AS SEEN ON TV: CAGE TYLER

CAGE TYLER

AS SEEN IN:

'Further Tales Of The City'

CREATED BY:

Armistead Maupin

PORTRAYED BY:

John Robinson

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

Cage Tyler, the movie star with whom Michael has a brief fling, is based on Rock Hudson, who was a friend and lover of Maupin's. In the novel, the character was not named, but was represented by underscores (e.g. ____ ____) wherever his name would have appeared.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

In a scene shot later in the day, Mary Ann sends Michael off to an all-male Hollywood party hosted by Cage Tyler, a famous closeted actor whom Michael has met through a mutual friend.

"If I'm not back in three days, send in the (Royal) Canadian Mounted Police," Michael shouts to her.

"Just what you need: more men," Mary Ann teases him.

Watching this exchange, Maupin, co-writer on the miniseries (with James Lecesne), admits to getting "an eerie deja vu feeling." In the '70s, he attended parties given by Rock Hudson, on whom Cage is affectionately based. His name reflects the studly monikers, such as Rock, Tab and Troy, that Hollywood used to give actors. Michael — who as followers of "Tales" know is Maupin's alter ego — is destined to have a fling with Cage, much as Maupin says he had with Hudson. "It was just sex. It was playtime."

A FAILURE IN BED
His first time with Cage, Michael is a complete failure in bed. "This grew directly out of my own experience," Maupin says. "I was so thoroughly intimidated by being with Rock Hudson.

A gaffer (sic) rigged lights and diffusers for scenes to be shot on Macondray Lane, which author Armistead Maupin called Barbary Lane in "Tales of the City."

"Rock was so generous. He basically said, 'It's OK. It happens all the time.' Then he went downstairs, got a plate of lasagna for me and brought it back to bed." All of this makes it onto the show.

This character was chosen to mark World AIDS Day.....

BCnU!

"HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER" - THE END(?)

I've made my position known before about the final scene in 'How I Met Your Mother': After the death of his wife, Ted Mosby works through his grief by telling this long convoluted story to his kids.

But somebody else has an idea how it should end:

THE TELE-FOLKS DIRECTORY: NAMING NAMES

This is only how I feel, but I believe that no matter how well-written a tale of fantasy and how well-realized its world, it could fall apart if the author has a bad facility for the coining of names. (This is a topic I've been passionate about since reading Lin Carter's take on the subject.)

The world of Earth Prime-Time is a fantasy realm in teh sam way that Lankhmar and Middle-Earth are. (My two favorites!) And it is home to a world of fantastical people - witches, genies, Martians, time travelers, ghosts, warriors, princesses, talking horses, and Jerry Mathers as the Beaver.

So as a fantasy realm, Earth Prime-Time should have names to match.

Unfortunately, a lot of character names are drab, mundane names - but then most of the people of Toobworld are ordinary folk.

Still, names like Tim Taylor, Mary Richards, Lou Grant, Michael Scott....?

But there are those that are graced with a touch of brilliance - Napoleon Solo, Illya Kuryakin, Miguelito Quixote Loveless, Horatio Caine, Artemus Gordon, James Tiberius Kirk and Woodrow Tiberius Boyd.

My all-time favorite coined name from television has long been Pinky Likewise from an episode of 'Burke's Law'. And although it doesn't come close to disturbing Ms. Likewise's chosen spot, I've found a new name in classic TV that swings for the fences when it comes to its fantasy pedigree:

Pontifex Tundifer!

(He was an old man in San Francisco whose nephew plotted to kill him.)

Doesn't "Pontifex Tundifer" sound like the name of a wizard? (Coincidentally, the actor who played Pontifex - Vaughn Taylor - played a wizard, a "witch-man" of the Orson Scott Card "Seventh Son" variety, in an episode of 'The Twilight Zone'.)

That episode of 'Thriller' had a lot of other distinctive names - Miles Tundifer, Queenie De Lyte, Mr. Passasstory - but it would be hard to top Pontifex Tundifer!

