CROSSOVER OF THE WEEK

This week's crossover comes from a genre growing in popularity recently, and yet which was a staple of early television - TV commercials that use characters from TV shows.

Back when the sponsors controlled most of the content, it wasn't surprising to see Clark Kent enjoying a bowl of Kellogg's cereal. As Time passed, you would get the actors appearing in the commercials in a way to suggest their old characters - like Don Adams hawking Skittle-Pool. I may have thought that he was appearing as Maxwell Smart (under cover as a Skittle-Pool salesman), but they didn't openly acknowledge it.

Just a month ago we had Alka-Seltzer celebrating their 75th anniversary by hiring Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts to recreate their roles of Frank and Marie Barone from 'Everybody Loves Raymond'. And then Frank and Marie recreated the classic "I Can't Believe I Ate The Whole Thing" blipvert.

And now?

CINGULAR PUSH 2 TALK
&
'THE WALTONS'

The house looks the same; the music sounds the same; the narration of an older John-Boy now sounds some 20-odd years older.

And then we see all the houses across the country in which the surviving Walton siblings all live, as they partake in their traditional goodnights to each other.

But now they're doing it over the phone, thanks to their Cingular plan.

An argument could be made at first that they aren't 'The Waltons', as the narrator sounds like he's saying "on Waldron's Mountain". However, that could be just a faulty mispronunciation due to the narrator's (John-Boy) age.
Beside hearing the names of the usual suspects (Mary-Ellen, Jason, Jim-Bob, Elizabeth, and especially John-Boy), we also see most of those names spelled out on John-Boy's cellphone with a listing for 'The Waltons' to boot.

Maybe the trend will come full circle someday soon, and then we will see Tom Welling as Clark Kent enjoying a bowl of Kellogg's Corn Flakes in 'Smallville'.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

LOOKING BEYOND LEO

Sometime last week, the writers for 'The West Wing' were supposed to get together to decide the future of this season. The death of actor John Spencer derailed whatever they had in mind for the outcome of the show's presidential race, one way or the other.

Right after Spencer's passing, it was officially stated that they wouldn't begin to consider their options until now, out of respect for the man. But it would have been only human nature to do so anyway, and still hold the man's memory in regard.

After all, the show must go on, and as an actor, John Spencer would have understood that.

Over in the TVSquad blog, there was a lot of speculation almost immediately as to where they might go with the plotline, and who might replace Leo on the Democratic ticket as the Vice Presidential nominee. Some thought inside the box in regards to the current cast and suggested Josh, CJ, maybe the return of Sam Seaborn... even President Bartlet was suggested!

Here's what I posted as to those ideas and then detailing one of my own.....

Abby would never allow Jed to run as Veep; she knows the pressures of the job already are speeding up his MS, and she's looking forward to him stepping down at the end of his second term.

Plus, a second Veep candidate with health problems might be more than the public could tolerate. And they've seen the pics by now of Bartlet in the wheelchair, as seen on Air Force One.

Josh and CJ are big names in the cast, sure, but within the show's inner reality, their choices would not make sense. How many of the public can even name the Chief of Staff, let alone a campaign manager? If 'The West Wing' is like the real world, Josh should be truly faceless to the public.

Sam Seaborn is a good choice, but he didn't win that special election. (Or did he?) He's not truly tested.

Santos needs somebody in the West Wing universe (not necessarily a regular) who has the recognition factor, a good reputation for his health, experience in governing, and the age to balance Santos on the ticket.

We've already met this character.

Governor Jack Buckland of Indiana as played by Kevin Tighe (DeSoto on 'Emergency', Locke's father on 'Lost').

He was enough of a threat to Bartlet's nomination for a second term, so he'd have enough voter recognition and political oomph to pick up the mantle from Leo and help Santos to victory.

This type of speculation takes nothing away from the sorrow over the loss of John Spencer. But it is a business and they have to act soon to avoid missing production deadlines.

And even though I'm a registered Democrat who usually votes in knee-jerk fashion for Democrats, I'm hoping that Vinick will win. It'll be exciting story-wise and allow them to "clean house" a la the MTM show for a memorable finale to the show.

Posted at 5:12PM on Dec 21st 2005 by Toby OB 5 stars

[Since I wrote that, the episode "Running Mates" has been broadcast. And I think the fix is in, at least it was before the death of Spencer. The proof could be seen in what was actually seen from the "debate". Even though it was called "Running Mates", Brett Cullen might as well have stayed home rather show up for the filming because it was all Leo, nothing of substance from his opponent.]

