"IDOL" THOUGHTS

My friend Ivy and I were discussing Ken Levine's (link at left) Barcelona dispatch about this week's ouster of Chris Daughtry from 'American Idol' when she observed:

Hard to believe that a modern day version of Ted Mack's Amateur Hour could be this popular.

Since about twenty years ago, I noticed that certain things from the fifties era have come back in style on TV.

Didn't think of that one.

Wrestling kicked it off, quickly followed by 'The People's Court' and its clones.

'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' launched the prime time game show revival.

The police procedurals are just updates on 'Racket Squad', 'M Squad', 'Naked City', etc.

John Edward cashes in on the TV psychic bit.

(On a similar note - and I could be struck by lightning for making that correlation - the religious programming never went away. But unlike Bishop Sheen, I don't think many of the televangelists are really working for "Sky Chief".)

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

WOO WHO!

I'm all caught up!

Thanks to the Brokeback Boys, I got to see the first four episodes of the new 'Doctor Who' for this season, starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.

"New Earth" - In the year 5 Billion 23, the Doctor and Rose visit a mysterious hospital where they encounter an old acquaintance and one of their best foes from last season.

"Tooth & Claw" - On the Scottish moors of 1879, "Dr. James McKrimmon" and his "half-naked" ward protect Queen Victoria from a living legend/nightmare.

"School Reunion" - Working undercover at a school as "John Smith", the Doctor is reunited with former companion Sarah Jane Smith and that tinny Rin Tin Tin, K-9.

"The Girl In The Fireplace" - The Doctor finds love again with Reinette Poisson, better known by History as Madame de Pompadour.

I knew weeks in advance of seeing "New Earth" exactly what show I would link to it. And luckily there was nothing in the episode which contradicts my theory. (Watch this space on Monday to learn more!)

But I was surprised at how easily I was able to find links to the other three episodes. There was no need to jump through the hoops and twist the night away with some pretzel logic in order to find the right connection, as happened last year with a few episodes.

However, the main bugaboo from last year - how many dimensions do they visit via TARDIS? - rises up several times so far in this new season. And eventually I will have to address that again.

But for those of you reading this on the left side of the Atlantic, I can assure you that David Tennant makes for an excellent Time Lord and each episode improves on the one before it - which is saying something when "New Earth" started off the run better than expected for the usual sci-fi fare available in recent years.

But then, I'm easy to please.....

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

DIRTY ROTTEN SCHEDULES

Speaking of taping skeds....

I'll have to wait to see tonight's 'Lost' until sometime after midnight. It's my night off, and one of my lovely Iddiette friends, RuthSings, has invited me to see "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels".

So I'll be taping 'Bones' & 'Lost'. But nothing afterwards as 'Lost' is running over the hour by at least five minutes. Keep that in mind while programming your VCRs and DVRs. If you're a fan of 'CSI:NY' or 'Law & Order' - Michael Imperioli returns this week as Detective Nick Falco - you'll have to sacrifice the first five minutes if you want to see the full 'Lost' episode. You'll have to do the channel change manually afterwards.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

SKED JUGGLING

I'm probably one of the few people who's glad that NBC yanked the retrospective special for 'The West Wing' this Sunday night. Instead, they'll air the very first episode at 7 pm, (followed by the series finale at 8 pm), so that they'll have a set of book-ends with that two hour block.

The biggest benefit for me was that I'll be able to watch 'House' for this week.

Had they stuck with the plan to do a retrospective, I'd have had to sacrifice 'House' last night in order to tape the season finale for 'Veronica Mars'.

But now, I can skip the first 'West Wing' episode on Sunday and catch the UPN repeat for 'Veronica Mars'.

I never had the option to tape one and watch the other - working an overnight shift, I'm spending that 9 - 10 pm hour just waking up, showering, and getting ready to leave, and finally heading off to the subway.

And as for getting more than one VCR, or finally getting some kind of DVR.... when it comes to Television, I'm far from a technogeek. I deal more with the philosophy than the technology. The VCR is about all I can handle.

Although I may look into getting one of those VCR/DVD combos to finally copy off all of the TV crossover moments I've been saving over the years......

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

FRANK SINATRA JR SINGS A NEW TOON

With the episode "Sibling Rivalry", 'Family Guy' helped bring 'The Sopranos' into the Tooniverse, thanks to an appearance by Christopher Moltisanti.

The connection became a little bit stronger (but only a little) the following week in the episode "Brian Sings And Swings", which featured the vocal talents of Frank Sinatra Jr. as himself.

The League of Themselves member and "Member Of The Board" also portrayed himself in an episode of 'The Sopranos', in which he joined a floating card game.

Not exactly a strong case for 'The Sopranos' in cartoons, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting to see Tony Soprano muscle in on Skeletor's territory for the waste management contracts on Eternia.

What'll be up next for the Son of Ol' Blue Eyes in the Tooniverse?

How about Frank Sinatra Jr. Meets Frankenstein Junior and the Impossibles?

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

CRAZY 88

Mike Wallace, recently "retired" from CBS' '60 Minutes', turns 88 today.

Happy birthday, Sir!

All the best on your 88th birthday.

I'm sure Virginia Graham sends her regards and she'll see you soon.....

Happy Happy Joy Joy!
Tele-Toby

"I determined that if I was to carve out a piece of reportorial territory for myself,

It would be doing the hard interview,

Irreverent if necessary, the facade-piercing interview."

MIKE WALLACE

CROSSOVER OF THE WEEK! - 5/09/06

I realize that last week I said that "come what may" I would be covering the "New Earth" episode of 'Doctor Who' for its role in the Crossover of the Week.

I have it all worked out. I've got the timeline details, the historical data, the works.

I still just want to see it first, and it's tough trying to make contact with the Brokeback Boys to see any of these episodes. Between that week of jury duty and the fact that they actually have lives, it's been impossilbe to reconcile our schedules.

So in the meantime, I've got a crossover that happened last Friday; one that is so off the wall, I expect to get raked over the coals for it. And this is one time when I don't need to have seen it actually occur, unlike the one for 'Doctor Who'... mainly because there's no way in Hell I'm ever going to anything done by its star, ever again!

"MISSION : IMPOSSIBLE III"
&
'LOST'

Don't look at me like that. I know what I'm doing.

A lot of people know how I feel about the first "Mission : Impossible" movie. Without even having seen it, I considered it such a travesty that I vowed never to see another movie by Tom Cruise again. So "War Of The Worlds"? "Minority Report"? "Collateral"? Not a clue; never saw 'em.

It's not that Cruise and the others listed as producers took a favorite TV show memory and trashed it with a cinematic remake; that happens all the time. ('The Wild, Wild West', 'Sgt. Bilko', 'Leave It To Beaver', 'The Honeymooners')

No, what they did was to take a character from that show, - a hero! - and spit on his integrity by making him the bad guy.

(Oh yeah. There's a major spoiler in this article. Tough. If you put off seeing the first movie all this time, there's no help for you anyway.)

If Cruise and Co. wanted to malign the reputation of Jim Phelps, and had done so using Peter Graves in the role, then I would have said, fine. If Peter Graves signed off on the idea, who was I to argue. At least respect was being shown to both the actor and the character by doing this with the involvement of the man concerned.

Take Mel Gibson's version of 'Maverick'. (And here comes another spoiler, people!) I have no problem with the idea of Gibson coming in and playing Bret Maverick, because James Garner was involved as well playing Zane Cooper.

As it turns out, Zane Cooper is revealed to be Bret Maverick's father by the end of the movie. So actually, Zane Cooper is THE 'Bret Maverick', while Mel Gibson is portraying Bret "Maverick", Jr.

But in the movie version of "Mission : Impossible", Jim Phelps is portrayed by Jon Voigt. Jon Voigt is a great actor, but he's no Peter Graves; he's not even the right age for the role! Thus the movie can't be considered a continuation of the TV series into the Cineverse, as the 1966 'Batman' and the 'Star Trek' franchise can be.

So the storylines of the "Mission : Impossible" movies can't be considered a reciprocal part of Toobworld. But as movies, as trivia, as basically props, - something TV characters would go see in the theatres on their shows, or rent as DVDs, - they can be considered part of the TV Universe.

Only... I'm not talking about the main dimension of the TV Universe, Earth Prime-Time. I'm referring to the evil mirror dimension made famous in episodes of 'Star Trek', 'Deep Space Nine', 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' and 'Hercules: The Legendary Journey'.

In the evil mirror TV dimension ("Earth Prime-Evil"?), Jim Phelps would be a villain. And so the first "Mission : Impossible" movie would have been considered almost a docu-drama; taking an event that happened in "real life" and dramatizing it for the movies.

Much like "United 93" is in our theatres now.......

As such, each of the "M:I" sequels exist in the evil TV dimension as movies as well.

"Mission : Impossible III" (or as they're promoting it, "M:I:III") opened this past Friday in theatres. And if you follow the advice of legendary radio personality Vin Scelsa, you stay for the credits, where you'll see that the very last credit in the movie is a thank-you acknowledging the Hanso Organization.

