SHARAPOVA'S ROVER

The televersion of tennis ace Maria Sharapova has a pet dog (looks to be mostly a dust-mop) that must be a reincarnated human. For the dog is sentient, although we haven't seen evidence it can actually speak yet. But it does articulate its thoughts in a very Latino accent.

Both of them appear in a new Canon Powershot blipvert, as Maria incessantly takes the little pup's picture - despite his "protests".

Since he doesn't talk to her, it would appear that the dog (It sounds like his name is "Dolce". "Dulce"?) has not taken her into his confidence that he used to be human. In fact, he refers to her as "Maria Sharapova", which denotes something of a lack of intimacy between the two of them. He even seems slightly resentful that she owns him.

I would infer that this means that they were not acquainted in a past life, when "Dulce" was alive as a human - which is usually the case with reincarnated dogs. In fact, he has a Latino accent, possibly from Spain(?), while Sharapova is originally from Russia.

As for his previous incarnation, I'm going to go with Zapato Dulce, a character from an episode in the second season of 'Psych'.

SPOILER ALERT!

Zapato Dulce had been one of the three judges on the TV show 'American Duos', and he turned out to be the guilty party behind the crimes connected to the show. Now this theory can all change should the character somehow ever come back on 'Psych'. (Hey, it's happened before in crime shows! 'Matlock' would use it as a device to show clips as they tried to figure out who was trying to kill the lawyer.) But I'm thinking that Dulce may have died in prison shortly after being arrested, and his spirit has returned to be Sharapova's bitch-toy.

Not exactly a punishment for his crimes.....

Whoever he was as a human, it's more than likely Dulce was just as vain then as he is now - by the end of the blipvert, he's back inside Sharapova's TV home, where he can admire his wall of portraits all day long......



BCnU!
Toby OB

THE GAME OF THE NAME: TOP TEN

The U.S. Census Bureau has released data from the 2000 census which shows the "popularity" of certain surnames. And for the first time, two Hispanic names have cracked the Top Ten: Garcia and Rodriguez.

Most of these names are pretty popular in Toobworld as well. In addition, the Number One name, - of course it's "Smith" - has shown up several times in the titles of TV shows: 'Mr. Smith', 'The Smith Family', 'Alias Smith And Jones'.....

But for some reason, I think the name "Taylor" would have been on this list if it was published by the Telemerican Census Bureau - Andy, Opie and Bea Taylor ('The Andy Griffith Show'), Tim Taylor & family ('Home Improvement'), Mac Taylor ('CSI: NY'), Chris Taylor ('EastEnders'), Dr. Alex Taylor ('Medics'), Vince Taylor ('Commander-In-Chief'), Mark Taylor ('Joking Apart'), Derek Taylor ('Silver Spoons'), John Taylor ('Paradise') and - well, you get the idea.

For the actual Top Ten list, I'd like to present at least one example for each name from Toobworld:

1 Smith
Dr. Zachary Smith, 'Lost In Space'

"Smith" is never going to be knocked out of its berth at first, I'm thinking, so I figured why not knock it down a peg in status by illustrating the name with Toobworld's most sniveling, craven coward of a villain, who may have been a pederast in the making?

Dr. Zachary Smith tried to sabotage the Jupiter Two spaceship back in the late 1990s, but he was trapped on board the ship when it blasted off. In order to survive, he formed an uneasy alliance with the Robinson Family and took an almost unhealthy interest in young Will Robinson.

2 Johnson
Alice Johnson, 'Room 222'

Alice Johnson was the plucky and idealistic young teacher on the faculty of Walt Whitman High School. Although the actual character was never seen again in Toobworld outside of 'Room 222', I've often thought she might have made for an interesting Companion for the Seventh or Eighth Doctor in their unseen adventures. I don't know why, maybe it's that young and idealistic teacher aspect....

3 Williams
Rusty Williams, 'Make Room For Daddy'

The reason I chose Rusty over his father Danny is that for the nightclub comic, "Williams" was a stage name; his real name would have been Lebanese in origin. For Rusty, however, it would have been the name registered on his birth certificate.

Rusty will one day make the TV Crossover Hall of Fame as he appeared in 'Make Room For Daddy', 'Make Room For Grand-Daddy', 'I Love Lucy', and 'The Joey Bishop Show'. Sadly, the actor who played him took his own life a few years ago.....

