Phil Brown has passed away. He was most recognizable to modern audiences for playing Luke Skywalker's uncle, Owen Lars, although he only appeared in the first "Star Wars" film for a handful of scenes. He in fact had a long and successful career in New York, Hollywood, and Europe.
A Stanford University graduate (class of 1937), he joined the Group Theatre of New York in 1938 before moving to Hollywood in 1941 where he quickly came to be cast in a series of roles as “the guy who didn’t get the girl.” He soon took to directing as well.
Unfortunately, Brown fell victim to the Red-hunters of the ’50s and was blacklisted in 1952, despite his claims to never have been a Communist. This prompted a move to London for Brown and his family, where he stayed until 1992 and was able to act and direct on the West End as well as in television and films.
The success of "Star Wars" also allowed Brown to join the convention circuit for many years.
TV MOVIES
Maneaters Are Loose! (1978) (TV) .... Kevin Pennington
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1978) (TV) .... Jeremiah Cobb
Roast Goose and Walnut Stuffing (1959) (TV) .... John Sloan
The Offshore Island (1959) (TV) .... Captain Charles
TV MINI-SERIES
"The Fortunate Pilgrim" (1988) (mini) TV Series .... Supervisor F/O
"Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years" (1981) (mini) TV Series .... Lord Beaverbrook
"Oppenheimer" (1980) (mini) TV Series .... Strauss
"The Martian Chronicles" (1980) (mini) TV Series .... Mr. Black (Capt. Black's father)
TV RELATED MOVIES
Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming (1999) .... Council Elder
Star Wars (1977) .... Uncle Owen Lars
TV GUEST APPEARANCES
"The Professionals"
- Take Away (1980) TV Episode .... Callahan
"Tales of the Unexpected"
- Edward the Conqueror (1979) TV Episode .... F. Milton Willis
"The Protectors"
- It Was All Over in Leipzig (1972) TV Episode .... Adam Markos
"Bonanza"
- The Night Virginia City Died (1970) TV Episode .... Wade Tucker
"Journey to the Unknown"
- Stranger in the Family (1969) TV Episode .... Charles Wilson
"The Troubleshooters"
- Operation Saigon (1966) TV Episode .... Harry Tobin
"The Four Just Men"
- The Bystanders (1960) TV Episode .... Albert Peterson
"Interpol Calling"
- The Money Game (1959) TV Episode .... Brownley
"Dial 999"
- Extradition (1959) TV Episode .... Vic Brady
"White Hunter"
- The Inside Story (1957) TV Episode .... Sherman Wick
"The Scarlet Pimpernel"
- Thanksgiving Day (1956) TV Episode .... Rawlingson
"Colonel March of Scotland Yard"
- Present Tense (1956) TV Episode .... Gordon
- The Sorcerer (1956) TV Episode .... Brian Hayes
"Sailor of Fortune"
- The Million Dollar Rose Tree (1956) TV Episode .... Clayton
"The Vise"
- Never Let Me Die (1955) TV Episode
- The Corpse in Room Thirteen (1955) TV Episode
"Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents"
- My Favorite Aunt (1953) TV Episode
[Thanks to the IMDb.com]
BCnU.....
Tele-Toby
Friday, February 24, 2006
THE SHILLS ARE ALIVE!
Of the commercials that premiered during the Super Bowl, the ones that seemed to be most reviled were the Diet Pepsi twofer - both starring Jay Mohr as the televersion of Bob Sugar from the "Jerry McGuire" movie, and with P. Diddy in one and Jackie Chan in the other.
Despite the buckets of bucks he must have made, Mohr looked like he was squirming in his seat; like he should have been cast in a Preparation H blipvert instead!
I think the main complaint was that the premise was idiotic - that a soda can was alive.
But I didn't find it idiotic; that can was definitely alive. On cue it popped its top to lay down its "brown & bubbly" sound to P. Diddy's track; and it popped that top again as if was a Kung Fu move for the Jackie Chan movie.
I had no trouble believing that. I couldn't buy into the idea that Diet Pepsi would be so popular that it needed an agent.
[Full disclosure - I used to drink Coke. I hate the taste of Pepsi. Also, I hate anything connected to Tom Cruise because of the blasphemy committed against my memories of the TV version of 'Mission Impossible'. As he was one of the producers, Cruise could have done something to change a key plot point.]