SHOWS CITED:

• 'Home Improvement'
• 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'
• 'Leave It To Beaver'
• 'Lou Grant'
• 'The Office'
• 'CSI: Miami'
• 'Cheers'
• 'Star Trek'
• 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'
• 'The Wild Wild West'
• 'Thriller' - "Cousin Tundifer"
• 'The Twilight Zone' - "Still Valley"
• 'Burke's Law' - "Who Killed Merlin The Great"

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: TEAGUE THE WITCH-MAN

TEAGUE

AS SEEN IN:

'The Twilight Zone'

"Still Valley"

CREATED BY:

Manly Wade Wellman

("The Valley Was Still" - short story)

PORTRAYED BY:

Vaughn Taylor

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

"Still Valley" is an episode of the American television anthology series 'The Twilight Zone'.

Set during the American Civil War, the episode opens with two Confederate soldiers. They have been assigned to scout on the Union army that is marching into the valley below. Sergeant Joseph Paradine hears the army approaching, but suddenly the sound stops. He decides to descend into the valley to see the cause for himself. His companion refuses to come.

When Paradine gets into town, he finds the army there, but all of them are motionless, as if frozen in time. He tries unsuccessfully to wake them. Finally he comes across an old man named Teague, who is unaffected by the strange phenomenon. Teague claims to be a "witchman" and says he used a magic spell to freeze the soldiers. Paradine does not believe him, so Teague casts the spell on Paradine, freezing him.

When Teague lifts the spell on Paradine, he brags that he could stop the entire army in this manner, ensuring the success of the Confederacy. Paradine asks why he doesn't, and Teague replies that he is dying. He gives his book of spells (entitled Witchcraft) to Paradine, encouraging him to use it, but when Paradine looks in it, he realizes that using this magic requires one to align himself with Satan.

Teague dies, and Paradine returns to camp to tell his superior about what happened. The superior doesn't believe him and encourages him to get some rest. When another scout returns with the same story, the superior realizes Paradine is telling the truth. Paradine relates the story about the old man, the spell book, and making a deal with the devil. The superior officer decides that the devil is the only one who can help them and encourages Paradine to read from the book.

In the original story the spell is broken when the book is burned.

This is a great example for the argument that Earth Prime-Time is a fantasy realm.  Wellman may have been the leading scribe in Americana fantasy....

BCnU!

SUPER SIX LIST: NOT FROM BOOK-WORLD

All this year, the "As Seen On TV" showcase has featured TV characters who originated in BookWorld. But there are certain characters who appear in those book-sourced TV shows who never appeared in the books. So they don't have the basic literary origin that their comrades share.

Here's a Super Six List of my favorites:

SUPER SIX LIST

TV CHARACTERS WHO CAN'T BE FOUND 

IN THEIR LITERARY SOURCE

1] COLONEL SHERMAN POTTER

When Maclean Stevenson wanted to leave 'M*A*S*H' again to try his luck at headlining his own show, the producers decided to kill off his character Colonel Henry Blake. Instead of recasting the role or bringing in a clone of Henry's, they decided to go in a different direction. They came up with a crusty, ornery Army career doctor who had been serving since the first World War.

2] PAUL DRAKE, JR.

From Wikipedia:

Paul Drake, Jr. is Paul Drake's son (also a private investigator), played by William Katt in nine of the 'Perry Mason' TV Movies.

Paul Drake, Jr. is the fictional son of Paul Drake, Erle Stanley Gardner's detective extraordinaire. With the death of William Hopper who played Paul Drake in the original television series, the producers of the new 'Perry Mason' movies decided to continue the name even though there is no evidence that Paul ever married, let alone had a son. William Katt was Raymond Burr's choice to play Paul Junior. and of course Barbara Hale agreed since he is her son.

3] JESSICA HAMBY

From the 'True Blood' wikia:

Jessica Hamby is a major character in the second, third, fourth, and fifth seasons of 'True Blood'. She initially appeared as a recurring character in the first season. She is played by starring cast member Deborah Ann Woll. Jessica (born 1991, turned 2008) is a young vampire and the progeny of Bill Compton. She was turned as decreed by the Magister, in reparation for Bill's murder of Longshadow, a fellow vampire.

Jessica does not appear in any of the books by Charlaine Harris which are the basis for the 'True Blood' TV series. Jessica is an entirely new character created by Alan Ball. She was used to showcase in detail what a newborn vampire is like. She seems to be the replacement for Bubba since his character is not allowed due to legal issues with the Presley estate.

Jessica is one of six original main characters who did not appear in any form in Charlaine Harris' books. The other five main characters not present in the books are Tommy Mickens, Jesus Velasquez, Salome Agrippa, Roman Zimojic and Nora Gainesborough.

4] DOCTOR JOHN POLIDORI

From Wikipedia:

The character of Dr Polidori, who did not appear in the original novel, was based on the character of Dr. Pretorius from Universal Pictures' "Bride of Frankenstein", but named after the real-life John Polidori, an acquaintance of author Mary Shelley who was part of the competition that produced her novel. Polidori's own contribution was the first modern vampire story "The Vampyre" (1819).

5] ROS

From the 'Game Of Thrones' wikia:
Ros does not appear in the books and is the first character created specifically for the show. However, some fans have speculated that her role is based on the "red-headed whore" who appears very briefly in the first novel. This is strengthened by the fact that the actress was originally announced as playing "red-headed whore" and that the character was given a name at George R.R. Martin's suggestion.

Loosely speaking, Ros does stand in for, or act as a condensation of, several different prostitute characters that existed in the books. For example, in the books Cersei does imprison a prostitute that she thinks is Tyrion's lover (although his actual lover is Shae), but it is a different character named Alayaya, the daughter of Chataya, the woman who owns the whorehouse. The entire subplot involving these prostitute characters was cut from the TV series, and Ros functionally assumes this role in the story.

Martin has stated that he intends to work the character into later books in the series, probably as a throwaway cameo just to tie her presence into both the series and books.

6] BRET MAVERICK

With my Super Six Lists, I usually throw a joker into the hand, so who better than the greatest gambler ever in Toobworld?

From Wikipedia:

The first broadcast episode of 'Maverick', "War of the Silver Kings", was based on C. B. Glasscock's "The War of the Copper Kings", which relates the real-life adventures of copper mine speculator F. Augustus Heinze, a copper king who ultimately went to Wall Street. Huggins recalls in his Archive of American Television interview that this Warners-owned property was selected by the studio as the first episode in order to cheat him out of creator residuals.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: HERMAN BOCKWEISS

Eventually I'll get around to putting the spotlight on 'Perry Mason' before the year is over. But in the meantime, here's a different Burr during this winter "brrr!" time......

HERMAN BOCKWEISS

AS SEEN IN:

'Centennial'

CREATED BY:

James Michener

PORTRAYED BY:

Raymond Burr

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

Pasquinel managed to return to St. Louis, then part of the Spanish Empire, with an arrowhead in his spine and without money. An American doctor named Richard Butler introduced him to a wealthy Bavarian-born silversmith named Herman Bockweiss and the latter’s daughter, Lise.

Pasquinel formed a partnership with Bockweiss, who provided him with guns and silver trinkets to trade with the Native Americans and fell in love with Lise. Pasquinel later married Bockweiss's daughter Lise (Sally Kellerman), who was attracted to him even though he kept leaving for long periods in order to trade furs in unknown territory. While Pasquinel loved Lise, his main reason for marrying her was merely to gain the goodwill of her merchant father.

BCnU!

THE "LOST" LIFE OF BUTTON BLAKE?

When I wonder about the lives of TV characters after their shows have ended, the ones who fascinate me the most are the children. So much potential never to be realized on screen. (I would think the Weeping Angels would feast their way through orphanages and day care centers!)

