the "One Ring" to the point where it almost destroyed their friendships.

Such a fixation on Tolkien's fantasy masterwork is not a problem for Toobworld as far as Zonks go. The books and the movies both exist in Earth Prime-Time, but the characters do not.

However, they do exist in The Tooniverse with adaptations of "The Hobbit" and "Return Of The King". And over in Skitlandia, Gollum and Frodo have their own sitcom , thanks to a sketch on 'Saturday Night Live' when Elijah Wood hosted the show.
So to the Zonks I say, "Thou shall not pass!"

BCnU!

*What could be troubling was the ALF doll and the Mr. Spock action figure with Mr. T's head on it. But these have been splained away in the past......

AS SEEN ON TV: GENERAL HOWE

GENERAL WILLIAM HOWE

AS SEEN IN:
'The Rebels'

AS PLAYED BY:
Wilfred Hyde White

From Wikipedia:
William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB, PC (August 10, 1729 – July 12, 1814) was a British army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the American War of Independence. Howe was one of three brothers who enjoyed distinguished military careers.

Having joined the army in 1746 Howe saw extensive service in the War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War. He became known for his role in the capture of Quebec in 1759 when he led a British force to capture the cliffs at Anse-au-Foulon, allowing James Wolfe to land his army and engage the French. Howe also participated in the campaigns to take Louisbourg, Belle Île and Havana.

In 1775 Howe arrived in Boston to take command of British forces from Thomas Gage. Howe's record in the War of Independence was marked by the costly victorious assault on Breed's Hill known as the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the successful capture of both New York City and Philadelphia (the latter of which would have significant strategic implications).

He was knighted after his successes in 1775 and was henceforth Sir William, inheriting the Viscountcy of Howe upon the death of his brother Richard in 1799.

BCnU!

EMMA/KELLY: I SPY THE AVENGERS

In 1970, 'ITV Saturday Night Theatre' presented a play written by John Mortimer (the creator of 'Rumpole') entitled "Married Alive". Diana Rigg played a woman whose life is disrupted by the arrival of a man known only as "The Colonel". The Colonel inserts himself into her life claiming that he's her long-lost husband.

"Married Alive" was later shown on NBC. I'm hoping that a copy of the tele-play is available for viewing at the Paley Center for Media. If so, I'm going down this week to watch it. (Have to go anyway to renew my membership.)

I didn't bother looking for actual screen grabs from the production of "Married Alive", because that wouldn't have triggered my Tooby sense. On the other hand, this publicity photo did the trick: A picture from the actual production couldn't be used to inspire Toobworld fanfic, as it was already set in stone in the TV Universe as being of Liz Jardine and the Colonel. But a publicity picture is outside the realm of Earth Prime-Time, so it could be used to showcase two other characters played by Dame Diana Rigg and the late Robert Culp.

I think everybody knows where I'm going with this. I'm throwing this out there to anybody who writes 'I Spy' or 'The Avengers' fan fiction as being a picture of Mrs. Emma Peel and Kelly Robinson on some spy operation which we never saw depicted on our TV screens.

Hopefully, I haven't stoked the flames for slash-fic writers. An adventure involving the talented amateur and the intrepid tennis ace should be a classy one, very proper, but especially light-hearted. There should be nothing unseemly or squalid about the story - especially since Mrs. Peel knew in her heart that her husband Peter would one day return. (And eventually he did - after being lost in the Amazon jungle, Peter Peel was rescued and returned to England. He and Emma were reunited and she left the service of British intelligence.)

Had it been Tara King with Kelly Robinson, then all bets are off.

So have it, fanficcers! If you do write up a story teaming Emma Peel with Kelly Robinson, feel free to steal the picture. I did.

And make sure you let me know your work is out there so I can take a gander at it.... BCnU!