Maybe all of the people complaining are fans of Diet Coke as well, not Diet Pepsi, because they don't usually complain about inanimate objects coming alive in TV commercials. For years, people thought nothing of conversing with a maple syrup bottle or chatting up a walking talking pile of cookie dough.
Perhaps if the Diet Pepsi can had fully articulate arms and legs and a smiley face?
But then again, nobody said "Boo" about the Bud Bowl......
Currently, Toyota Rav 4 is running two blipverts in which inanimate objects have come alive, and without the benefit of faces, arms, or legs.
In the first, a shopping mall parking lot is besieged by packages run amok. They scurry and flip and even climb trees; maneuvers that would stymie the drivers of anything but a Rav 4.
In the other, the Rav 4 is pursued by a relentless horde of orange traffic cones, but the driver is able to outthink them and leave them in his wake.
In the various sites I visit which deal with TV advertising, I don't see anybody making a big deal over these. Maybe they're not inanimate objects of affection, but nobody's calling for the torches and pitchforks either.
As the Faithful might expect, I have a splainin for both.
The packages are obviously a ploy by the evil megalithic corporation which runs that shopping outlet to keep its customers under its thrall. But somehow the microchips or whatever that was implanted in their purchases was triggered too early, when it was supposed to attack the owners once they were home. (This would have made a great newspaper story for 'The Chronicle', if it had only been still around.)
As for the orange traffic cones, they are made of plastic and serve the will of the Nestene Consciousness. This alien aggregate has finally smartened up and decided that its latest component should land in some other country besides England, to avoid a certain time-traveling Doctor.
The guy in the Rav 4 could be a member of 'Torchwood' working in America without letting the FBI or UNIT know that he's there. And as such, he's probably leading those possessed traffic cones into a trap so that they could be brought back for study at headquarters in Cardiff......
Just because we have to wait about a year for 'Torchwood' to premiere, that doesn't mean they're not at work already in Toobworld!
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
Despite the buckets of bucks he must have made, Mohr looked like he was squirming in his seat; like he should have been cast in a Preparation H blipvert instead!
I think the main complaint was that the premise was idiotic - that a soda can was alive.
But I didn't find it idiotic; that can was definitely alive. On cue it popped its top to lay down its "brown & bubbly" sound to P. Diddy's track; and it popped that top again as if was a Kung Fu move for the Jackie Chan movie.
I had no trouble believing that. I couldn't buy into the idea that Diet Pepsi would be so popular that it needed an agent.
[Full disclosure - I used to drink Coke. I hate the taste of Pepsi. Also, I hate anything connected to Tom Cruise because of the blasphemy committed against my memories of the TV version of 'Mission Impossible'. As he was one of the producers, Cruise could have done something to change a key plot point.]
Maybe all of the people complaining are fans of Diet Coke as well, not Diet Pepsi, because they don't usually complain about inanimate objects coming alive in TV commercials. For years, people thought nothing of conversing with a maple syrup bottle or chatting up a walking talking pile of cookie dough.
Perhaps if the Diet Pepsi can had fully articulate arms and legs and a smiley face?
But then again, nobody said "Boo" about the Bud Bowl......
Currently, Toyota Rav 4 is running two blipverts in which inanimate objects have come alive, and without the benefit of faces, arms, or legs.
In the first, a shopping mall parking lot is besieged by packages run amok. They scurry and flip and even climb trees; maneuvers that would stymie the drivers of anything but a Rav 4.
In the other, the Rav 4 is pursued by a relentless horde of orange traffic cones, but the driver is able to outthink them and leave them in his wake.
In the various sites I visit which deal with TV advertising, I don't see anybody making a big deal over these. Maybe they're not inanimate objects of affection, but nobody's calling for the torches and pitchforks either.
As the Faithful might expect, I have a splainin for both.
The packages are obviously a ploy by the evil megalithic corporation which runs that shopping outlet to keep its customers under its thrall. But somehow the microchips or whatever that was implanted in their purchases was triggered too early, when it was supposed to attack the owners once they were home. (This would have made a great newspaper story for 'The Chronicle', if it had only been still around.)