Here are some key segments of dialogue from the episode in which Governor Buckland appeared which show why he would make a formidable candidate:

JOSH
You're a Heisman trophy-winning football player, a U.S. Olympian, you still run the New York Marathon and every time we see b-roll of you tossing a ball around at the local boys' club it makes people think the president's got to campaign in an oxygen tent.

JOSH
You came through for us in Indiana. Really, the whole Midwest. You would've been great in the number two spot. And it was me as much as anyone pushing Hoynes.
BUCKLAND
You couldn't win without Hoynes.
JOSH
Yeah.

And Buckland would have very good reasons of his own for accepting, if asked....

BUCKLAND
I'm term-limited, Josh, and I still have things I want to say.

BUCKLAND
How am I supposed to keep advocating the issues that I care about if I don't get into the race for a while?

JOSH
Jack, I-I, I think you'd make an interesting nominee for Labor Secretary.

So I'm assuming Buckland is the present Labor Secretary, which if I'm not mistaken is the position that Leo once held in a previous administration. And as such, he would have access, if somewhat minimal in the grand scheme of things, to a regular public forum that would get his face out there for national recognition.

And since he's played by Kevin Tighe, who's always had a very winning, telegenic smile, Buckland could win over a lot of potential voters who choose for the most superficial of reasons.

But Josh gave a few good reasons why Buckland might not do so well, if viewed as being just a heartbeat away from the Presidency:

JOSH
So... you're polling at slightly less than five percent in Iowa. After hearing your issue profile that number actually goes down. 39% of caucus-goers say they wouldn't even consider voting for you. "Shares our values"? 18%. Did you know that?
BUCKLAND
No.
JOSH
In New Hampshire, you got three percent. "Shares our values," 14%. After hearing your profile, 41% think you're a republican. Did you know that?
~~~~~
In the end, it's all moot. The writers will do what they will and when all is said and done, we've still lost a very good actor.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"I have the feeling about 60 percent of what you say is crap."
David Letterman
'Late Night With David Letterman'

MMMM! TASTY TRIVIA BITS!

In hopes that some producer might think of using fictional products from other shows (and thus help create new links between shows), here are some recent items I've culled from various TV series in the last few weeks:

'BONES'
Pan Transit Airlines - went out of business back in the sixties

'THE BOOK OF DANIEL'
St. Barnabas Church
Newbury, New Jersey

'BOSTON LEGAL'
Devlin-McGregor - a pharmaceutical company
[This is the same company that was ultimately was responsible for the death of Dr. Kimble's wife in the movie version of 'The Fugitive'.]

'CRUMBS'
Cedar Hills Sanitarium
Stonehouse Grill
"Thicker Than Water" - movie based on the Crumbs' life

'HOUSE'
"Lesbian Prison Stories" - a paperback book

'KILLER INSTINCT'
KXRY - San Francisco classical radio station
According to an anonymous poster at the Mind of Tommy Westphall Live Journal, Morley's Cigarettes were seen in two episodes. This links the show to several other TV shows, most notably 'The X-Files' and 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'.

'NCIS'
The Recovery Channel, a cable tv network

'VERONICA MARS'
Movies:
'The Long Haul''
"Fierce Instinct"

And if you find anything of trivial interest in the shows you watch, let me know. I can't catch everything and can always use the help!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

A SOLO "HUSTLE" BY ANY OTHER NAME?

Tonight (Saturday 1/14 @ 10 pm), AMC will premiere a new series called 'Hustle'. It's new to the American shores; it was shown by the BBC back in 2004.

It's about a gang of con artistes who only choose as their marks those who have more than they should have, who have more than their fair share, or who are dangerously greedy. They never go after those people who can't afford it or who are basically good in nature. They are the enforcers for Karma.

Maybe they can cross over with 'My Name Is Earl'.

But in an interview in the NY Daily News with Marisa Guthrie, Robert Vaughn had a different crossover in mind.....

"I thought, well what if Napoleon Solo finished his work, got his retirement pension and then realized he couldn't live on it. How could he live in the wonderful world of girls and cars and jewelry? He couldn't.

"So rather than go way outside the law, what does he do? He becomes a con man."

In Vaughn's mind, there's a possibility that his character of Albert Stroller, the "roper" who finds the mark for the team to take on, is in reality Napoleon Solo from 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'.

It's an intriguing idea, but it all depends on how the characters' lives are fleshed out as the series progresses. This could be a show rich in background detail on each character, peeled away in layers over time, as we have been seeing the last two seasons with 'Lost'. Or they could be parsimonious with the information... information... information.... as happened with Number Six on 'The Prisoner'

Either way works well for Toobworld purposes. With a wealth of trivia, there could be no end to the number of links with other TV shows that could be forged. At the same time, a dearth of detail leaves pretty much a blank canvas upon which conjecture could be made.

Let's go back to Number Six - we know his birthdate, we met his fiancee, we know he takes no sugar in his tea. That's about it.

So what stops us from thinking Number Six was John Drake of 'Danger Man' (and Number 12 was Nelson Brenner from a 'Columbo' episode)?

Okay, besides McGoohan on occasion.......

Other actors have played this connection game in the past. Scott Bakula thought it would be cool if his character of Jonathan Archer on 'Enterprise' had the middle name of "Beckett", which would have made him a possible relative to Dr. Sam Beckett who was working on his own possible method of time travel in the late 20th Century.

However, as for Albert Stroller being Napoleon Solo, right now I'm leaning toward the idea that they are not the same cool dude. I think there's way too much info out there about Solo that prevents us from making that connection.

Albert Stroller could still be the alias for one of Vaughn's other characters. Personally, I think it more likely that he could be Harry Rule from 'The Protectors'.

Despite my preferences, a higher chance of compatibility would be with any of his one-off characters from TV movies and guest appearances on various shows - even as Jim Darling, Laura Petrie's old flame from an episode of 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'. Whad did we really know about him and what he had been doing since he knew Laura?

But he definitely could NOT be an alias for the character Vaughn played in an episode of 'Diagnosis Murder' ("Discards"), Alexander Drake. True, he was a spy and thus fitting the argument Vaughn made for Solo. And the name of "Alexander Drake" already sounds like an alias; like he had cobbled together the identity by stealing the first name from Alexander Mundy ("It Takes A Thief") and the last name from John Drake ("Danger Man").