There's Little Ricky ('I Love Lucy'), Will Robinson ('Lost In Space'), Corey Baker ('Julia'), and David & Mary Lou Baxter ('The Mary Tyler Moore Show'). Whatever became of them in Toobworld once they grew up? (I know my blogging buddy Ivan Shreve would love to find out if "Idiot Boy Mike" Jones from 'Mayberry R.F.D.' was a Darwin Award winner!)

With the slow aging process of Martians, would Andromeda, the nephew of 'My Favorite Martian' still be looking like a teenager?

Sometimes we get the chance to see how they turned out - 'The Brady Bunch' keeps coming back, and there have been updates on Mark McCain, Ritchie Petrie, Opie Taylor, Beaver Cleaver, and Anthony Fremont ('The Twilight Zone' - "It's A Good Life").

It's the one-shot performances by child actors as guest stars in TV series that interest me the most, mainly because there's so much potential there for supposition. And with a recent repeat of 'Perry Mason' on Me-TV, I found a great candidate!

"The Case Of The Missing Button" concerned the tug of war between the divorced parents of little Button Blake, who was the heir to a $4 million dollar inheritance from her grandfather. If I recall it correctly, she would gain control of the family pharmaceutical empire when she came of age. Eventually a blackmailer was found murdered and Button's father was arrested for the crime.

The main reason I found Button Blake to be an interesting candidate for such "wish-craft" about her life as a grown-up was her name. "Button" must be a nickname, so her first name could be anything. And if she married once she got older, then she wouldn't have to be known by the last name of "Blake", either. That left a wide-open field of candidates to consider from other TV shows to be Button Blake as a grown-up.

That 'Perry Mason' episode was broadcast in 1964, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's when it took place. Each one hour episode of 'Perry Mason' contained long time spans from the actual murder to the preliminary hearings, so several episodes could conceivably overlap each other.

But if the "Missing Button" episode did take place in 1964, then Button was born in 1960. (She was mentioned as being four years old in the episode.) However, the actress playing the role, Claire Wilcox, was older by five years - making her the same age as I am now. Nevertheless, if I was to consider someone to play Button as a grown-up recastaway, I'd stick with those actresses who were also born in 1960.

I found a lot of candidates - characters played by Jane Lynch, Tracy Pollan, Leslie Hendryx, even Tilda Swinton. But I decided to go with Mary Mara, and not just because she looks as though she could be Button Blake grown up. She has one TV character in her resume who made only two appearances on screen, but who guarantees Ms. Mara a long sideline as a pop culture convention guest.

From Lostpedia, the wikia about 'Lost':

Jill was a butcher who worked in Simon's Butcher Shop in Los Angeles and apparently worked for Ben. She watched Locke's body for Ben while he was out collecting the rest of the Oceanic Six together to return to the Island.

Jill knew about Ben's plan to bring the Oceanic Six back to the Island and confirmed that other elements of the plan were progressing as planned. Ben asked her if Gabriel and Jeffrey had "checked in yet," which Jill confirmed. She made a snide remark about Jack's addiction to pills, and Ben defended Jack, telling her to "cut the man some slack." ("The Lie")

Later, Ben sent Jack to the butcher shop to pick up Locke's body. She addressed him as "Dr. Shephard" and said that she knew who he was. She took him to the shop's cold storage room where the coffin was being kept, then left to get the van for Jack.

Just to have a connection between 'Perry Mason' and 'Lost' makes this suggestion about Jill being Button Blake irresistible. And there's not a lot there in backstory which would create too many Zonks to make this unworkable.

But the main stumbling block is right there in the first sentence - Jill was a butcher. How could the heir to a pharmaceutical fortune of 4 million dollars (in 1964 currency) be "reduced" to being a butcher? (I mean no respect to those in the profession - you put the meat on my table!)

The reason I came up with - someone was needed to take that cover identity among the Others and Jill volunteered. She probably had a more advanced education, perhaps in connection with her family's pharmaceutical background, but Ben's grand design needed someone in Los Angeles with access to a large cold storage area so a cover story as a butcher was necessary.

The four things that made this character appealing as a candidate to be Button Blake grown up were:

1]  Jill was based in Los Angeles, which is where Button Blake was raised.

2]  We never learned in her two episodes what Jill's last name was.

3]  There is a similarity in appearance between Claire Wilcox and Mary Mara.

4]  Her family fortune was based in pharmaceuticals. The Widmore pharmaceutical empire played a key role throughout the events of 'Lost'. In fact, there were theories that Jill might have been also working as a double agent for Charles Widmore. Having that pharmaceutical background gives such a theory a boost.

But in the end, it's the lack of info on Jill's backstory that makes me accept her as Button Blake as an adult.

If you're a fanficcer out there who likes this idea, you're free to run with it.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: EVE CALEIGH

EVE CALEIGH

AS SEEN IN:

"The Secret Of Crickley Hall"

CREATED BY:

James Herbert

PORTRAYED BY:

Suranne Jones

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

"The Secret of Crickley Hall" is a 2006 supernatural, thriller novel by the British author James Herbert.

Eve, Gabe and their children Loren, Cam and Cally, live in London until Cam goes missing. Eve falls asleep for a few seconds at a playground and he disappears. Nearly a year later, Gabe suggests relocating the family to the North, hoping a change of scenery will give Eve some comfort, as they all still cling to the hope that Cam may be alive. When they first arrive at Crickley Hall, they meet Percy Judd who worked there during the war; he seems concerned for their children. 

They start to settle in but before long, strange things start to happen at the house. They hear people; Cally claims to have been hit by a man with a cane; and their dog runs away in terror. In the house Eve hears her missing son’s voice for the first time in a year. He says he is alive and the children can tell her where he is. After Loren suffers a terrifyingly real nightmare where she gets whipped by the man with the cane, Gabe wants them all to leave, but Eve can’t bear to abandon her son.

"The Secret of Crickley Hall" is a BBC television adaptation by Joe Ahearne of the 2006, supernatural, thriller novel of the same name written by the British author James Herbert.

The series presents two parallel dramas. The main storyline, set in 2006, follows the events of the Caleigh family who rent Crickley Hall because Gabe Caleigh (Tom Ellis (actor)) gets a short contract in the area; the other is a series of flashbacks following events in 1943 when orphans – who have been evacuated from London during World War II – are living at Crickley Hall.

BCnU!

CAVORITE IN TOOBWORLD

A BOWL OF CINEMATIC CAVORITE

"The First Men In The Moon" is the original source for the term "cavorite" which was an alloy created by Professor Cavor which could negate the effects of gravity. However, as sometimes happens in the Toobworld Dynamic, its use in the 2010 TV movie based on that novel was not its first mention in the TV Universe.

By the 24th Century, it is listed in the Table of Elements as a chemical element in the Transonic series. It had the symbol of "CO" - both letters capitalized to distinguish it from cobalt ("Co").

The madwoman of Warehouses 12 & 13 named Helena G. Wells believed herself to be THE H.G. Wells the author. Since H.G. Wells - as a man! - has played a strong role in Toobworld in various series, her claim to that identity must be discounted. At best, I believe she could be one of Herbert's sisters.

At any rate, she claimed to have either created it or discovered the alloy, and then used it to trap Warehouse agents Bering and Lattimer against the ceiling.

This is a good example of how the TV Universe is always in a state of flux, constantly being re-written. Until the TV movie based on Wells' novel was broadcast a few months later, this claim stood as being true. But once "The First Men In The Moon" aired, then Professor Cavor had to be credited with being its creator.

Cavorite has a greater presence in the comic book world (including a 'Doctor Who' story!), but that is of no use to Toobworld......

SHOWS CITED:

• "The First Men In The Moon"
• 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' - "Rascals"
• 'Warehouse 13' - "Time Will Tell"

BCnU!

"FIRST MEN IN THE MOON" - EXTENDED EXCERPT

There be spoilers ahead!