As for the orange traffic cones, they are made of plastic and serve the will of the Nestene Consciousness. This alien aggregate has finally smartened up and decided that its latest component should land in some other country besides England, to avoid a certain time-traveling Doctor.
The guy in the Rav 4 could be a member of 'Torchwood' working in America without letting the FBI or UNIT know that he's there. And as such, he's probably leading those possessed traffic cones into a trap so that they could be brought back for study at headquarters in Cardiff......
Just because we have to wait about a year for 'Torchwood' to premiere, that doesn't mean they're not at work already in Toobworld!
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
ELI'S COMING....
Former 'LA Law' star Corbin Bernsen will appear on February 28th episode of 'Boston Legal'. Unfortunately for those of us who are fans of TV crossovers, his character's name will be Eli Granger, not Arnie Becker.
Had Arnie been a character that David E. Kelley created when he worked on 'LA Law', perhaps he might have had the muscle to get the right to bring the character over from another network, as he did with Chi McBride's character from 'Boston Public'. But he joined the Bochco-Fischer production when it was already in progress and Arnie was already established.
Some fancy maneuvering and sleight-of-hand writing skills might be able to come up with a proper reason why we should assume Arnie Becker was now working in Boston under an alias. After all, 'LA Law' has been off the air for over a decade. Look at your own life - lots of things have happened to you in ten years, am I right? (Me? Nah, my life's frozen in amber.)
Perhaps he was forced to go into the witness protection program because he represented (and eventually bedded) the ex-wife of a powerful mobster. To keep it topical, maybe Arnie helped the wife of a Muslim diplomat sever the marital ties to her abusive husband, and now he has a fatwah declared against him.
Of course, that type of speculation gets shot down in a hurry. If he was under federal protection, they never would have put him into a high-profile city like Boston; nor would they let him continue to practice law, especially divorce law!
My way of thinking is to go the traditional route - the Patty-Cathy Option. Arnie Becker and Eli Granger are cousins, identical cousins.
Or to bring it closer to home, DNA-wise, if the acorn didn't fall far from the tree, maybe Arnie's dad got his nut off (to keep that metaphor going) with Eli Granger's mom.
Half-brothers, growing up on opposite sides of the country, natural aspects of aging (i.e., Corbin Bernsen's hairline) making the physical dissimilarities just distinct enough to put the concept into play, and both following the same line of work (and probably the same lascivious relationships with their clients)..... We've seen stranger things happen in Toobworld.
Somehow, I'll bet there will be at least one in-joke made in reference to 'LA Law' during the course of that 'Boston Legal' episode this Tuesday night.....
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
Had Arnie been a character that David E. Kelley created when he worked on 'LA Law', perhaps he might have had the muscle to get the right to bring the character over from another network, as he did with Chi McBride's character from 'Boston Public'. But he joined the Bochco-Fischer production when it was already in progress and Arnie was already established.
Some fancy maneuvering and sleight-of-hand writing skills might be able to come up with a proper reason why we should assume Arnie Becker was now working in Boston under an alias. After all, 'LA Law' has been off the air for over a decade. Look at your own life - lots of things have happened to you in ten years, am I right? (Me? Nah, my life's frozen in amber.)
Perhaps he was forced to go into the witness protection program because he represented (and eventually bedded) the ex-wife of a powerful mobster. To keep it topical, maybe Arnie helped the wife of a Muslim diplomat sever the marital ties to her abusive husband, and now he has a fatwah declared against him.
Of course, that type of speculation gets shot down in a hurry. If he was under federal protection, they never would have put him into a high-profile city like Boston; nor would they let him continue to practice law, especially divorce law!
My way of thinking is to go the traditional route - the Patty-Cathy Option. Arnie Becker and Eli Granger are cousins, identical cousins.
Or to bring it closer to home, DNA-wise, if the acorn didn't fall far from the tree, maybe Arnie's dad got his nut off (to keep that metaphor going) with Eli Granger's mom.
Half-brothers, growing up on opposite sides of the country, natural aspects of aging (i.e., Corbin Bernsen's hairline) making the physical dissimilarities just distinct enough to put the concept into play, and both following the same line of work (and probably the same lascivious relationships with their clients)..... We've seen stranger things happen in Toobworld.
Somehow, I'll bet there will be at least one in-joke made in reference to 'LA Law' during the course of that 'Boston Legal' episode this Tuesday night.....
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
Thursday, February 23, 2006
WELCOME TO OFFICEWORLD
For the first time, 'The Office' franchise is being translated into a foreign language. 'Le Bureau', as the show will be called, will take the same approach that NBC did in translating the scripts for an American audience.
"This is the first time that the scripts have been translated into a foreign language but we are confident it will work," says a BBC spokesperson.
"We're not talking about a literal translation - we had a team who went over to France to work with the French scriptwriters to produce something that will work with a French audience. Ricky Gervais has also been involved.
"The scripts have been Gallicised for a French audience - but the beauty of the original was that it played on universal values, the workplace and what happens around the coffee machine."
The BBC said it was confident that the remake of such a quintessentially British comedy will strike a chord in France and still maintain the spirit of the original when it appears on the pay-TV channel Canal Plus in May.
The "mockumentary", which exploits the comic divide between an over-zealous boss and a monotonous workplace in the style of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, has already spawned an American version, which looks to be headed for a third season (one more than the British original).
The French version also locates its cast at a paper merchants in a less-than-dynamic provincial town. Instead of Slough, 'Le Bureau' will be set in Villepinte, a town north of Paris once known for producing beetroot and home to one of France's largest business parks.
The David Brent character becomes Gilles Triquet, played by the veteran film and television actor François Berléand.
Although it might be interesting to see how the show would work if it was translated for a Chinese audience (How long before the young lovers in the office are run over by tanks?), I'm thinking the next step should be to set the show in the far future. Have it be about some jerk functionary in a dull bureaucratic cubbyhole of Starfleet. Let the focus of the show be someone who thinks his paper-pushing (an antiquated term by then, of course) has some grand effect on the galaxy.
I'll bet there was a David Brent type of character on board 'Babylon 5'!
But whether he was Centauri or Minbari.....?
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
"This is the first time that the scripts have been translated into a foreign language but we are confident it will work," says a BBC spokesperson.
"We're not talking about a literal translation - we had a team who went over to France to work with the French scriptwriters to produce something that will work with a French audience. Ricky Gervais has also been involved.
"The scripts have been Gallicised for a French audience - but the beauty of the original was that it played on universal values, the workplace and what happens around the coffee machine."
The BBC said it was confident that the remake of such a quintessentially British comedy will strike a chord in France and still maintain the spirit of the original when it appears on the pay-TV channel Canal Plus in May.
The "mockumentary", which exploits the comic divide between an over-zealous boss and a monotonous workplace in the style of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, has already spawned an American version, which looks to be headed for a third season (one more than the British original).
The French version also locates its cast at a paper merchants in a less-than-dynamic provincial town. Instead of Slough, 'Le Bureau' will be set in Villepinte, a town north of Paris once known for producing beetroot and home to one of France's largest business parks.
The David Brent character becomes Gilles Triquet, played by the veteran film and television actor François Berléand.
Although it might be interesting to see how the show would work if it was translated for a Chinese audience (How long before the young lovers in the office are run over by tanks?), I'm thinking the next step should be to set the show in the far future. Have it be about some jerk functionary in a dull bureaucratic cubbyhole of Starfleet. Let the focus of the show be someone who thinks his paper-pushing (an antiquated term by then, of course) has some grand effect on the galaxy.
I'll bet there was a David Brent type of character on board 'Babylon 5'!
But whether he was Centauri or Minbari.....?
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
"RED" CHANNELED
Jeff Goldblum is in final negotiations to star in 'Seeing Red', about an "eccentric, brilliant cop" who solves murder cases by talking with the ghosts of the victims. Frank Darabont is directing the pilot.
This is being developed for NBC, so you can already guess what to expect by November sweeps should this show be picked up for the fall sked....
A 'Medium'/'Seeing Red' crossover!
Of course, I would have expected a 'Law & Order'/'Third Watch' crossover at some point during the run of 'Third Watch', but what do I know?
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
This is being developed for NBC, so you can already guess what to expect by November sweeps should this show be picked up for the fall sked....
A 'Medium'/'Seeing Red' crossover!
Of course, I would have expected a 'Law & Order'/'Third Watch' crossover at some point during the run of 'Third Watch', but what do I know?
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
AQUAMAN ON RECASTAWAY ISLAND
One more story.....
'Aquaman' has been picked up by The CW, the network that is rising from the ashes of The WB and UPN. But there will be a change in casting - Justin Hartley will replace Will Toale as Aquaman.
This has no effect on Toobworld, however. Since the show hasn't aired yet, Justin Hartley will be Aquaman when it does so.
But there will be a splainin needed for why he's not the same Aquaman as in 'Smallville' last year - if they do make the connection between the two shows. I posted on this back in January, so for now that splainin twill serve.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
'Aquaman' has been picked up by The CW, the network that is rising from the ashes of The WB and UPN. But there will be a change in casting - Justin Hartley will replace Will Toale as Aquaman.
This has no effect on Toobworld, however. Since the show hasn't aired yet, Justin Hartley will be Aquaman when it does so.
But there will be a splainin needed for why he's not the same Aquaman as in 'Smallville' last year - if they do make the connection between the two shows. I posted on this back in January, so for now that splainin twill serve.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
PASSING, THROUGH TOOBWORLD
It's always been my contention that when an actor dies in the real world, it doesn't mean that all of the characters they played in "present day" Toobworld should also be considered as having died.
Jim Hutton died back in the mid-1970s, but I think his portrayal of Ellery Queen lives on.... although he's now probably about 102 years old!
But when that fictional character is the tele-version of the person playing him - that is, a celebrity portraying him(or her)self, then we have no choice but to consider them dead in Toobworld as well.
(One extenuating circumstance - if the episode in which they appear was set in the future. As such, even if author William Gibson gets killed by a bus tomorrow, in Toobworld he'll be alive at least until 2012 - the year during which 'Wild Palms' takes place. And the tele-version of Frank Gorshin lived at least a few days longer than the original model did here in the real world, thanks to an appearance on 'CSI'.)
This was brought home with true finality in the February 14th episode of 'Gilmore Girls'. Betty Friedan had only passed away ten days earlier, but her death was remaked upon in that episode.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
Jim Hutton died back in the mid-1970s, but I think his portrayal of Ellery Queen lives on.... although he's now probably about 102 years old!
But when that fictional character is the tele-version of the person playing him - that is, a celebrity portraying him(or her)self, then we have no choice but to consider them dead in Toobworld as well.
(One extenuating circumstance - if the episode in which they appear was set in the future. As such, even if author William Gibson gets killed by a bus tomorrow, in Toobworld he'll be alive at least until 2012 - the year during which 'Wild Palms' takes place. And the tele-version of Frank Gorshin lived at least a few days longer than the original model did here in the real world, thanks to an appearance on 'CSI'.)
This was brought home with true finality in the February 14th episode of 'Gilmore Girls'. Betty Friedan had only passed away ten days earlier, but her death was remaked upon in that episode.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
CRYSTAL MYTH
Every so often, something - or someone, - comes along which I could use to connect so many TV shows together by a common theme, or at the very least provides some sort of splainin for an aspect of life in Toobworld.
For instance - 'The 4400'. There's no way that we'll ever meet all 4400 of the abductees during the run of the series. So it could serve as a dumping ground for all of those characters who just disappeared from TV shows with no mention as to where they had gone. The oldest son on 'Davis Rules'; the youngest son on 'Grounded For Life'.
But not the classic MIA - Chuck Cunningham of 'Happy Days'. I know what happened to him - his crazy-eyed younger sister Joanie killed him!
'Between Time And Timbuktu' gave the name for the passageway between dimensions which has been utilized on such shows as 'Sliders' and the 'Star Trek' franchise - the Chrono-Synclastic Infundibulum. It's that same wormhole through which the Doctor travels in his TARDIS.
As for characters who serve as a nexus of connectivity, there's Sweet the Demon from the musical episode of 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'. Thanks to his appearance, I now have a reason for the existence of 'Hull High', 'Cop Rock', 'That's Life', and now 'High School Musical', among others.
Fabian Lavendor, the undertaker played by Carroll O'Connor in an episode of 'The Wild Wild West', splains away all those cowboy bad guys who kept showing up in all of the TV shows with the same faces. (In the real world, the reason is casting - actors like Jack Elam, Morgan Woodward, and Victor French just kept getting used over and over again.) Lavendor was just giving new aliases to villains everyone believed to have been gunned down.
And then there's Red the Squirrel from 'My Favorite Martian --# Well, I'll just hold off on that one for now, as he figures into Monday's posting of the Crossover Of The Week.....
So now I have a new one. I've been catching up on old 'Doctor Who' stories I've missed over the decades (which is most of them). And I just finished watching "The Visitation" featuring the Fifth Doctor.
While they were exploring a crashed escape pod in the woods of 17th Century England, actor and highwayman Richard Mace wanted to know what was providing the lighting inside the wreck.
"Vintarac Crystals are a common source of illumination," splained the Doctor.
First off, "vintarac crystals" are a great sci-fi idea on its own merits. Crystals that were able to supply illumination would help save on the power generated by the ship's engines for other functions like speed or life support.
As to how they work, my best guess would be that they absorb ambient radiation and then transform that into the safe release of light. As such, they would also serve a beneficial life-saving purpose as well.
For Toobworld's purposes, if vintarac crystals are a common source of illumination, then ships of other alien races must use them.
Since they're probably bio/eco-friendly, I would imagine most Vulcan ships are equipped with them in the 'Star Trek' franchise.
Moya, the living spaceship on 'Farscape', might have these crystals as body piercings; her outer hide studded with them to draw in the radiation of outer space which would then be released as harmless luminance.
The 'Babylon 5' space station might use the vintarac crystals. And so would the Minbari, the Narn, the Centaurians, the Drazzi, the Gaim and the pa'k ma'ra; probably the Vorlons as well.
Maybe the Vogon Constructor Fleet uses these crystals as well, although from what we saw of them in 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy', the Vogons don't seem the types to care much for proficiency.
'Firefly' and the new version of 'Battlestar Galactica' may take place in an alternate dimension, but there's no reason to think they wouldn't have access to the vintarac crystals on their side of the chrono-synclastic infundibulum.
When it comes to TV trivia like this, Toobworld brings good things to light!
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
For instance - 'The 4400'. There's no way that we'll ever meet all 4400 of the abductees during the run of the series. So it could serve as a dumping ground for all of those characters who just disappeared from TV shows with no mention as to where they had gone. The oldest son on 'Davis Rules'; the youngest son on 'Grounded For Life'.
But not the classic MIA - Chuck Cunningham of 'Happy Days'. I know what happened to him - his crazy-eyed younger sister Joanie killed him!
'Between Time And Timbuktu' gave the name for the passageway between dimensions which has been utilized on such shows as 'Sliders' and the 'Star Trek' franchise - the Chrono-Synclastic Infundibulum. It's that same wormhole through which the Doctor travels in his TARDIS.
As for characters who serve as a nexus of connectivity, there's Sweet the Demon from the musical episode of 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'. Thanks to his appearance, I now have a reason for the existence of 'Hull High', 'Cop Rock', 'That's Life', and now 'High School Musical', among others.
Fabian Lavendor, the undertaker played by Carroll O'Connor in an episode of 'The Wild Wild West', splains away all those cowboy bad guys who kept showing up in all of the TV shows with the same faces. (In the real world, the reason is casting - actors like Jack Elam, Morgan Woodward, and Victor French just kept getting used over and over again.) Lavendor was just giving new aliases to villains everyone believed to have been gunned down.
And then there's Red the Squirrel from 'My Favorite Martian --# Well, I'll just hold off on that one for now, as he figures into Monday's posting of the Crossover Of The Week.....
So now I have a new one. I've been catching up on old 'Doctor Who' stories I've missed over the decades (which is most of them). And I just finished watching "The Visitation" featuring the Fifth Doctor.
While they were exploring a crashed escape pod in the woods of 17th Century England, actor and highwayman Richard Mace wanted to know what was providing the lighting inside the wreck.
"Vintarac Crystals are a common source of illumination," splained the Doctor.
First off, "vintarac crystals" are a great sci-fi idea on its own merits. Crystals that were able to supply illumination would help save on the power generated by the ship's engines for other functions like speed or life support.