In the Trueniverse, the movie was directed by JJ Abrams, as a tip of the hat to the TV show he produces, 'Lost'. In the series, the Hanso Organization is the mysterious and most likely insidious corporation for whom the "Others" most likely work for and who has caused so much trouble for the stranded "Lostaways" on the island.

I have no problem believing that the Hanso Organization exists in all facets of the TV Universe, even in the dimension where everybody looks like a pig-man ('The Twilight Zone' - "Eye Of The Beholder") or in the dimension where women have pronounced chin hair, beards (as seen on 'Sliders')!

So in the evil mirror dimension, director JJ Abrams probably was funded by the Hanso Organization to make the movie. Or they provided help in some other fashion; enough to warrant getting credit for it.

As for the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 in that evil mirror dimension? They were probably all dead within the week. Since everyone in that dimension is inherently prone towards being evil, the survivors probably devolved into a "Lord Of The Flies" mentality and eventually hunted down each other as food.

There can be only one!

Like I said, I know such a theory is probably going to piss off a lot of people. But I gotta admit, there's nothing I enjoy more than jumping through hoops to come up with a beddy beddy good splainin.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

CLIFF CLAVIN:
"I am a rock. I am an island."
CARLA TORTELLI:
"You am a boob."
'CHEERS'

GUEST SPOT: BRIAN-EL

Brian-El is an Iddiot.

It's not an insult, and that's not a mis-spelling. Brian-El is a member of the Topica discussion group centered around the Idiot's Delight radio program hosted by legendary free-from deejay Vin Scelsa.

I'm an Iddiot as well. http://www.topica.com/lists/IDD/read

Brian-El wrote to me this morning with his latest theory for Toobworld.....

I have a new theory about 'Lost'.

The focal point--where everybody got together--was Sydney.

Sydney just had a baby on 'Alias'.

All of 'Lost' is taking place in Sydney's baby's mind...

- Brian-El

RETURN OF: NUMBER SIX #2

Sky One is moving forward with its plans to remake 'The Prisoner', the thought-provoking "spy" drama from 1967 which starred Patrick McGoohan.

When the original aired in America during the summer of 1968, it changed the way I view Television. It made me question, consider alternative possibilities.

It made me think.

Because of 'The Prisoner', I don't let Television just wash over me: I refuse to let it be a passive experience. As it could be phrased on the show itself, when it comes to Television, I won't be a "rotten cabbage".

I like to describe 'The Prisoner' as being nearly forty years old and still twenty years ahead of its time. It's my all-time favorite TV show.

So one might think I'd hate the idea that such a great show's memory could be defiled by a remake.

It happens, but mostly when it comes to movie adaptations of old TV shows. For me, the two biggest transgressors were the first 'Mission: Impossible' and 'The Wild, Wild West'. Will Smith as James West was a misguided alteration, but Tom Cruise and the other producers of the IMF remake deliberately spat on the cherished memories people like me had of the old TV series.

David Bianculli of the New York Daily News hated the biggest offense in that movie so much that he hoped somebody would buy the rights to 'Jerry McGuire' 25 years down the line, and violate that character just as badly; see how Cruise feels about that. I hope it happens!

Anyway, when it comes to TV shows being remade into new TV series, my concept of Toobworld give me a variety of options in which to accept them.

Besides, remakes can never truly replace the memories of the originals, especially when most of them are so readily available on DVD.

How the new series is viewed depends on the producer's execution of the concept. And it will probably depend on the personal viewpoint of the individual audience member as well. Patrick McGoohan and David Tomblin and George Markstein and all of the others involved in the original's creation didn't want to force any one interpretation upon the audience. They didn't want to provide answers; if anything, they wanted to leave the audience with more questions.

So for some, 'The Prisoner' was an allegory; for others, it took place in Number Six's mind. As for me, I want to see it as having been a literal experience, a true component of Toobworld's history.

As such, I wouldn't have minded if this new version was a continuation of the original story. That during the last forty years, whoever was in charge of "The Village" (the same people behind "The Island" on 'Lost'?) was able to regroup after the events of the episode "Fall Out" and set up their haven elsewhere for those from whom they wish to extract information... information.... information.

Even if the new title character was a prisoner known as Number Six, that doesn't mean he has to be considered as the same prisoner played by Patrick McGoohan. They kept replacing Number Two, and other Numbers were assigned to several different people after the others were... gone.

So for me, the old Number Six (whom I believe to be John Drake) is still out there; no longer a number but a free man.

However, it appears that this new version will be a complete do-over:

The remake of "The Prisoner" will stick to the original's outline, in which a government agent resigns his post and then is drugged and dragged off to a mysterious prison called The Village, where people are referred to by numbers rather than names. It's expected to get a modern sheen, though.

"'The Prisoner' is like Pandora's box -- it's the ultimate conspiracy thriller," executive producer Damien Timmer tells the BBC. "Like '24,' the new series will entrap you from the opening scene. We hope it will tap into this iconic show's existing cult following, whilst creating a whole new generation of fans."

Since that seems to be the case, then as a Caretaker for the Toobworld concept, I would transfer the whole series to the same TV dimension as the new 'Battlestar Galactica', 'The New Addams Family', the second adaptation of '87th Precinct', 'The New Monkees', and any other remake of old TV shows and/or TV movies.

This doesn't imply that the remakes are of lesser quality. It just means that in an alternate dimension, the same characters exist - but with some alteration (usually based on their place in Toobworld's timeline and of course in their appearances due to recasting) that makes them different from their original versions in the main Toobworld.

Perhaps, as is the case with 'Battlestar Galactica', this new version of 'The Prisoner' could eclipse the original. (Yeah... who am I kidding?) But no matter how it turns out, by being in an alternate dimension, it cannot poison the greatness of the original.

TVSquad.com ran the news item about the return of 'The Prisoner' and concluded with:

"This version of the series will probably have a modern shine to it. Perhaps it will take place in one of those secret CIA prisons we aren't supposed to know about."

To which I replied:

1. If it took place in one of the "non-existent" CIA prisons, then we'd know which side is running the place. One of the great mysteries of the original series was that we don't know which side of the Cold War was running "The Village"; whether he was being held by the enemies of the "Free World", or by his own government. Nowadays, we'd have to consider other alternatives as well - some alliance from the Third World or even some kind of corporate empire.

I count myself as one of the original show's biggest fans - it will always be my favorite TV show - and I applaud the idea that if it has to be remade, only six episodes are being produced.

Only 17 episodes were made for the original; and even at that, some of them could have been considered filler - produced to pad out the total to make a summer series sale to America. ('Living In Harmony', 'The Girl Who Was Death', and 'Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling' would fall into that category I think.)

With just six episodes, this new version can get to the essence of the series and make this one powerful nugget of a TV series. (If only 'Twin Peaks' had concentrated on the basic mystery of "Who Killed Laura Palmer" and then came to a natural conclusion when that was solved. It would have been remembered as being great television, rather than as a meandering novelty.)

I don't know if they're going to actually remake specific episodes, or just the basic concept of 'The Prisoner', but if I had to choose six episodes to make up the total:

'Arrival'
'Chimes Of Big Ben'
'Checkmate'
'Hammer Into Anvil'
'Once Upon A Time'
'Fall Out'

Anyway, we'll see what happens. All I know is that no matter how this new version turns out, it can't ruin my memories of how great the original was and still is: nearly forty years old and still twenty years ahead of its time....

Posted at 1:31PM on May 7th 2006 by Toby OB

A few minutes later, I added:

2. I've looked over the list of the original episodes and now I'm thinking 'Schizoid Man' should have been included in my selection. Probably at the expense of 'Hammer Into Anvil', to make the basic series more focused on Number Six.

Posted at 1:50PM on May 7th 2006 by Toby OB

See that? I'm Number One AND Number Two!

One last note - the rumor right now is that Christopher Eccleston (The Ninth Time Lord of 'Doctor Who') will be 'The Prisoner' Number Six. If so, I have so much to say on the topic. But I'm not going to speculate just yet if it's only a rumor.

But in the meantime, why not start thinking about who you'd like to see as the various Number Two's for the new series. Make up a list of your candidates for the six episodes (Some episodes may have more than one new Number Two!) and send them to me at Tubeworld@aol.com so that we can dedicate a future blog post to Number Two.

I'm sure there are a few readers out there who think this blog is already full of Number Two.......

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"The fact that you won't explain explains everything."
Number Two

'The Prisoner' - "It's Your Funeral"

"LOST" IN THOUGHT: BUSTIN' ON TUSTIN

As I checked out a guest this morning, I noticed that he was from Tustin, California.

"That's where John Locke worked at the box company owned by Hurley!" I exclaimed.

Whether or not he knew all about the show 'Lost', the guest smiled and nodded.

"Somebody connected to the production grew up there," he said, "And he was able to work it into the script."

I've had my place of residence worked into a TV show. As a matter of fact, the show was named after the home of Toobworld Central.

'Pig Sty'.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby