WISH-CRAFT: "THE SIMPSONS"

Here's what I'd like to see happen on 'The Simpsons' someday before the series ends:

At the chalkboard, Bart is writing out "Dustin Hoffman IS Sam Etic."

Hoffman had appeared in an episode which spoofed "The Graduate" but he didn't have his name appear in the credits. Neither did Michael Jackson when he appeared. I think at the time, making a gues vocal appearance on 'The Simpsons' was looked down upon.

After those appearances, if I remember correctly, Matt Groening put his foot (yellow-skinned and four-toed, no doubt) down and insisted that if celebrities wanted to appear on his show, they'd have to take the credit... and the heat, if any.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"It was the greatest movie I've ever seen in my life!

And you wouldn't believe the celebrities who did cameos.

Dustin Hoffman, Michael Jackson...

Of course they didn't use their real names, but you could tell it was them."

Lisa Simpson

'The Simpsons'

DEATH TAKES A STATION BREAK

On a recent episode of 'Medium', Allison's dreams were haunted by the visitations of Death himself, armed with a dry wit rather than a scythe and dressed to the nines in a tuxedo instead of the usual black cowled robes.

In fact, had she been a resident of Seattle rather than Phoenix, she might have noticed his resemblance to a certain radio talk show host/psychiatrist.

Death has appeared on a lot of TV shows in a variety of forms. Had it been an appearance by Satan or one of the alt. dimensional aliens who passed themselves off as the Greek gods, or an appearance by God Almighty, the splainin for their change in appearance would be easy. Each of them have the power to alter their appearance whenever they see fit.

God once appeared as the very character He was visiting in his coma, explaining that Wayne Fiscus was made in His image after all. ('St. Elswhere')

But when it comes to Death, it's not that he's altering his image with each appearance in a TV show. If he could, don't you think he'd always look like a matinee idol? ('The Twilight Zone' - "Nothing In The Dark")

Each time he shows up, it's a different "Death", because it's not the man, it's the occupation. Death is nothing more than a job title. (Officially, it's "Angel of Death"). It's something for them to put down on their tax forms each year.

Although some of them are addressed as "Mr. Death" ('General Electric Theater' - "The Rider On The Pale Horse"), many of them have actual names. Andrew was often teamed up with the angels Monica and Tess for their missions on Earth ('Touched By An Angel'), while Michael was spotted down on 'Fantasy Island' working in cahoots with the Gallifreyan Time Lord known as Rourke ("The Angels' Triangle/Natchez Bound"). And that "matinee idol" who posed as a wounded policeman to gain access to Wanda Dunn's hovel used the name of Harold Beldon ('The Twilight Zone' - "Nothing In The Dark").

Over in the Tooniverse, however, Death is the same guy no matter what show he appears on, from 'Family Guy' to 'The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'.

Death for the Tooniverse is also a traditionalist. He wears the standard issue hooded black robe and wields the regulation scythe, as he did in the Broadway production of 'Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol'. For most of the time while he's on the clock as the Grim Reaper, he wears that hood pulled forward so that his face can't be seen. But when he's kicking back with his young friends Billy and Mandy, Death has no trouble with allowing his grim visage to be seen.

As to the changes in his voice, that can be attributed to role-playing on his part. After a while, harvesting souls and snuffing out lives gets to be kind of a hum-drum civil service occupation; not unlike being a mailman I should think. So Death livens it up a bit by assuming different personalities.

Or it could be that he's just wacked. If you had a Mother like Death's, maybe you'd be driven crazy too. ('Family Guy' - "Death Lives")

Back on Earth Prime-Time, we have seen a lot of the employees in the Death Industry. Some of them obviously got hired because of who they know... or knew, considering the hazards of being acquainted with Death.

I'm not sure if they have any sort of SATs that they have to take in order to apply for the job of Death, but they should at least be given psychiatric evaluations before they take up the profession.

There was one Death who was suicidal, until he was talked out of doing his job by an idealistic doctor. Once that doctor realized the downside of a world in which Death no longer operated, it took all of his persuasive skills to convince Death to get back in the game... only to learn too late that his name had been next on Death's list. That's why he found Death "hanging" around the hospital where he worked. ('The Twilight Zone' - "One Night At Mercy")

Some of them may even have been actual Toobworld characters in other shows who had passed on to find something else to do in the afterlife.

This could have been the case with former photojournalist Dennis "Animal" Price, who used to work for the Los Angeles Tribune ('Lou Grant'). Perhaps after his career faltered at the newspaper, "Animal" explored his interest in the Dark Arts. Finally he attained the ranking of First Warlock and served in that capacity in the New England town of Harmony until his untimely death ('Passions'). But then, less than a year later, he returned to Harmony in his new guise as Death.

No sense in wasting good talent.

Some of these members of the Death Squad are able to cross over into other TV dimensions. One of the most imposing employees in the Death program - six foot five and with a rumbling voice that could have found a home in the Hammer films - used to work over in France ('Les Redoutables') at the dawn of the new Millennium. However, nearly a quarter of a century before, he was plying his trade in the alternate TV dimension dedicated to comedy sketches. There, he visited a young girl to comfort her after he came to claim her dog Tippy. And he promised to visit her again on her sixteenth birthday...... ('Saturday Night Live')

Another Death who was visiting from a universe created from Man's Imagination crossed over from the Operatic Universe. He was probably summoned to Toobworld by the daemonic powers and musical stylings of Mr. Sweet ('Buffy The Vampire Slayer' - "Once More With Feeling"). In fact, this Death visited "The Labyrinth" in the TV Universe twice in 1950 and in 1962, bringing his assistant along for the ride. That means that with the second visitation, this Operatic Death would have been shunted off to Earth Prime-Time Delay, the world of the remakes.

As noted above, Death does not always act alone. Obviously he oftentimes uses others to actually carry out the Deed - it can be so messy, after all, - but he sometimes also has assistants for the grunt work. Usually for the clerical stuff; lots of filing, that sort of thing.

Occasionally, Death recruits from the very ranks of those he was sent to ferry over to the Other Side. There was one woman who actively sought out Death and he was so taken by her enthusiasm, he allowed her to accompany him on his rounds ('The Twilight Zone' - "Rendezvous In A Dark Place").

And that brings up another point. I'm sorry if I sounded sexist in what I've already written, usually addressing Death as "he"; when in fact, there are several employees in the program who are females. (I'm not sure, considering they are only assuming the human form, if I can actually call them men and women.)

Female Deaths have been known to work the Chicago area ('Chicago Hope' - "Cold Hearts"), Llanview, Pennsylvania, ('One Life To Live'), and a remote plateau in South America where dinosaurs still roam ('The Lost World' - "End Game").

Death can be found anywhere, from the mundane to the fabulous. From the mean streets of New York City ('The Twilight Zone' - "One For The Angels") and the hills of San Francisco ('Charmed' - "Styx Feet Under" & "Apocalypse, Not" [Two different Deaths worked that beat.]) and in the City of Angels ('Six Feet Under' - "In The Game") to the fabled empire of China ('Shirley Temple's Storybook' - "The Nightingale") to the palaces of Atlantis ("The Emperor Of Atlantis") and the hallways of crypt-like "Gormenghast".

Death is not Earth-bound, as any red-shirt on 'Star Trek' could tell you that. Death has found his way to the farthest reaches of outer space ('Red Dwarf' - "Only The Good....")

Where will he show up next? So long as there are TV shows like '24' and 'Lost' and 'ER', Death will always be around. But so far as a physical manifestation, who's to say? 'Supernatural' is a possibility for next season; even 'Smallville'.

Personally, I'd start watching 'American Idol' if Death could be involved in the elimination rounds.

"Seacrest Out" indeed!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"Abra Cadabra,

The guy's a cadaver."

David Addison

'Moonlighting'

ANISTON HORRIBILIS

Jennifer Aniston gave an interview to a British magazine.....

"I really don't think I'd ever go back to television," she said, "and not just because I'm above it, but because I really don't think I could ever top that experience."

That might have been considered a save there at the end - after all, how could she possibly land a role better than that of Rachel Greene? Look how hard it was for Mary Tyler Moore to land a successsful series after her eponymous sitcom ended in 1977.

But she killed any goodwill with that "not JUST because I'm above it".

I'd call her a snob, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Upturned noses could be the result of plastic surgery......

How often have we seen this happen in the past fifty years? And how often have we seen those same actors eventually come crawling back to the medium that spawned them?

Not everybody can count on Quentin Tarantino to come along and rescue their careers....

Right now on the cover of the latest "IN" magazine (a give-away you find in NYC hotels), one of the headlines promises why Julianna Margulies doesn't find it "a turn-on" to appear on TV anymore.

Of course, she's not about to turn up the chance to be on 'The Sopranos'.....

