SATURDAY MORNING SUPERHEROES - A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND BAM! POW! ZOOMS!

The Toobworld Dynamic is comprised of TV shows, online content, and certain movies.  Books, comics, and most movies just can't be incorporated into the TV Universe.  

But there are times when photographs can be used to illustrate events in any of the Toobworlds.

I don't use screen captures from other TV shows to represent anything but what actually happened in that particular scene.  For example, this picture is of Peter Falk as Lt. Columbo and Gene Barry as Dr. Ray Flemming in the first 'Columbo' pilot "Prescription Murder".  This is my classic example - this picture can only be used for what was actually happening between Columbo and Flemming.  I can't claim it to be a theoretical meeting between lawyer Daniel J. O'Brien of 'Trials Of O'Brien' and Captain Amos Burke of 'Burke's Law'.

If I ever found a picture of Falk and Barry from a movie or off-set as themselves from this production, then I could claim that as being of Burke and O'Brien.  

This picture came up recently on the Facebook page for the 1966 'Batman' series, showing Adam West in his Batman costume with a young woman dressed in Robin cosplay.  The person who shared it, James Guthrie, thinks it was from the 1970s.

I have no problem with the suggestion that this was a picture of Bruce Wayne in his Batman guise with a new sidekick who took the alias of Robin.  Based on the comic books and the Tooniverse, I can see her being Carrie Kelley.

In the years following the cancellation of 'Batman', it's my belief that the Bruce Wayne played by Adam West continued his crime-fighting in Gotham City... at least until the mid-1980s.  (As to why he retired and hung up the cowl, I have no theories.  I'd rather wait for something to suggest itself based on some other TV show.  That's what I did with Superman, using a season finale from 'Crime Story' to splain how the Man of Steel was removed from the main Toobworld - he eventually died from Kryptonite poisoning after saving two criminals from an atomic bomb explosion outside of Las Vegas.)

Apparently, Bruce Wayne's ward Dick Grayson had to walk away from the costumed crime-fighting lifestyle - at least as Robin.  Perhaps when he went off to college, Dick took on a new identity as the character he became in the Teen Titans comic book, Nightwing.  Once Wayne himself retired as the Batman for whatever reason in the 1980s, it could be that Dick Grayson took on the role to keep the legend alive.

Eventually he would have retired as well, perhaps due to a career-ending injury in the line of duty.  This would splain away the way Dick Grayson looks today; he can no longer maintain the physical fitness regimen necessary for the job's demands.

But it's nice to know that Bruce and Dick have remained friends since their glory days.

BCnU!

MY FRIENDS IN TOOBWORLD - MARK THOMPSON & MICHAEL FINKE

Every so often I like to showcase the televersions of my friends, using pictures of them that feature them in situations that look like they belong in Toobworld.

This time around we have Mark Thompson and Michael Finke as seen in TV-LA.....

And it's not just Los Angeles; they're seen here in front of the house used for the Fischer & Son Funeral Home in 'Six Feet Under'.

I don't know what differences there may be in the lives of Mark and Mike's televersions.  But taking some inspiration from their lives - Mark would be this rogue physicist whose non-sanctioned experiments nearly cracked open the Wall between Worlds.  And now he wanders the country, "making right what once went wrong" and helping strangers whose lives he affected in small meaningful ways.

As for Michael (WHOSE BIRTHDAY IS TODAY!!!!), since he is a theatrical composer, maybe he can be a walking musical who is under the spell of Sweet the demon from 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'.  It was because of Mark's experiments that Mike got exposed to the demon's powers.  They hope to track Sweet down so that the curse could be lifted. 

Sadly, if they're at the Fischer & Son Funeral Home, it's probably because they were attending the calling hours for the viewing of a friend who died.  Hopefully we can assume that this friend is fictional and only exists in Toobworld.  He or she might even be a fictional member from either of their families.  It's happened before:

• Megan Russert & Tim Russert ('Homicide: Life On The Street')
• Vera Louise Gorman & Art Carney ('Alice')
• Sammy Jones & Bryant Gumbel ('The Nanny')

Or it could have been a character who had been affected by the damage caused by Mark's experiments... and the Dynamic Duo just wanted to make sure that they stayed dead!

Sorry for your loss, guys........

BCnU!

I'm posting this on Michael's birthday (which saves me from being investigated again by Homeland Security - again! - if I had posted something May Day related.)  

Happy birthday, Finkester!

THEORIES OF RELATEEVEETY - HEEEEEERE'S JOHNNY!

'GET SMART'

"ABOARD THE ORIENT EXPRESS"

"THE KING LIVES?"

'Get Smart' was known for the celebrity cameos - from Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Buddy Hackett, Robert Culp, Don Rickles and James Caan, among many others.

The King of NBC and of late-night TV, Johnny Carson, appeared twice on the show as two separate characters.  His role as the Herald in the court of King Charles of Caronia provided a blooper reel that was often shown not only on the 'Tonight' show but on several blooper specials.

 

He was first seen as the Conductor on board the Orient Express as the train passed through Lichtenstein (so quickly!)  And it will be our claim that despite having an American accent, the Conductor was a Caronian.  It is his twin brother who served as the Herald in the royal court.

BCnU!

OCEANIC AIRWAYS - THE ONLY WAY TO FLY!

'CASTLE'

"IN PLANE SIGHT"

How many Lostaways gasped when they saw that opening shot in this 'Castle' episode?

Oceanic Airways is already a member of the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame thanks to its many appearances on TV even before 'Lost' first aired.  But the airline is earning its keep still, it seems.  

 

However this is just another example of Oceanic's existence, but not an actual connection to 'Lost' or most of those other appearances.  'Lost' took place in Earth Prime-Time while the dimension for 'Castle' (currently dubbed "Castleworld") is different because it has a different Mayor in New York City than Toobworld or the real world.  (Bill DeBlasio is acknowledged as the Mayor in at least two TV series set in Toobworld so far.)

BCnU!

TUESDAY NEWS DAY - HOUDINI & DOYLE

According to Deadline, a 10 part series about the friendship between Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (and the supernatural crimes they apparently investigated) has been sold to markets in the UK, Canada, and the USA.

The friendship was real, but the crime-solving is strictly Toobworld.

Several of the creatives behind 'The Librarians' and 'House' are bringing the story of 'Houdini And Doyle' in which the escape artist and the literary agent for Dr. Watson team up to solve those superatural crimes.  There should be plenty of friction because Houdini didn't believe in the paranormal and made it his mission to debunk the charlatans, whereas Conan Doyle was a steadfast believer in the world of Faerie.

So far there has been no word on casting.  From what I've seen in the past, Conan Doyle will be the harder role to fill if they go for similarities in appearance.

Houdini and Conan Doyle have met before in the general TV Universe, as seen in such productions as: 

• 2014's 'Houdini'
• 1998's "Houdini"
• 1976's "The Great Houdini"
• The "Detroit" episode of 'Drunk History'

And in 'The Murdoch Mysteries', although in separate episodes.

Personally, I always hoped there would be a story in which Conan Doyle actually could team up with the fairies; we'll have to see if they do make an appearance in this series.  It could go either way - either every thing is debunked as Houdini would have wanted, or it's all true just as Conan Doyle believed.

BCnU!

BLIPVERT CONNECTION: "SEINFELD: THE NEXT GENERATION"

'Seinfeld' went off the air in 1998, with the characters locked away in a Massachusetts jail for one year because they broke the state's "Good Samaritan" law.  As you should know if you understand the Toobworld Dynamic, their lives continued after the show ended.  So by the year 2000, all four of them should have been out of jail.  And who knows what happened after that?

So....  Approximately fifteen years have passed and that would be plenty of time for any one of them to have married and had children.  If anybody was actually willing to risk marrying them, that is.

Yes, even George Costanza.

And if you can accept that as being pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, then this could be Estelle Costanza with her granddaughter by George......

BCnU!

SUNDAY VIDEO - "THE PRISONER"

Two absolute winners for parodies of 'The Prisoner'.  The first in the professional class, and the second one is tops in my book for the amateur standigs.

SATURDAY MORNING SUPERHEROES - BILLIONAIRE SUPERHEROES

"What is it with billionaires being superheroes?"

Caitlin Frost 

'The Flash'

"All Star Team-Up"

This was a meta-joke in which the most O'Bvious allusion would be to Bruce Wayne aka the Batman, since the Caped Crusader is from DC - the same comic book company that publishes the adventures of Green Arrow.

And if Caitlin knows about Bruce Wayne and Batman, then it supports my theory that Batman was of a previous generation.  And that he had hung up his cowl and went into retirement - in such a way as to also announce who he really was under the mask.  (Perhaps by way of an autobiography?)

The thing is, 'The Flash' and 'Arrow' both take place in Comic Book Toobworld rather than in the main Toobworld.  There's a possibility that one day the Batman may appear in either one of those shows.  As to whether the Batman would be from the movies - about to be played by Ben Affleck - seems unlikely.  While Marvel has been able to meld its cinematic heroes with their Television spinoffs fairly successfully, it doesn't seem so likely with movies that have so much turnover in casting.  DC may want to keep their movie superheroes separate from their TV heroes.

As for Earth Prime-Time, Bruce Wayne did retire at some point in the early 1980s and more than likely he was replaced as the Batman by a succession of others - perhaps first by Dick Grayson.  And as for Superman, he died in the early 1960s due to radiation poisoning.

 

Meanwhile, let's get back to what Caitlin said.  Remember what Caitlin said?  It's up there at the top of the page.

Based on mentions in other TV shows, Batman is known to have been billionaire Bruce Wayne in the main Toobworld.  But that is probably not the case in Comic Book Toobworld.  So it could be that Caitlin wasn't referring to Wayne.

Maybe she was referring to Tony Stark, aka Iron Man.

Stark is known to be Iron Man by the general public, and he loves the adulation which ensues.  And the fact that Ray Palmer wears a super suit of pure techware probably brought the comparison to mind for Caitlin.

The A.T.O.M. may be from DC and Iron Man is from Marvel, but both are in Comic Book Toobworld and so Caitin Frost woud be one of those thousands who knew of him.  (Iron Man hasn't been seen on the small screen yet, athough his movies have been absorbed into that TV dimension.)

BCnU!

GAME OF THE NAME - JIMMY BALLANTINE AKA KILLER MOTH

After Ed Brown gave a crook twenty bucks to help him get back on the straight and narrow, the story made the newspapers.  This led a lot of other crooks to think Ed was an easy mark and they all showed up at his garage hoping to rob him.

One of these crooks, whose name was not revealed, was rather nerdy.  And it wasn't the first time he was seen in Toobworld.  

His name was Jimmy Ballantine, a professional safecracker whose family was blessed with long, sensitive fingers.  In fact, two of his brothers were concert pianists.  This was why Jimmy became a safecracker - somebody had to support the family.  (He was descended from a cowboy who went by the alias of "Mosquito".)

When Jimmy Ballantine was captured, he had to be welded into hs cell because he was just that good at picking locks.  Ballantine was hoping to go straight when he completed his sentence, but when KAOS tried to enlist him in one of their schemes, he knew he had no choice but to inform the authorities.  And for his help in training CONTROL agent Maxwell Smart, he was promised a pardon.

But his attempt to go straight didn't last long.  Needing money when his plans to become a television repairman fell apart, Ballantine hired himself out as a henchman to arch-villain Lew Rydell*, best known as "The Riddler".  He used the alias "Whiskers" during the Riddler's plot against King Boris during his royal visit to Gotham City.  He escaped jail before he was tried for his crimes and decided to strike out on his own as a costumed villain, calling himself "Killer Moth".  (He was probably influenced by having "Mosquito" as an ancestor.)

His biggest blunder in this scheme was to remain in Gotham City.  This time he wasn't just up against the Dynamic Duo (whom he easily subdued in a giant ball of silk), but also Batgirl, who was just beginning her career as a costumed crimefighter.

When he was captured, Jimmy Ballantine was once again sent to prison for almost ten years.

After he got out, Ballantine thought robbing Ed Brown would be an easy way to get back into the only lifestyle he knew.  He just didn't realize so many other criminals would think the same thing.....

SHOWS CITED:

• 'Get Smart' - "Maxwell Smart, Alias Jimmy Ballantine"
• 'Bonanza' - "Amigo"
• 'Batman' - "A Riddle A Day Keeps The Riddler Away"
• 'Batman' - "When The Rat's Away, The Mice Will Play'
• 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' - "The Second Verdict"
• "Batgirl" (special presentation video)
• 'Chico And The Man' - "Too Many Crooks"

BCnU!

* In Earth Prime-Time, if the Riddler ever used the name Edward Nygma, it was just an alias.  

THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY - PEERS OF ROEBUCK

The greatest contribution made by 'Grimm' to the Toobworld Dynamic is of course, the race of beings known as the Wesen, whose members can morph from humans to their base forms as different humanoid animal types.
 

From the "Grimm" Wiki:
Wesen (pronunciation: VAY-zin, Grimm: VES-sin; Germ. "a being", here "creature"; Spanish: espiritu bestia "spirit beast") is a collective term used to describe the creatures visible to the Grimms. They are the basis not only of the fairy tales that the Brothers Grimm have compiled, but also of the many legends and folklore from many cultures (i.e. Anubis, Aswang, Blutbad, Dämonfeuer, and Wendigo).

When a Wesen is woged, they are able to recognize a Grimm by looking into their eyes. According to Monroe, Wesen can see an "infinite darkness" in a Grimm's eyes that allows a Wesen to see their reflection, where they can see their true Wesen nature.

Unless we're sharing a POV with a Grimm, we don't get to see the Wesen in other TV shows.  And yet they're there.  Since 'Grimm' takes place in Portland, Oregon, I think it's a safe bet that several of the characters who showed up during Lt. Backstrom's murder investigations were Wesen.  In fact, I made the claim recently that there was a band of musicians who were all Wesen in an episode of 'Backstrom'.

I think we may have seen a Wesen in Toobworld a few years before 'Grimm' even hit the airwaves.  And that's thanks to the old Toobworld standby, identical cousins, we can make a theory of relateeveety that connects 'Grimm' to 'Lost'.

Meet Dr. Leslie Arzt....

Dr. Leslie Arzt was a middle section survivor of Oceanic Flight 815. He was a high school science teacher who managed to discover many new species of insects and arachnids, including the Medusa spider, but was killed on the Island while handling dynamite near the Black Rock on Day 44.

(From Lostpedia)

And this is Peter Orson.  I think he's got a little Arzt in him.....

Lieutenant Peter Orson is a former arson investigator (and a Bauerschwein) who first appeared in "The Three Bad Wolves".

After Orson's two brothers were killed, probably by Angelina, he targeted and killed Rolf and Hap, Angelina's brothers with home explosions designed to look like accidents. He successfully killed Rolf but failed to kill Hap. He later killed Hap with a pistol. Orson survived an attack by Angelina because Nick Burkhardt intervened. He was charged with the murders of Hap and Rolf.

After being in jail for over 3 years, he was temporarily released from jail to help aid Nick and Hank in finding and identifying an Excandesco arsonist named Damien Barso that he had been tracking for awhile before he was arrested. He also ended up re-encountering Monroe, bringing up the tensions between the two. They put their differences aside to help with the case.

(From the 'Grimm' wiki)

Because there is a definite end to Arzt's story, it makes it easier to make this claim of relateeveety.  Even if the shows are no longer on the air, I don't think it would be wise to stretch this familly tree to include other characters played by Daniel Roebuck on such shows as 'CSI', 'Glee', 'Monk', 'NCIS: Los Angeles', 'Franklin & Bash', and especially 'Matlock', 'Nash Bridges', and 'A Minute With Stan Hooper' because they were long-running characters with too much back-story.  

I do like the idea that Zookeeper Randy in an episode of 'Malcolm In The Middle' might have been a Bauerschwein and his uncredited, unnamed character in an episode of 'Boston Public' could have been one as well.  Being unnamed could count towards being either another Arzt or Orson, but I'd have to see that episode to be sure.  (Shows like 'Castle' and 'The West Wing' can be eliminated mostly because they take place in alternate TV dimensions.)

Arzt is gone now, but Orson may yet return.  His assistance in his second 'Grimm' appearance may lead to his early release from prison which could even lead to becoming a recurring character.

If Arzt really was a Bauerschwein, I wonder if there was the smell of pulled pork in the air when he blowed up real good....?

BCnU!