As to how they work, my best guess would be that they absorb ambient radiation and then transform that into the safe release of light. As such, they would also serve a beneficial life-saving purpose as well.
For Toobworld's purposes, if vintarac crystals are a common source of illumination, then ships of other alien races must use them.
Since they're probably bio/eco-friendly, I would imagine most Vulcan ships are equipped with them in the 'Star Trek' franchise.
Moya, the living spaceship on 'Farscape', might have these crystals as body piercings; her outer hide studded with them to draw in the radiation of outer space which would then be released as harmless luminance.
The 'Babylon 5' space station might use the vintarac crystals. And so would the Minbari, the Narn, the Centaurians, the Drazzi, the Gaim and the pa'k ma'ra; probably the Vorlons as well.
Maybe the Vogon Constructor Fleet uses these crystals as well, although from what we saw of them in 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy', the Vogons don't seem the types to care much for proficiency.
'Firefly' and the new version of 'Battlestar Galactica' may take place in an alternate dimension, but there's no reason to think they wouldn't have access to the vintarac crystals on their side of the chrono-synclastic infundibulum.
When it comes to TV trivia like this, Toobworld brings good things to light!
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
THE HAT SQUAD: LOU GISH
Actress Lou Gish passed away in the early hours of Monday, 20 February 2006 after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 35. Her death comes less than a year after that of her mother, the actress Sheila Gish, who was also a cancer victim).
The daughter of Sheila Gish and Roland Curram, Lou Gish (who previously acted under the name Curram) was born on 27 May 1970. She was raised in London and originally saw herself as an artist rather than an actress. She trained in Camberwell and went on to gain a BA Honours at the Camberwell School of Art.
However, a role in a fringe play in Paddington saw her land an agent, and this convinced her to follow in thespian footsteps of her family (which also included her stepfather, actor-director Denis Lawson). Over the course of her career she appeared on both stage and screen.
Her agent, Peter Brooks of CAM, told Whatsonstage.com: “Speaking for myself and all at CAM, we are desperately sad today.”
Alan Finch, executive director of Chichester Festival Theatre, added: "We are shocked and saddened by Lou’s death. She was a wonderful actress and was tremendously brave, returning to Chichester to perform in King Lear last summer after the then recent death of her mother. Our thoughts are with her family at this sad time."
TV SERIES
"Without Motive" (2000) TV Series .... DC Linda Harris
"Microsoap" (1998) TV Series .... Jennifer
"Holding the Baby" (1997) TV Series .... Claire
TV SERIES [RECURRING]
"Coupling"
- The Freckle, the Key and the Couple Who Weren't (2002) TV Episode .... Julia Davis
- Unconditional Sex (2002) TV Episode .... Julia Davis
- Faithless (2002) TV Episode .... Julia Davis
- The End of the Line (2001) TV Episode .... Julia Davis
- Naked (2001) TV Episode .... Julia Davis
TV GUEST APPEARANCES
"New Tricks"
- Episode #2.7 (2005) TV Episode .... Bernice
"Casualty"
- Love's Labours... Lost (2004) TV Episode .... Angela Chalmers
- Blood Brothers (2000) TV Episode .... Kate Ferris
"Doctors"
- High Anxiety (2004) TV Episode .... Anne Davison
"Wire in the Blood"
- Shadows Rising: Part 2 (2002) TV Episode .... Beth Morris
- Shadows Rising: Part 1 (2002) TV Episode .... Beth Morris
"The Vice"
- One More Time (2002) TV Episode .... Dawn
"Where the Heart Is"
- Runaways (2001) TV Episode .... Wendy Atkins
"Hope & Glory"
- Episode #1.6 (1999) TV Episode .... Sarah Ward
- Episode #1.2 (1999) TV Episode .... Sarah Ward
"Game On"
- Bruce Willis & Robert De Niro Holding a Fish (1996) TV Episode .... Tesni
BCnU....
Tele-Toby
The daughter of Sheila Gish and Roland Curram, Lou Gish (who previously acted under the name Curram) was born on 27 May 1970. She was raised in London and originally saw herself as an artist rather than an actress. She trained in Camberwell and went on to gain a BA Honours at the Camberwell School of Art.
However, a role in a fringe play in Paddington saw her land an agent, and this convinced her to follow in thespian footsteps of her family (which also included her stepfather, actor-director Denis Lawson). Over the course of her career she appeared on both stage and screen.
Her agent, Peter Brooks of CAM, told Whatsonstage.com: “Speaking for myself and all at CAM, we are desperately sad today.”
Alan Finch, executive director of Chichester Festival Theatre, added: "We are shocked and saddened by Lou’s death. She was a wonderful actress and was tremendously brave, returning to Chichester to perform in King Lear last summer after the then recent death of her mother. Our thoughts are with her family at this sad time."
TV SERIES
"Without Motive" (2000) TV Series .... DC Linda Harris
"Microsoap" (1998) TV Series .... Jennifer
"Holding the Baby" (1997) TV Series .... Claire
TV SERIES [RECURRING]
"Coupling"
- The Freckle, the Key and the Couple Who Weren't (2002) TV Episode .... Julia Davis
- Unconditional Sex (2002) TV Episode .... Julia Davis
- Faithless (2002) TV Episode .... Julia Davis
- The End of the Line (2001) TV Episode .... Julia Davis
- Naked (2001) TV Episode .... Julia Davis
TV GUEST APPEARANCES
"New Tricks"
- Episode #2.7 (2005) TV Episode .... Bernice
"Casualty"
- Love's Labours... Lost (2004) TV Episode .... Angela Chalmers
- Blood Brothers (2000) TV Episode .... Kate Ferris
"Doctors"
- High Anxiety (2004) TV Episode .... Anne Davison
"Wire in the Blood"
- Shadows Rising: Part 2 (2002) TV Episode .... Beth Morris
- Shadows Rising: Part 1 (2002) TV Episode .... Beth Morris
"The Vice"
- One More Time (2002) TV Episode .... Dawn
"Where the Heart Is"
- Runaways (2001) TV Episode .... Wendy Atkins
"Hope & Glory"
- Episode #1.6 (1999) TV Episode .... Sarah Ward
- Episode #1.2 (1999) TV Episode .... Sarah Ward
"Game On"
- Bruce Willis & Robert De Niro Holding a Fish (1996) TV Episode .... Tesni
BCnU....
Tele-Toby
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
MARCH OF THE BLIPVERTS
I first noticed this happening after "Breaking Away" premiered - that six months to a year after a popular movie has opened, there will be commercials which seek to emulate those films.
(Obviously, if the commercial is going to tie in to a movie's release, then of course it's going to be produced in advance.)
With "Breaking Away", there were about three blipverts that used cycling as their theme.
My current example would be "March Of The Penguins". First up was last year's holiday installment for the Coca-Cola polar bears. They found themselves in Antarctica at a penguin rave, where a good time was had by all thanks to a bottle of Coke.
(But the commercial ends before the polar bears rip off the baby penguin's head and drink its blood.)
Now there's a new one, a live-action blipvert for Jeep Commander.
The driver makes it far into the Antarctic wastes before dropping off his passenger - a penguin who then got an admonishment to stop following the Jeep Commander home.
Maybe now would be a good time to resurrect the career of toon penguin Chilly Willy to be a commercial spokesbird. He could hawk - or rather, "penguin" - fish sticks, for example.
Let's just hope this trend isn't used when it comes to a movie like "Hostel"!
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
(Obviously, if the commercial is going to tie in to a movie's release, then of course it's going to be produced in advance.)
With "Breaking Away", there were about three blipverts that used cycling as their theme.
My current example would be "March Of The Penguins". First up was last year's holiday installment for the Coca-Cola polar bears. They found themselves in Antarctica at a penguin rave, where a good time was had by all thanks to a bottle of Coke.
(But the commercial ends before the polar bears rip off the baby penguin's head and drink its blood.)
Now there's a new one, a live-action blipvert for Jeep Commander.
The driver makes it far into the Antarctic wastes before dropping off his passenger - a penguin who then got an admonishment to stop following the Jeep Commander home.
Maybe now would be a good time to resurrect the career of toon penguin Chilly Willy to be a commercial spokesbird. He could hawk - or rather, "penguin" - fish sticks, for example.
Let's just hope this trend isn't used when it comes to a movie like "Hostel"!
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
