SUPERHERO SATURDAY - POWER GIRL WISH-CRAFT

In the past, I've written several times about the villains from the DC Superman comics who should have shown up in 'The Adventures of Superman' and then suggested the actors of that time who could have played the roles.  And I also had a suggestion for Supergirl as well:

• Lex Luthor - RG Armstrong
• Brainiac - Michael Ansara
• Mr. Mxyzptlk - Billy Barty
• The Toyman - Ed Wynn
• Supergirl - Cheryl Holdridge

But I didn't give much thought to other characters who could have shown up in the course of the series.....

This picture, of course, is just pure fantasy though.  The comic book Power Girl was not created until 1976, almost two decades past the show's run.  ('The Adventures Of Superman' ran until 1958.)

Supergirl was around, but as I've pointed out above, I already have a candidate for that role.

If Power Girl had been around, and we wanted the fantasy to be played out with Marilyn Monroe, she would probably have been available for a one-shot guest appearance only during the first two seasons.  I think it was with "Niagara" in 1953 that her career in the movies really blossomed, although she had quite a few small showcase roles in movies like "All About Eve" and "The Asphalt Jungle".  Once her film work took off, it would have been impossible to get her for the role.  

However, Joi Lansing - who played Sgt. O'Hara in one episode (and who gave birth to Superman's child in the Secret Back-story of Toobworld) - could have returned as Power Girl... if the character had existed back then, of course.

Just sayin', is all......

TVXOHOF, JULY 2016 - WE'RE TALKIN' BASEBALL....

For the month of July as we celebrate the League of Theselves in 2016, I thought a sports figure - specifically a baseball player since it is the time when the Boys of Summer hold sway - would be the perfect choice for the showcase.  And as hard as it is for a Red Sox fan to admit, the greatest candidate for a baseball player who played himself in Earth Prime-Time was a New York Yankee.  

That's right, we're giving a shout out to:

MICKEY MANTLE

From Wikipedia:

Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "The Commerce Comet" or "The Mick", was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees as a center fielder and first baseman, from 1951 through 1968. Mantle was one of the best players and sluggers, and is regarded by many as the greatest switch hitter in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.

Mantle was arguably the greatest offensive threat of any center fielder in baseball history. He has the highest career OPS+ of any center fielder and he had the highest stolen base percentage in history at the time of his retirement. In addition, compared to the four other center fielders on the all-century team, he had the lowest career rate of grounding into double plays (by far) and he had the highest World Series on-base percentage and World Series slugging percentage. He also had an excellent 0.984 fielding percentage when playing center field. Mantle was noted for his ability to hit for both average and power, especially tape measure home runs. He hit 536 MLB career home runs, batted .300 or more ten times, and is the career leader (tied with Jim Thome) in walk-off home runs, with a combined thirteen, twelve in the regular season and one in the postseason.

Mantle won the Triple Crown in 1956, leading the major leagues in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI). He was an All-Star for 16 seasons, playing in 16 of the 20 All-Star Games that were played. He was an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times and a Gold Glove winner once. Mantle appeared in 12 World Series including 7 championships, and holds World Series records for the most home runs (18), RBIs (40), extra-base hits (26), runs (42), walks (43), and total bases(123).

In 1980, Mantle had a cameo appearance in the 'The White Shadow', and in 1983, he had a cameo appearance in 'Remington Steele' with Whitey Ford.

In 1993 and 1996, Mantle is referenced multiple times in the sitcom 'Seinfeld', specifically the episodes "The Visa" (1993), where Kramer punches him while at a baseball fantasy camp, and "The Seven" (1996), where George Costanza wants to name his future baby 'Seven' based on Mickey Mantle's uniform number.

'The White Shadow'
- "Reunion: Part 2" (1980) 

The central theme of "Reunion" is the empty relationship between Coach Reeves and his father.  Apparently, Jake Reeves had an unemotional relationship with his father as well.  Unbeknownst to Reeves, his father has an inoperable brain tumor.  He refuses hospital care.  At the end of Part 1, he reveals the illness.  In a late-night conversation, barriers are broken and the corner is turned towards a more honest, productive, and fulfilling relationship.

The Reeves men paint New York City red the following night, clearing the air and allowing Coach Reeves to depart for Los Angeles with a clear conscience and a full heart.  During their male bonding night, they meet Mickey Mantle, who recognizes Ken Reeves as a former NBA player.  

'Mr. Belvedere' 
- "The Field" (1989) 
It's George's birthday. He's been pushing Wesley to excel at baseball and when Wesley decides to cheat, George is upset at him and Wesley say she did it for him. When they throw him a party, and help George relive some of life's greatest moments but only shows him at how he has done nothing he set out to do, like play baseball with some greats. So Belvedere decides to give George a different present. The next day at Wesley's game, he arranged for some great players like Hank Aaron, Willy Mays, Reggie Jackson, Johnny Bench, and Ernie Banks to be there. and along with George and Robert Goulet play Wesley's team.

'Remington Steele' 
- "Second Base Steele" (1984) 
A high school baseball team alumnus hires The Remington Steele Agency to find out who is responsible for a series accidents at a sports camp his old team is attending.

'The Jackie Gleason Show' 
- "Lucky Number"

While at a ballgame with Ed, Ralph wins a $1000 as part of a contest at the ball park.  Later when the bread company representative arrives to give him the prize they tell him they want pictures for advertising. Alice points out Ralph called in sick and will lose his job if the pictures are used. 

'Seinfeld'

"The Visa"

Kramer meanwhile returns early from fantasy baseball camp. Kramer it seems tried to brush back Joe Pepitone leading to a bench clearing brawl where Kramer knocked Mickey Mantle unconscious.

"The Seven"

George meets Susan's cousin and her husband. She will soon have a baby but they have yet to choose a name. George tells them he knows exactly what his first child will be called : Seven, in honor of Yankees great Mickey Mantle. Susan hates the name but her cousin thinks it's great and decides to use it. George goes over the top in trying to convince them otherwise.

'Make Room For Daddy'

"Homecoming"
Charley had invited some of the Yankees of the day to the Copa which is where Rusty got his picture taken with Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. 

And in my place of employ, where a member of the TVXOHOF is inside a member of the TVXOHOF, the Mick - and his buddy Billy Martin - look down on me from their place in the lobby.  Apparently they liked to come there to hang out at the Rum House bar.

Makes it almost seem mythic.....

Welcome to yet another Hall of Fame, Mr. Mantle!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANCY DUSSAULT

I'm a little late to the party but as long as there are a few hours left in the day......

I'd like to wish actress Nancy Dussault, perhaps best known in Toobworld as Muriel Rush (the wife of Ted Knight's character in 'Too Close For Comfort'), a very happy 80th birthday.

Her televersion was acknowledged in an episode of 'Car 54, Where Are You?' ("142 Tickets On The Aisle") when she was on Broadway playing Maria Von Trapp in "The Sound Of Music":

She appeared as herself as a co-host of 'Good Morning, America', but this theatre marquee carries more weight in considering her televersion.

She was also a regular on 'The New Dick Van Dyke Show' as Carol Davis and has appeared in 'Murder, She Wrote', 'Matlock', 'Barney Miller', 'Dream On' and 'The Love Boat'.  Her last role was in 'Alias' back in 2001.

All the best from this old Toobmaester, Ms. Dussault.  May you have many more birthdays to come....

BCnU!

TWO FOR TUESDAY: CONVERSATION PIECES

"I drink too much, I smoke too much, I gamble too much. 
I AM too much!"
Dr. Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald
'Cracker'

"I'm overweight; I drink too much; I smoke too much; I eat too much.

I'm divorced, and the kids don't want to know me. 

I've a jaundiced view of human nature.

That's right.  I'm a copper."

Harry Vellacotte

'Midsomer Murders'

BORN TO RERUN - THE ACTOR'S LIFE FOR ME-TV

Aristarchus: 

What a voice! Perhaps we should change places? 

Only the Romans can afford ushers with a voice like that. 

Did you have it trained?

Pallas: 

I was an actor, sir.

Aristarchus: 

That explains it. Resting, are you?

Pallas: 

No, sir. I've given it up... 

Everyone's an actor in Rome. There isn't enough work.

Aristarchus: 

And what there is goes to friends... 

It's the same everywhere.  

Pallas: 

The theatre isn't what it was.

Aristarchus: 

No. And I'll tell you something else. 

It never was what it was.

'I, Claudius'

Harold Winstanley:

God, what am I doing here?
Casting pearls before uncultured swine.

I, who directed a number one tour of "Spider's Web".

With the original West End cast.

One critic said he'd never seen anything like it in the whole of his theatrical life.

How often Johnny G* would turn to me for advice.

"Harold, love," he would say, 

"Dear boy, this speech of Prospero's...."

'Midsomer Murders'

(At that point he was interrupted.....)

Back on Mother's Day, I shared a "Born To Rerun" theory which connected the long-running British murder mystery to the classic 70s adaptation of Robert Graves' novel about the Caesars, using an actress who played both the murderer in one episode in that pastoral setting as well as one of the most powerful women in History.

Didn't catch it then?  Click here.

And now here we have another fine example of reincarnation between the two series - the soul of a frustrated Greek actor manifesting as a theatre director of former glories driven mad by what he perceived as the betrayals of the world against him.

Although it's not always necessary, it helps my argument when both roles are played by the same actor.  In that previous example, Lady Annabel and Livia were portrayed by Sian Phillips.  And it was Bernard Hepton who took on the roles of Pallas and Winstanley.

BCnU!

* By the way, "Johnny G" is a reference to Sir John Gielgud, known as one of the triumvirate of greatest actors of the 20th Century in Great Britain.  (The other two being Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir Ralph Richardson.)  This confirms the Oscar winner (Best Supporting Actor for 'Arthur') as having a fictional televersion in the main Toobworld.  His animated televersion is also referenced in an episode of 'The Simpsons' (rather scandalously, I would say) and he does appear as himself in Skitlandia, along with Sir Ralph, thanks to an episode of 'SCTV'.

PRIDE OF THE ZONKEES*

Here's a trippy take on how 'Seinfeld' might have handled the reaction to the SCOTUS ruling on gay marriage during Pride Week last year......

BCnU!

* Hopefully the worst pun I ever came up with.  Won't be the last.....

SUPERHERO SATURDAY - BATMAN '60

Let's start this Superhero Saturday post off with "Conversation Pieces"......

Harry Crane:
Draper?
Who knows anything about that guy? 
No one's ever lifted that rock.He could be Batman for all we know.
'Mad Men' 

Commissioner Gordon:

I don't know who he is behind that mask of his, 

but I do know when we need him... 

and we need him now!

'Batman'

The date for this particular episode on the Toobworld timeline was April 11, 1960.  This was determined by a 'Mad Men' Timeline fan-site due to the debut of the VW "Lemon" ad in Life Magazine.

For anyone else watching 'Mad Men', Harry's reference to Batman would have to be to the superhero in the comic books, since the TV series would not debut for another six years.  

But as my loyal Team Toobworld must have realized by now, Toby's brain don't play dat.

When it comes to Earth Prime-Time, the Caped Crusader and his sidekick Robin the Boy Wonder were already established in Gotham City by the time that first episode, "Hi Diddle Riddle", premiered on ABC.  This can be inferred by the conversation Commissioner Gordon had with Batman:

Bruce Wayne: 

Yes, Commissioner?

Commissioner Gordon: 

You'll never guess who's on the loose. 

Your old archenemy, the Riddler.

Bruce Wayne: 

Good heavens!

Dick Grayson: 

Him again!

To have such a rapport with a costumed vigilante, of whom you have no clue as to their true identity (see the Commissioner's quote at the top), that you have no problem establishing a line of communication with a private phone line....  Well, it's O'Bvious to me that Batman has been working with the Gotham City Police Department for years, perhaps even for over a decade.  (And that would open the possibility that the Superman and Batman of the main Toobworld could have worked together as well back in the 1950s... but most likely without the Boy Wonder.)

So when Harry Crane mentions the possibility that Don Draper could be Batman - even though Draper lives in Manhattan and that other "DD", the Dynamic Duo are centered in Gotham City - that means Batman has been fighting crime long enough to have established his presence on a national level, thanks to news media coverage.  

After all, battling just the Riddler alone for over a dozen times must have taken some time, let alone all the other costumed criminals he collared.

Commissioner Gordon: 

The Riddler. 

That infernal prince of puzzlers who's outwitted us a dozen times.

BCnU, Toob Believers!

DE-ZONKING "THE GOLDBERGS" (NO, NOT THE NEW ONES.....)

While doing a little research for my Hat Squad tribute to Ann Morgan Guilbert, I found this dialogue exchange from her appearance on 'Newhart' in the episode "Georgie and Bess":

Aunt Bess:

Those days, you couldn't tear Georgie away from the radio.  

As I recall, your favorite was 'The Goldbergs'.

George Utley:

That's 'cause I had a crush on Gertrude Berg....

Until my Dad showed me a picture of her.

Luckily there aren't many Zonks in connection to 'The Goldbergs'.  If anything, any future references will probably be traced back to the current ABC sitcom which debuted in 2013.  But thanks to this piece of dialogue, we can claim any reference to the previous incarnation of 'The Goldbergs' is to the radio show.

According to Wikipedia, the radio show ran from 1929 to 1946.  And as is the case with many of the TV show Zonks we have to disable, 'The Goldbergs' was based on "real-life" people, in this instance, a family from the Bronx.

There are only two Zonks that I can find which make reference to 'The Goldbergs'.  The first one occurred during the 12th season premiere of 'The Ed Sullivan Show' - Joe E. Lewis joked that the food served on the show wasn't kosher.

There is no problem in considering this to be a call-back to the radio show which ended a dozen years earlier.  Lewis would have known that the majority of his audience would have remembered it.

That same argument can be made with the second Zonk.....

'MAD MEN'

"THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO"

Pete Campbell: 

What was that in there?
Harry Crane:

What?
Pete Campbell:

Don and Molly Goldberg, did you see that?
Harry Crane:

Yeah I caught it, what's your point?
Pete Campbell:

I don't know.

Pete's description of client Rachel Menken as 'Molly Goldberg' had nothing to do with the way Miss Menken looked.  (For alls I know, Pete - like George Utley before him - might not have even known what Gertrude Berg looked like.  No, that nickname was all about her being Jewish.)

Again, there's no reason for this reference to be anything but calling back to the radio show, even though it ended fourteen years earlier.  ("The Marriage Of Figaro" took place in April of 1960.)  Pete Campbell was born in 1932 (based on the age of the actor Vincent Kartheiser at the time of filming.) and so would have been old enough to remember listening to the show with his family.

Someday, Molly Goldberg and the entire Goldberg Family will make it into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  Soon enough I will have run out of Christmas-themed inductees into the Hall for the month of December, and so I think I would then dedicate the month to the theme of Multiversals & Multidimensionals. 

Molly Goldberg's family began as a radio show, was adapted into a TV series, from which a movie was made.  Just before the debut of the TV show, a stage play was developed from the material and in 1973 there was a musical called "Molly" which was based on the family.

As for their televersions, 'The Goldbergs' don't just exist in Earth Prime-Time.  They could also be found in the sketch comedy dimension of Skitlandia:

'Texaco Star Theatre'

Episode #5.4 (1952)
Berg and McQuade portray their characters from the series.

Episode #5.15 (1953) 

Characters from the show appear in this episode

Episode #6.20 (1954) 

Berg and McQuade portray their characters from the series.

According to Wikipedia:

In 1957, Gertrude Berg made her last two appearances as Molly Goldberg: first on an episode of the NBC-TV variety series 'Washington Square' with Ray Bolger, and then on a Kate Smith special that aired on ABC-TV.

It can't be claimed that she appeared on the 1954 Mother's Day edition of the game show 'What's My Line?' as the "Mystery Challenger", even though her placard identified her as such.  She signed in as Gertrude Berg and they talked about the TV show as just that, not as contemporaries in the main Toobworld.

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD: REMEMBERING ANN MORGAN GUILBERT

Just another Millie Monday.....

YETTA ROSENBERG:
[To Maxwell Sheffield}

She told me that you were going to come home from work, and kiss a perky brunette at the door, and take a terrible fall over the ottoman.

SYLVIA FINE:
Ma, that's the opening for 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'!

YETTA ROSENBERG:
I'm telling you, it was in this very house! 

[Yetta grabs Brighton Sheffield.]  

Here's Richie! 

[Yetta looks in the mirror.]  

And there's Millie!

('The Nanny' - "The Rosie Show")

I don't consider this a Zonk.  'The Dick Van Dyke Show' existed in the main Toobworld as a TV sitcom, even though Rob Petrie and his family & friends also existed in Earth Prime-Time.  That's because the show was based on the book by Rob Petrie.  It was then bought by Alan Brady to be a vehicle for himself when his variety show ended.  And that's what we see with the pilot "Head Of The Family".  However, just as it was in real life with Carl Reiner, it was agreed that Brady was not right for the role of Rob Petrie.  So the life story of Rob Petrie was recast with all of the same people we know from the real world who appeared in the actual 'Dick Van Dyke Show'.

And therefore, Yetta Rosenberg had seen the sitcom and incorporated it into her delusions.  As it happens, she did bear an incredible resemblance to not only to Millie Helper, but also to Ann Morgan Guilbert, who played Millie.

There is a Chicago psychologist named Dr. Bob Hartley who once had a very long dream which had been fueled by Japanese food.  In his nightmare scenario, Dr. Hartley was known as a Vermont innkeeper and author named "Dick Loudon".  It's most likely that Bob incorporated Ann Morgan Guilbert as Millie from the sitcom into the scenario as "Aunt Bess", the former mistress of George Utley's father back during WWII.  ("That's short for World War II." - George Utley)  I don't think that Dr. Hartley knew Millie Helper or Yetta Rosenberg, as they both lived in or near New York City while he was in Chicago.  

SHOWS CITED:

• 'The Nanny' - "The Rosie Show"
• 'Newhart' - "Georgie And Bess"
• 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' - "The Last Chapter"
• "Head Of The Family"

The missing links between those first three episodes are all thanks to Ann Morgan Guilbert, who played Yetta Rosenberg, Aunt Bess, and Millie Helper respectively.  

Sadly, Ms. Guilbert passed away this week.  This is my small tip of the hat to what she contributed to Toobworld as these characters and as herself.

Good night and may God bless.......

VIDEO SUNDAY - MILLIE HELPER, DREAM GIRL?

In memory of Ann Morgan Guilbert, here is her full appearance as a character who never actually existed in the TV Universe, not in Earth Prime-Time, nor any of the many alternate Toobworlds.

"Aunt Bess" was a figment of Dr. Bob Hartley's imagination.  During a night in which he suffered through what must have felt like an endless nightmare, Dr. Bob dreamt that he was a Vermont innkeeper named Dick Loudon.  Several people from his waking life were incorporated into this dream.  Chief among them was Cliff Murdock, Bob's old college buddy best known as "The Peeper."  (He appeared in the dream as the inn's handyman, George Utley.)

Some of the people who populated Bob's dream were actually lifted from TV shows he had watched, perhaps even that night before he went to bed.  (In fact, the format of the dream may have been inspired by the TV show which was adapted from the life of lawyer turned farmer Oliver Wendell Douglas.)

Such a character could have been "Aunt" Bess.  We know 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' (officially known as 'Head Of The Family') was adapted from the autobiographical novel by Rob Petrie as a future sitcom vehicle for Alan Brady.  However, even he admitted that ultimately he wasn't right for the part.  So a young Broadway star named Dick Van Dyke (whose fictional televersion is acknowledged to exist in 'Supernatural', 'Community', 'Pushing Daisies', and 'Designing Women') was hired for the lead role instead.  

Among the other actors in that dream was Ann Morgan Guilbert, who played Millie Helper, the Petries' next-door neighbor.  I believe she was the inspiration for "Aunt" Bess - Not Millie, but Ms. Guilbert playing Millie.  Just because there was a TV show about the life of Rob Petrie, that doesn't mean there couldn't be a TV show about him.  You have to admit the premise of a family man who worked as the head writer for a TV show would have made for a great behind-the-scenes series on Toobworld TV.  (This may be what separates the 'Dick Van Dyke Show' of the real world from that of Toobworld: ours was a sitcom; the one watched by TV characters could have been a very funny real life documentary show.

I'll have more about Ann Morgan Guilbert and her place in Toobworld tomorrow.

Good night and may God bless.....