4 Brown
Ed Brown, 'Chico & The Man', 'Ironside'

This was always a theoretical link for me. It's my contention that Sgt. Ed Brown of the San Francisco Police Department was the son of Ed Brown, who owned that old garage in Los Angeles. Spend a little time with that irascible old coot and you can easily see why the family relation between the two went unmentioned....

5 Jones
Kenneth Yarbrough Jones, 'Kentucky Jones'

Like "Smith", there would have been plenty of choices available for the name of "Jones", so I figured I'd go with one of the late Dennis Weaver's lesser-known characters.

Kentucky Jones was a widowed veterinarian who was unprepared to raise the Chinese orphan his late wife applied for just before she died. But Dr. Jones came to love Ike Wong (full name Dwight Eisenhower Wong) and both of them learned from each other while living on a Southern California ranch.

6 Miller
'Barney Miller'

One of the best central straight men in sitcom history, Captain Barney Miller was the calm eye in the storm of his precinct who couldn't maintain that same equilibrium in his home life. In the present day of Toobworld, Captain Miller is surely and well-deservedly retired from the force, especially since his old precinct was turned into a police museum honoring Teddy Roosevelt.

7 Davis
Cissy, Buffy, Jody, and Uncle Bill Davis, 'Family Affair'

Since it was a family affair, it wouldn't be fair to choose one over the other in this case. Cissy and the twins were the children of Bill Davis' brother, who perished with his wife in a car accident. The confirmed bachelor had to adjust his lifestyle - his globe-spanning business interests as well as his romantic dalliances - in order to make room for the children in his life. (It turned out to be more of an adjustment for his gentleman's gentleman, Mr. French, but they all gelled into a true family unit.)

8 Garcia
Penelope Garcia, 'Criminal Minds'

Better known just as Garcia, she's a computer whiz kid who can tap into just about any online source of information to provide assistance for the FBI profiler team. It looks like she survived an horrific attack in the most recent episodes, one which might force her to take stock of her life and her infatuation with Agent Morgan.

9 Rodriguez

Detective Al Rodriguez is partnered up with Ruben Sommariba at their NY precinct, where their commanding officer knows them only as "Rice And Beans". The viewing audience never heard him speak - perhaps a trick he learned from former police officer Francis Muldoon - but we know he could... off-screen. Several times charactes would talk about what Al had to say to them and of course we never got to see proof that he told them anything.

10 Wilson
George Wilson, 'Dennis The Menace'
As the cantankerous old man who lived next door to the Mitchell home, George Wilson was often beset by problems caused by young Dennis Mitchell. It got so bad that he finally had to be move into a sanitarium (something which his wife Martha would never speak about).

It can't be proven, but it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, as Mushrat would say, that George and Martha Wilson were the parents of Tim Taylor's next door neighbor on 'Home Improvement'. But that would take further research, as I'm not sure whether or not his parents ever showed up over the fence on that sitcom.

So those are my examples of the Top Ten names on the US Census as of 2000.

My name? Well, if you must know, it placed 234 on the list; up from 281 from 1990, thank you very much. And definitely without help from me adding to the list.

(This is where I grip my my tie, Rodney-style, and sneer, "Not that I know of......")

BCnU!
Toby OB

WGA WORLD NEWS UPDATE

Dozens of British film and TV writers rallied outside the Trades Union Congress building in London yesterday, holding the familiar red and black picket signs with the slogan: "We support the Writers Guild of America."

Protests were held elsewhere in the world to support the WGA as well.

BCnU!
Toby OB

ONE STRIKE STRUCK

By MICHAEL KUCHWARA
The Associated Press
NEW YORK

Broadway stagehands and theater producers reached a tentative agreement Wednesday night to end a strike and almost immediately return to the stage most of the two dozen plays and musicals that have been shut down for more than two weeks.

The settlement came after two days of marathon, all-night sessions and months of negotiation between Local 1 and the League of American Theatres and Producers. The walkout, which began Nov. 10, has cost the city and theaters millions of dollars in lost income.

Bruce Cohen, a spokesman for the union, confirmed the agreement ending the 19-day work stoppage.

"We're glad there's a deal, and everyone should go back to work and the public should go see a Broadway show," Cohen said.

Most shows were expected to resume performances Thursday, the league said.

That's one down. Hopefully the WGA and the AMPTP will settle their differences - and in the favor of the writers! - soon.

But at least now my friend Michael can get back to work at "Mamma Mia" - if his back lets him, that is!

BCnU!

Toby OB

THE HAT SQUAD: MEL TOLKIN

In the Toobworld novel I've been working on forever, Toob Cooper tells his twin brother Thom - who's a fantasy aficionado - that the TV dimension is more Mel Tolkin than Tolkien.

Mel Tolkin was one of the leading writers for 'Your Show Of Shows' and was one of the creative forces behind 'All In The Family'.

Mr. Tolkin passed away on Monday at the age of 94.

Here's a selection from the MSN obituary:

He wrote comedy for Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Danny Kaye and Danny Thomas and in the 1970s was a writer and story editor for "All in the Family."

For Caesar, he contributed to the 1949 TV variety show "The Admiral Broadway Revue," and wrote for "Your Show of Shows" from 1950-54 — including its theme song — and for "Caesar's Hour," which ran from 1954-57.

Sketches from the shows, many pairing Caesar and Imogene Coca, became classics. Caesar and company captured new generations of fans with the 1973 theatrical compilation film "10 From Your Show of Shows" and more recent DVD releases.

"I guess he was most proud of his professionalism," his son said Tuesday. "Of course, he was very proud of his association with Caesar and his association with the birth of the Golden Age of television."

Tolkin "was a tremendous asset," Caesar, 85, told the Los Angeles Times. "He was a very talented man, and he worked really hard."

As head writer on "Your Show of Shows," Tolkin worked with the likes of Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and Larry Gelbart, whose later credits include "M-A-S-H" and "Tootsie.'"

Caesar's team worked in a pressure cooker atmosphere, creating material for the live, 90-minute show and trying to satisfy the notoriously difficult star.

The experience inspired Simon's play "Laughter on the 23rd Floor," and was fictionalized in the 1982 movie "My Favorite Year."

There was "a creative anger in the room," Tolkin told the Times in 1995. "We had an acoustic ceiling. People would throw their pencils at it in frustration. One time I counted 39 pencils hanging from the ceiling."

Tolkin "absolutely had a brushstroke of genius," Brooks told the paper. "He was never Bob Hope contemporary. ... It was always the human condition, what happened in the human heart, and he taught me that."

Tolkin received several Emmy nominations and shared an Emmy with several colleagues in 1967 for "The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special."

BCnU....
Toby OB

TOONING OVER A NEW LEAF

Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf was seen in the latest episode of 'The Simpsons' ("Funeral For A Fiend") hawking a new style of mop on TV.

He was wearing the Number 16 on his football jersey.

So "The Numbers" exert their influence in the TV Universe even over into the Tooniverse!

BCnU!
Toby OB

SELLIN' CELINE

Just before Thanksgiving, Celine Dion traveled to Pine Valley to sing on Erica Kane's talk show, 'New Beginnings' (as seen on 'All My Children').

It's not known whether her televersion on Earth Prime-Time suffers from brittle bird bone syndrome as she does in Skitlandia, so it's unclear whether that was a factor in her visit.

But she did care enough about the visit to learn more about her host and so was able to commiserate with Erica about her family's recent problems.

This appearance links 'All My Children' to 'The Nanny', as Celine Dion appeared in the episode "Fran's Gotta Have It".

Over in the Tooniverse, the singer gave birth to Sally, the daughter of Terrance, a character on 'South Park'.

BCnU!
Toby OB

BITS 'N' PIECES OF TV TRIVIA

Looks like we have another link between TV shows, thanks to a breakfast cereal.

NYC Police Detective Matt Parkman served up a bowl of Bits 'n' Pieces for his foster daughter Molly in a recent episode of 'Heroes'. Bits 'n' Pieces may be a regional rather than a national breakfast cereal, as the only other TV show in which it appeared was an episode of 'Grounded For Life', which took place on Staten Island.

BCnU!

Toby OB

GOT IT, FLAUNTING IT

Sorry.

Couldn't resist......

Create Fake Magazine Covers with your own picture at MagMyPic.com

BCnU!
Toby OB

NEW @ TOOBWORLD CENTRAL

Taking advantage of the big sale at Amazon.com, I picked up a handful of DVDs and the first two arrived today:

"Rowan Atkinson: Live!"

and

'Eureka' (Season One)

Presents for loved ones this holiday season?

What are you? Nuts?

BCnU!
Toby OB