I'm surprised Aniston would make a crack like that. I would think her film career is currently on life support; that there's actually a death-watch for it now after such bombs as 'Rumor Has It', 'Friends With Money', and 'Derailed'. Those films which were hits at the box office - 'Bruce Almighty', 'Along Came Polly' (Or... was it?) - were due more to her male co-stars than for her participation.

She'd be better off sticking with those smaller films in which she made a decent impression - like 'Office Space', 'The Good Girl', and 'RockStar'.

Does she really think her new flick with Vince Vaughn is going to put her officially into the stratosphere as a movie star? She may not get a little man for her efforts at the next Academy Awards, but I hear she's getting a lotta little Vince, at least.......

You know what's going to happen? When her film career finally does crash and burn, she'll try to come back to TV and find that the public just doesn't care anymore. Matt LeBlanc couldn't do it and he never left in the first place as 'Joey'!

And then Jen will whine that the audience was showing resentment because she dared to take some time off to try her hand at movies.

"But we were on a break!"

Boo hoo hoo.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

RETURN ENGAGEMENTS

Last week saw the return of Anna Devane Scorpio Lavery Scorpio Hayward to 'General Hospital' after a stint as the police chief in Pine Valley ('All My Children'). She literally dropped in on her family and friends via parachute.

'General Hospital' has been racking up a few returnees this past year with not only Anna Devane, but also her husband Robert Scorpio, his ex-wife Holly Sutton Scorpio, and Dr. Noah Drake.

But 'GH' doesn't have a lock on the comeback market. 'Days Of Our Lives' alumni Patch and Kayla will be coming back to Salem this summer. (Patch on June 9th, and Kayla on June 12th.)

Primetime had a couple of notable returnees this past month. Although in the case of Sam Seaborn on 'The West Wing', Josh Lyman had to go out to "The OC" (the area, not the show) to drag him back to the Beltway.

But the big Comeback news so far this year, and probably with a lock on the Toobit award for Best Return come the end of the year - Sarah Jane Smith on 'Doctor Who'. I'll have more on that when I get around to making the crossover for the episode "School Reunion".

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"LOST" IN MY DREAMS

I woke up at 5:15; having a dream about 'Lost'.

This happens a lot to me. I find myself inserting myself in some way into a favorite show, usually though as just an o'bserver.

I like to watch.

In the dream, I was going in to the hatch (the ante-room of which looked like my subway station) and saw a woman with two teenage boys. All three of them were light-skinned blacks, waiting by the entrance and using a phone to call inside.

"I just want to see him," says the huge, heavy-set oldest teen. "He's my Dad."

And I begin to wonder: whose son could he be, and how does this fit into the story? They're black, so could they be Michael's kids? Or Eko's? Bernard married Rose; could he have fathered kids with another black woman years earlier?

Man, I'm obsessed with this show!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

AXING "JOEY"

Just because NBC finally put 'Joey' out of my misery after two interminable years on the air, that doesn't negate Joey Tribbiani's position to be the most qualified member of the 'Friends' coterie to be eligible for membership in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

He certainly has the qualifications:

'Friends'
'Joey'
'Caroline In The City'

And two of those are series in which he starred, not just guest spot crossovers.

And if he had to guess which two, I'll bet he wouldn't get it right on his first try......

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

YOUNG WOMEN

Since October, 2002, Karen Young has appeared in ten episodes of 'The Sopranos' as FBI Agent Robyn Sanseverino. It appears that her specialty in the Bureau is as a "Watcher", the contact for mob informers in the New Jersey area; specifically those with ties to the Soprano crime family.

Robyn Sanseverino appears to be all-business, no-nonsense, in her professional approach to her duties. But she has expressed some empathy for those she's had to deal with, especially Adriana La Cerva. And it can't be easy to develop a bond with a turncoat only to learn that more than likely they've been "disappeared" as was the case with Adriana, or to see them just slump over dead while getting the goods from them, as happened with Ray Curto.

It's my belief that law enforcement is in Robyn Sanseverino's blood. And that this same drive to fight crime can be found in other members of her family. Specifically, a twin sister whom we met in Toobworld twenty years before in an episode of 'The Equalizer', Sandra Stahl.

Sandra was a "Lady Cop" in Manhattan who in 1985 had to seek out the services of Robert McCall when she discovered that her partner and at least two other patrolmen were crooked. These cops were willing to go to any lengths to insure their secret was safe, and that included the possibility of murder to keep Sandra quiet.

I'm not very familiar with the episode, but I think the life of her father, Marvin Stahl, was threatened by her partner. In fact, he may have even been killed to show how serious they were about her silence.

During this trying time in Sandra's life, Robyn was probably still in training with the Bureau. It's easy to imagine that learning of the travails of her father and sister only hardened her own determination to succeed as an agent.

Other family members might have been responsible for inspiring them both to pursue careers in law enforcement, for reasons either good or ill.

Perhaps their grandfather had been an FBI agent himself back in the forties, one who dealt with a consulting detective by the name of Nero Wolfe ('A Nero Wolfe Mystery - "Over My Dead Body: Parts 1 & 2).

Going even farther back, they could have been related to a Texas sheriff named Leland Stahl ('Walker, Texas Ranger' - "Way Of The Warrior").

Or maybe they had an uncle who was a police lieutenant in Los Angeles ('Police Story' -"The Other Side of the Badge").

Or it could be that they wanted to bring honor back to the family name after relatives by the names of Dan and John Stahl got in trouble with the Feds back in the mid 1960s. ('The F.B.I.' - "Desperate Journey")

Sanseverino, Stahl... the reason why they have different last names? I think that if they are identical twins, then Robyn is - or was - married to somebody named Sanseverino. It's my belief that she's probably divorced. It would certainly go a long way toward splaining her dour attitude.

And why is she now divorced? Well, I hate to play on ethnic stereotypes, but maybe Mr. Sanseverino was somehow involved in the very illegal activities that Robyn now fights. Not that he was a member of an organized crime family himself, but perhaps Sanseverino got in over his head dealing with Paulie Walnuts or "Christuphuh". And so Robyn might hold Tony Soprano responsible for the destruction of her marriage.

Or maybe I'm just blowing smoke.....

By the way, tonight Karen Young appeared on the season finale of 'Law & Order' as Ms. Milford, a defense attorney for a corrupt DEA officer. But I don't think she makes the trifecta for the Stahl family. Instead, she's just one of many characters out there played by Karen Young who just happen to look alike in Toobworld.

For alls I know, there could be some significant difference in her appearance that sets her apart from Sandra and Robyn, but we just can't see it from our perspective in the Real World.

Ya never know with Young Women......

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

THE HAT SQUAD: SCOTT BRAZIL

I realize this happened weeks ago. But as some of you know, I have an aversion to dealing with this particular topic and I tend to shy away from it.

Especially when I'm the same age......

Emmy-winning producer-director Scott Brazil, whose television shows included 'The Shield' and 'Hill Street Blues', has died at the age of 50.

Brazil died of respiratory failure due to Lou Gehrig's disease and lyme disease complications, FX Networks spokesman John Solberg said.

Brazil was executive producer of "The Shield," the first original drama series on FX Networks, and he directed 11 episodes. Brazil and "Shield" creator and executive producer Shawn Ryan won the 2002 Golden Globe for drama series.

Although his condition had worsened, Brazil used a motorized wheelchair to go about his duties as "The Shield" producer-director, Ryan said.

"He worked... to the very last day, talking to the writers, doing casting and prepping our next episode," Ryan said. "That's what made all this so stunning for us. We're kind of shocked."

"This was really one of the great guys of Hollywood," he added.

Brazil also directed episodes of "Nip/Tuck," "Grey's Anatomy," "CSI: Miami," "NCIS," "JAG," "Nash Bridges" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." He also directed the pilot of "Playmakers" for ESPN.

As a producer on NBC's "Hill Street Blues," Brazil won two Emmys for drama series in 1983 and 1984, and a Golden Globe in 1983 for TV drama series.

Director - filmography
"The Shield"
"Grey's Anatomy"
"LAX"
"Nip/Tuck"
"Playmakers"
"CSI: Miami"
"JAG"
"L.A. Doctors"
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
"Nash Bridges"
"The Burning Zone"
"The Sentinel"
The Commish: In the Shadow of the Gallows
"Strange Luck"
"Live Shot"
"Harts of the West"
"Baywatch"
"TV 101"
"Hill Street Blues"

Producer - filmography
"The Shield" (2002) TV Series (co-executive producer) (executive producer)
Like Mother Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes (2001) (TV) (co-executive producer)
"Gideon's Crossing" (2000) TV Series (co-executive producer)
"L.A. Doctors" (1998) TV Series (co-executive producer)
"Cracker" (1997) TV Series (co-executive producer)
"Live Shot" (1995) TV Series (executive producer)
Lifepod (1993) (TV) (executive producer)
"Space Rangers" (1993/I) TV Series (executive producer)
"WIOU" (1990) TV Series (executive producer)
"TV 101" (1988) TV Series (executive producer)
"Hill Street Blues" (producer)
Thornwell (1981) (TV) (associate producer)

[from the IMDb.com]

BCnU.....
Tele-Toby

FRAKKIN' ZONK! IN STARS HOLLOW!

Lee Goldberg pointed out in his blog (channeling Javier Grillo-Marxuach) that Lorelai Gilmore of 'Gilmore Girls' spat out "frakking Celine Dion" in an episode a few weeks back.

He goes on to quote Grillo-Marxuach further in that it was "as decisive an acknowledgment of ('Battlestar) Galactica’s newfound hipness as you are likely to find. To have a character in a show that is as relentlessly incompatible with most of the conventions of genre as 'Gilmore Girls' acknowledge Ron Moore’s reimagining of Glenn Larson’s contribution to the vernacular is - to quote another sci-fi icon - 'fantastic.'"

(That other icon would be the Ninth Incarnation of the Time Lord in 'Doctor Who'.)

It's a nice mainstream tip o' the hat for 'Battlestar Galactica', true. But it does serve up a Zonk! that must be dealt with.

The Battlestar WIKI has this to say about this intergalactic expletive:

"Frak" is derived from the Original Series expletive, "frack", which was used in character dialogue far less than its counterpart in the Re-imagined Series.

The re-imagined series' production team said they felt that "frack" should be a four-letter word, hence "frak".

However, when we hear the term in the show, and in that particular episode of 'Gilmore Girls', we don't hear it as being spelled out. So in Earth Prime-Time, it has to be heard as "Fracking Celine Dion", because it is the original 'BG' series which shares the same dimension as 'GG'.

The Battlestar and the rest of its ragtag fleet finally arrived in Earth's solar system over 25 yarrens - sorry! - 25 years ago. In that time, they must have finally brought all of their people down to the planet's surface and integrated them into societies all over the world.

(And more than likely the Eugenics Wars of the late 1990s were instigated by members of the Twelve Colonies; who were either trying to shore up the planet's defenses before the anticipated arrival of the Cylons, or who were just lusting for power.)

Some of those "Galactican" refugees may have settled in Stars' Hollow, Connecticut, during the last quarter of a century. They would have found the small town to be the perfect place to hide away their unique natures.

The Gilmores take too much pride in their well-documented lineage to have just suddenly materialized in the area in 1980, so it's unlikely that Richard and his ancient mother were smuggled in from outer space.

(Although Marion Ross certainly did carry off that matriarchal high priestess vibe, just like that old pro T'Pau.)

But who knows about the other side of Rory's family? Could it be that Lorelai's love child by Christopher Hayden, Rory Gilmore herself, might be the half-blood princess of Earth and Caprica?

Maybe that's how Lorelai first learned of the pejorative term "fracking". She certainly would have had plenty of opportunity to use it when she was with Christopher.

But I'm sure there must be other candidates in Stars Hollow for suspicion as Galacticans......

What about Luke Danes? Running that coffee shop gives him a pretty low profile in which to avoid notice. And how about Sookie St. James; perhaps taking her alias from another Connecticut resident, Susan St. James? Maybe Michel Gerard assumes that foreign identity to mask how truly foreign he really is!

And then there's Kirk Gleason, who seems to be a pretty odd duck. Maybe "Kirk Gleason" is an alias chosen as a code to signify his true status among the Galacticans.

Let's avoid any possible Zonk!s which would crop up by pointing out the obvious 'Trek' connection..... "Kirk" means "church", and even in Toobworld, Jackie Gleason was considered "The Great One"........

There was a religious element on board the Galactican fleet.... Could they have been trying to signify that Kirk Gleason is a messianic mailman?

Sounds like a load of felgercarb to me........

At any rate, it's quite possible that Lorelai Gilmore grew up among Galactican refugee children and picked up a few choice words from their vocabulary, like "fracking".

And as such, a Zonk! has once again been averted.

Now what about a Celine/Cylon possibility.......?

I bet that'll keep you awake tonight!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

THE HAT SQUAD: FRANKIE THOMAS, JR.

By the clouds of Venus!

The Solar Guards website celebrates the science fiction programs of the 1950s. I checked them out this morning after watching a DVD of 'Rocky Jones, Space Ranger' and found the following notice:

May 12th, 2006:
Frankie Thomas, Jr., died this evening at the Sherman Oaks Hospital of respiratory failure while recovering from a stroke.

We've lost Tom Corbett...

Regretfully,
Jan Merlin

Jan Merlin played Roger Manning on 'Tom Corbett, Space Cadet' and they were life-long friends.

If you visit the Solar Guards, you'll find that they have set up a memorial page for Frankie Thomas Jr. where you can add your thoughts and any pictures you might have.

An hour later, the New York Sun was delivered and the security chief pointed out a lengthy tribute/obituary which was published for Frankie Thomas, Jr.

Here's the relevant segment from the L.A. Times obituary written by Dennis McLellan:

(Frankie) Thomas moved back to New York and worked frequently in radio and early television, including the soap opera "A Woman to Remember." In 1950, he was cast in the title role of Tom Corbett, a Space Academy cadet in training to become a member of the elite Solar Guard, 400 years in the future.

In landing the title role in the children's adventure show, Thomas beat out a number of young actors, including Jack Lemmon.

"Frankie looked like the all-American boy," said Jan Merlin, who played the wisecracking cadet Roger Manning ("So what happens now, space heroes?").

"There was a style of acting that kids in those days had, particularly Hollywood kids," Merlin told The Times. "If you were playing the all-American boy, you talked a certain way, you tensed your jaw in a certain way, and he fitted it.

"Everyone in the room knew immediately this was the guy we were going to get."

"Tom Corbett, Space Cadet" debuted in October 1950 as a 15-minute, three-nights-a-week series on CBS. The show later expanded to 30 minutes and aired variously on ABC, NBC and the DuMont networks. There also was a radio version.

In that pre-Sputnik era, the adventures of Tom Corbett and his fellow space travelers quickly caught on with viewers, who included a surprising number of adults.

"The disc jockeys all picked up our lingo: 'Blast your jets,' 'Don't fuse your tubes, 'Spaceman's luck,' " Thomas recalled in a 2005 interview with Starlog magazine. "We were hearing all of this and we said, 'Hey, if they're saying it, they're watching it.' "

Eventually, Thomas told the Asbury Park Press in 2000, "there were 135 different products bearing the name of 'Tom Corbett.' Kellogg's, which was a wonderful sponsor, renamed their second-biggest seller, Kellogg's Pep, the 'Solar Cereal.' They had my picture on the box."

Because the show aired live, it was prone to occasional flubs.

"Frank had a wonderful retentive memory, and frequently if an actor went up with his lines, Frankie would pop in and say the guy's lines for him," Merlin said.

On one occasion, Merlin recalled, "a fella was so nervous he began with Frank's line. So Frank answered with his line, and they did that through the entire scene. At the end of the scene, the director came out of the booth and said how wonderful they were and didn't realize they had changed lines.

"Frank was delighted with that; he had a marvelous sense of humor."

After the TV series ended in 1955, Thomas gave up acting and wrote for television and radio for a time. He then played on the bridge circuit with master players and taught recreational bridge for many years. He also was the longtime editor of the American Bridge Teachers' Assn. Quarterly Magazine and served as president of the organization.

Thomas also wrote a string of mystery novels, including "Sherlock Holmes and the Masquerade Murders," featuring Arthur Conan Doyle's famous character.

At his request, Thomas was buried Tuesday in his "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet" costume.
~~~~
For Toobworld, Frankie Thomas Jr.'s most famous role figured prominently in one of my first attempts at cobbling together a theory of "relateeveety".

In it, Tom Corbett was descended from Eddie Corbett, whose father was also named Tom Corbett. That Tom Corbett was a magazine editor in the early 1970s and he instilled in his son Eddie the values that would be passed down through the generations until they helped mold the moral background of Space Cadet Tom Corbett 400 years later.

BCnU....
Tele-Toby

TV SERIES TIE-IN

The Mercurian Invasion (1998) (V) .... Cadet Tom Corbett

TV SERIES

'First Love' (1954) TV Series... Chris

'Tom Corbett, Space Cadet' (1950) TV Series .... Tom Corbett

'One Man's Family' (1949) TV Series (as Frank Thomas Jr.) .... Cliff Barbour #1 (1949)

'A Woman to Remember' (1949) TV Series .... Charley Anderson