However, as shown in that episode of 'Diagnosis Murder', there wasn't a lot of potential for a future with that character.......

BCnU!
Tele-Toby
Closing Channel D.......

"CRUMBS" WELCOMED

The links made via the new show 'Crumbs' are based on the same principle as those for 'Jake In Progress' and 'Will & Grace' this week: the televersions of famous people had their fictional lives expanded.

While she was a "guest" at the Cedar Hills Sanitarium in Connecticut, Suzanne Crumb won a lot of money playing poker against "that guy in Aerosmith".

I'm not so familiar with the group roster, but so long as no further information was forthcoming as to which member would be most likely in that facility with her, then I'm going to say it was Steven Tyler. And of course, that's because he can provide more links due to his membership in the League of Themselves.

Steven Tyler links 'Crumbs' to 'Stacked' ("A Fan For All Seasons"), 'Lizzie McGuire' ("Xtreme Xmas"), and 'Two And A Half Men' ("If I Can't Write My Chocolate Song, I'm Going To Take A Nap").

He also caused a commotion by just walking through a restaurant in the Sony Cybershot camera blipvert over a year ago.

With 'Stacked' and 'Two And A Half Men', he was in that transitional phase between a full guest appearance and just being talked about. That is, he was heard in the scenes but not seen.

Well, you did see his hand reach down into the bookstore's elevator where Katrina, his biggest fan, was trapped.

On 'Lizzie McGuire' he played Santa Claus for the local community and wouldn't waver from asserting his identity as Kris Kringle. But that could have been for two splainins - he didn't want a mob circus scene to go crazy if he revealed himself as "that guy from Aerosmith", and because he was "doin' it for the kids".

Over in the Tooniverse, Steven Tyler showed up in Springfield to play a set in celebration of the latest fad, a "Flaming Moe" drink. ('The Simpsons')

So by the very loose and sloppy Toobworld standards, 'Crumbs' enters the TV Universe right out of the gate.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

PARTYIN' LIVE WITH THE LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES

Where in the world is Matt Lauer?

Well, in Toobworld he was at Karen's party last night on 'Will & Grace'.

For their second live episode this season, 'Will & Grace' spent the whole episode in Karen's palatial bathroom during her birthday party. Matt Lauer was the only televersion who needed to use the facilities while they were all in there, (Actual character Beverly poked in as well.) but there was a stellar array of celebs just beyond the door.... at least so we were told.

Among the invited:

Yoko Ono (Rosario was convinced Yoko wanted her.)
Gore Vidal
Happy Rockefeller (Karen feared that Happy would be farting all night if she ate Will's pickled shrimp.)
Susan Sarandon
Tim Robbins
Liza Minnelli
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Grace grabbed his ass; he grabbed her boob.)
Diane Sawyer (Rosario's idol.)
and
John McCain (Grace thought he starred in 'Cheaper By The Dozen'.)

I don't know if Happy Rockefeller was ever mentioned in passing on a fictional TV series before. I would think some snarky sitcom would have at least mentioned the infamous circumstances surrounding her husband's death back in the late 1970s.

But if not, she should hope to get some other credits under her belt or it'll be the image of "Happy Farts" that will forever haunt her in Toobworld.

Despite their appearances on news programs, talk shows, and variety specials, Liza Minnelli, John McCain, Diane Sawyer, and Philip Seymour Hoffman have no actual televersions to speak of in Toobworld. (I'm not sure about comments made about their fictional lives in other shows; I would think Liza would be a natural in that department.)

This was especially surpising for Diane Sawyer, in that I would have thought she might have appeared on 'Murphy Brown' at some point as herself.

Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins both appeared on 'The Footy Show' and even though most of the people on that oddball series appeared as themselves, there was still Trevor Marmalade who relegates the whole exercise to "The Land of Fiction".

(Tim Robbins also has a 'Primetime Glick' to his credit, which has a similar application.)

As for Matt Lauer, his only other Toobworld apperance as himself is off in the Tooniverse, where he appeared in an episode of 'Father Of The Pride'.

So that leaves Gore Vidal and Yoko Ono, two names not normally associated with the idea of a TV Universe.

But Mr. Vidal has made appearances in two different dimensions of Toobworld. On Earth Prime-Time, he visited 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman' in her Fernwood home back in the mid-1970s. And in an alternate dimension that will split off from the main TV Land with the next Presidential election, Vidal hosted a TV documentary that looked back on the life of President Bobby McAllister. (In that dimension, he remained remarkably fit well into the 2020s, for a man born in 1925!)

As for Yoko Ono, she hosted Paul Buchman's visit to her home in the Dakota on 'Mad About You'.

The whole episode of 'Will & Grace' might have made for an excellent Crossover of the Week... with itself! That's because, aside from the crossovers due to the League of Themselves, the episode was performed live again a few hours later for the West Coast. So that episode, as with all live episodes of such dramatic shows that are repeated a second time that night, would be relegated to Earth Prime Time Delayed.

It would have made for a great Crossover of the Week.... except for a big Zonk!, that is. When Grace saw Jack in his flowery, garish dressing gown, she called him "Mrs. Roper". That would have been easy enough to splain away, but then Jack had to compound it by hitting us over the head with the fact that it was a reference to 'Three's Company'.

At least he didn't mention the spin-off of 'The Ropers'!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

BIG NEWS: "DOCTOR WHO" TO THE USA!

Oh, we lucky ducks in America! Get ready for March Madness!

'Doctor Who' is at last arriving on our airwaves in March, courtesy of a deal worked out between the Sci-Fi Channel and the BBC/

According to the BBC Online, the Sci Fi Channel has been granted the first-run rights for the series of Doctor Who written and executive produced by Russell T Davies. The channel also has an option on the second series, in which David Tennant takes over the time travelling adventurer's title role from Eccleston.

Sci FI Channel's Thomas P Vitale said, "With its rich history of imaginative storytelling, 'Doctor Who' is a true sci-fi classic. We're excited to add the show to our line up."

Candace Carlisle, from BBC Worldwide Americas, said: "The new production has fantastic storylines and production values and has already gained an iconic status around the world. Sci Fi Channel is the perfect home for the show and will introduce Doctor Who to a whole new generation of fans in the US."

I can't wait to hear the reaction of the American critics to Captain Jack Harkness, Inner Toob's choice for the Best Leading Male Character of 2005. And will the show fly under the radar of the American Family Association and other narrow-minded prudes? Should be interesting......

And speaking of ducks, Late may be better than Never, but there was no excuse for this show to have taken so long to reach our shores. I lay the blame on the suits at any network that might have had the opportunity to pick up the project earlier, and that includes the Sci-Fi Channel. (I'm told they balked at the accents!)

And the BBC shares some of the blame as well. From what I've heard, their initial asking price was too high.

I just felt the need to vent, which is wrong, because the Toobworld concept should be free of concern for what happens behind the scenes.

Nevertheless, (speaking of ducks), this is a classic example of a Toobworld mantra....

Network executives should be nibbled to death by ducks.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

EVERYTHING'S JAKE & COMING UP ROSIE

There are several League of Themselves variations for crossovers this week, folks. And since the Crossover of the Week is locked down (to be revealed on Monday), I may as well start posting these now.

First up:

'JAKE IN PROGRESS'
&
'CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM'

Naomi destroyed Rosie O'Donnell's career!

As Naomi described it, Rosie used to be famous and now she's not.

And that should be a lesson to anyone who dares to cross Naomi.

Rosie's last appearance as a fictional character, as a televersion of herself, was in this past season of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'. But the mention of her by Naomi doesn't imply that it follows that appearance in a linear timeline. There's no way of knowing when Naomi exacted her revenge, but it would have to be after Rosie's talk show ended.

Rosie O'Donnell has made appearances as her televersion in the following shows:

'Curb Your Enthusiasm'
'The Nanny'
'Suddenly, Susan'
'Primetime Glick'
'Spin City' (alt. dimension)
'Blue's Clues' (alt. dimension? Blue could be a virtual reality projection)

And there may even be more examples like 'Jake In Progress', in which a famous person is involved without actually having to appear. ('Movie Stars' was good for this type of "link".)

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

VULCANIZED "BONES"

FBI Agent Seeley Booth understood why Angela Montenegro couldn't remain detached from her work as a forensic artist, because "she wasn't raised on Vulcan" like the others on Dr. Temperance Brennan's team at the Jeffersonian Institute.

"Bones" Brennan's response? "I don't know what that means."

I do - a big, Zonk!ing headache.

TV shows that make reference to 'Star Trek' is probably the most common of all Zonk!s for Toobworld. 'Star Trek' is supposed to be part of Toobworld's future, and yet all of these characters who have been around since the late 1960s know about their future due to a TV show which dramatized it.

'Frasier' attended a sci-fi convention and met somebody dressed as a Klingon.

During his 'Wonder Years', Kevin Arnold once fantasized himself and his friends as characters on the show.

After getting food poisoning at a convention, a lot of Trekkies had to be treated by the 'Nurses' of a Miami hospital.

At least the future of 'Futurama' is beyond 'Star Trek' by about six centuries, and even though it's just a TV show for them, I could shrug it off as being relegated to the Tooniverse. But that doesn't take into account 'Star Trek: The Animated Series'......

Like I said, one big headache.

And when it comes to mentioning the planet Vulcan, it's not just 'Star Trek' that's being Zonk!ed, but also 'Doctor Who'. In "The Power Of The Daleks", the first story to feature Patrick Troughton as the Doctor in his second incarnation (and which sadly has been lost by the idiocies of the BBC), there was a colony of humans on Vulcan by 2220. They were attacked by three rogue Daleks which had buried themselves into the soil of Vulcan two hundred years before.

The Doctor, with help from his companions Polly and Ben, was able to destroy the machine-encased monstrosities, but most of the humans were killed by that point. However, it is unknown if any of the host Vulcans were killed before the arrival of the TARDIS. As there was no mention of them being on the planet at all during the story, it seems to me that the Vulcans had allowed these humans to establish their colony in one of the uninhabited regions of their planet and suffered their presence as the Earthlings began mining the planet for what rightfully belonged to the Vulcans.

It's possible the Vulcans weren't too sorry about what the Daleks did. Wait, what am I thinking? That would have been an emotional reaction.

Officially, the first contact between the Vulcans and the people of Earth won't be taking place until 2063, after Zephraim Cochrane made the first warp flight out of Earth's atmosphere. (This was all played out in the movie "Star Trek: First Contact".)

But the Vulcans had visited Earth in the past, most notably in 1957 as seen in an episode of "Enterprise". Three Vulcans were stranded for a time in a small mining town in Pennsylvania. (There they met the future scientist Jackson Roykirk as a young teenager.)

One of them was left behind to live hidden among the humans, but the only impact they might have made by this contact was the introduction of Velcro to Earth culture.

Right now, it's my way of thinking that at least Agent Booth knows about Vulcan because of this incident. That eventually that stranded Vulcan somehow came to the notice of the governmental authorities in America, and it was all hushed up in one of 'The X-Files' compiled by Agent Arthur Dales.

Booth may be all queasy around the forensics done at the Institute, and yet he probably never did a spit take when he got the chance to look at some of those files maintained by Special Agent Fox Mulder.

However, that still doesn't splain why everybody - except Dr. Brennan, - seems to know about 'Star Trek' as a TV series.

I can't pass off the idea once suggested to me that the stranded Vulcan made it to Hollywood where he gave Gene Roddenberry the idea for the show, as he was a contemporary of 1957 Earth, not flung backwards from the future of 'Star Trek'. So there was no way for him to know about Captain Kirk and Company.

No, that scenario only works if someone from the future beyond the known reaches of 'Star Trek' and its many franchises came back in Time to pull off such a stunt? And why do it at all? Perhaps to better prepare the world for the role it would one day play in the universe.

WDIK?

BCnU... and live long and prosper!
Tele-Toby

AQUA-MANAGEMENT

The WB has finally announced who will be their next small screen hero in the upcoming series 'Aquaman'. Twenty-eight-year-old newcomer Will Toale will star in the title role in the new series from 'Smallville' creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.

The Florida-born Toale worked as a model before landing a supporting role in "A Streetcar Named Desire" at Broadway's Roundabout Theater alongside Natasha Richardson and John C. Reilly.

Broadway, Tennessee Williams, Richardson and Reilly.... no small potatoes!

The pilot is expected to be shot in Miami, and the series will start as part of the WB’s fall offering lineup. (There are reports that 'Aquaman' will not be the title for the series.)

"In the comic, Aquaman's the lost king of Atlantis," said Gough. "But in our version, he is Arthur Curry, this twenty-something who owns a dive shop."

I'll have to take a wait-and-see attitude on this new 'Aquaman'; wait for more information. If the show remains independent of 'Smallville', then everything is fine, because the 'Smallville' universe (which also houses 'The West Wing' and 'Mr. Sterling') already has its own 'Aquaman'. The trouble and splainins begin if a crossover ever happens.

And how could they resist? Same network, same producers, and 'Smallville' is enjoying some of its best ratings ever. Kal-El may not have his cape yet, but he's got some great coattails to ride.

So if they do cross over the new 'Aquaman' to 'Smallville', a splainin will have to be found as to why he no longer looks like Alan Ritchson in that stand-alone episode, 'Aqua'.

If he never crosses over, we can leave him beached in some alt. TV dimension. But which one?

The Tooniverse has its own Aquaman; a traditional rendering of the superhero based on the comic books. And in the main Toobworld, Aquaman is just a comic book character, and a joke at that considering the scorn heaped on the concept by Vince Chase's 'Entourage'.

But their contempt comes from ignorance about a race of mermen that actually do exist in Toobworld. Most notably there is Mark Harris, 'The Man From Atlantis', but various merfolk have been seen in episodes of 'Doctor Who' ("The Underwater Menace") and a tele-flick for 'Sabrina The Teenage Witch' ("Sabrina Down Under").

According to the comic books, Arthur Curry is the son of a human father and an Atlantean mother. (In a similar vein, 'Fantastic Journey' featured Liana, who was born of a human mother and an Atlantean father.)

The fact that Aquaman is a comic book character in Toobworld doesn't negate the possibility that he actually exists there. Superman is regarded mostly as a comic book character in today's Toobworld, but he actually did exist, serving Metropolis and saving the world until his death in the early 1960s. (Whole other story!)

But even while he was alive, Superman was a comic book character, as seen in "The Birthday Letter" episode of 'The Adventures of Superman'. I would guess that Supes okayed its publication, so long as all profits went to some charity to help the kids.

And after his death, somebody - perhaps Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen? - was able to reveal the full story of the Man of Steel. And that's how Jerry 'Seinfeld' knew that Superman's birth-father was Jor-El.

So if the King of Atlantis is out there as Arthur Curry in Earth Prime-Time he has not revealed himself.

He wouldn't have been hard to miss, though, with that garish orange body-shirt!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby