TODAY'S TWD: ALFRED NOBEL

December 10, 1896:

Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor and founder of the Nobel Prize, died. (b. 1833)

From Answers.com:

Swedish chemist Alfred Bernhard Nobel invented dynamite in 1866 and it made him rich. Nobel was as interested in drama and poetry as he was in chemistry and physics, but it was in the sciences that he made his fame, and by the time of his death he held more than 350 patents and controlled factories and labs in 20 countries. The story goes that when Nobel's brother died, a newspaper mistakenly published an obituary of Nobel that emphasized the fact that he had invented things that blew up and killed people. Nobel, not wanting to be remembered in that way, pledged his wealth toward the betterment of humanity. In his will he directed the establishment of a foundation to award annual prizes for achievement in chemistry, physics, literature and efforts toward international peace. The Nobel Prize is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the world and includes a cash prize of nearly one million dollars. In 1968 the prize field was broadened to include an award in economic science.

If I'm not mistaken, former President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet was a recipient of the Nobel Prize for economics....

Alfred Nobel was portrayed in documentaries and in theatrical films. But Toobworld's choice for his best representation in Toobworld comes from the "Hobson's Choice" episode of 'Have Gun, Will Travel'. That's because we're always partial to historical figures who interact with fictional characters.

In that episode, Paladin must find and transport the inventor Alfred Nobel's latest discovery out of San Francisco -- a missing case of nitroglycerine.

Nobel was portrayed by one of the unsung greats among TV character actors, Milton Selzer. I'm not sure if he had a beard in that fifth season episode*, but it would not be far off the mark to say that he probably looked a bit like he's portrayed in the second picture, just after the real Alfred Nobel.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

JEDI MIND ZONKS? BEAM ME OUTTA HERE!

The previous post about 'Leverage' doesn't mean that they can't Zonk with the best of them. During the debut episode, there were major references to both 'Star Trek' and "Star Wars" (which does have a Toobworld presence).

'Star Trek' - While posing as an IT tech/nerd, Eliot Spencer chatted up the mark's secretary and the subject of Klingon costumes at sci-fi conventions came up.

"Star Wars" - In the flashback which introduced Alec Hardison, the computer geek was found using a hotel room under Mick Jagger's name. Inside, he was being... pampered by three babes dressed in Princess Leia chain-mail bikinis. Once discovered by the management and hotel security, Hardison tried to wave them off with a Jedi mind-trick.

Even though both 'Star Trek' and "Star Wars" have been established in the main Toobworld, TV characters from the past (per the 'Star Trek' perspective) and from the future ("Star Wars" did take place "a long time ago") frequently mention them both. And the reason why this is not a Zonk is similar in both cases.

For 'Star Trek', somebody from the future came back in Time to give the televersion of Gene Roddenberry all of the information... information... information about Starfleet so that the "Great Bird Of The Galaxy" would then create a TV empire based on that knowledge. The reasons why this was done are unknown - perhaps the mysterious visitor was trying to alter the future. Or it could be that he was trying to ensure that the way was paved for that future to happen.

As for "Star Wars", various characters from that galaxy far, far away have come forward in Time to eke out new lives for themselves in Toobworld. While Luke, C-3PO, and R2-D2 could have arrived after the events of the last movie, Darth Vader's presence on Toobworld could cause serious damage to the established reality if he doesn't return. (His appearances on Earth Prime-Time probably take place between "Star Wars: A New Hope" and "The Empire Strikes Back".)
Yes, I'm a geek. Deal with it.

Anyhoo, the televersion of George Lucas (who appeared in an episode of 'The O.C.'!) must have learned about the history of the Empire and created his own empire based on it.

So, in both cases, no Zonks!

BCnU!
Toby O'B

LEVERAGE GETS I.T.

With its debut episode, 'Leverage' showed how an in-joke should work without becoming a Zonk.

The team caused the computer of their mark's secretary to crash in "The Nigerian Job", and when she called the IT department, they intercepted the call. The first thing Parker asked her was if the secretary had tried turning the computer off and then on again. Alec Hardison, the computer geek on the team, boasted to team leader Nate Ford that this was standard operating procedure in the IT game.

What he could have done was beat the audience over the head with the fact that this was how 'The IT Crowd' operated in that British series. And considering that show is on IFC over here in America, they would have had to really drum in that over-splainin to make sure everybody got it.
Instead, they just let the information ride as it was. So for those in the know, it could be a tip o' the hat to 'The IT Crowd'; otherwise, it was just a statement of fact about IT techies everywhere.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

AT&T AND THE CBI

Kendall Cho works for the California Bureau of Investigation on the TV series 'The Mentalist'. But as with all characters in Toobworld, Cho has a life outside that which is seen on your TV screen during that show.

And apparently, he's buddies with a real doofus who just doesn't understand that you can do so much better with AT&T for all of his phone, TV, and internet needs........

Based on the latest commercial, in which his dopey friend nearly fries them both with a weird electrical apparatus, Cho won't be making it to retirement age if he keeps hanging out with the guy!

BCnU!
Toby O'B

THE HAT SQUAD: ODETTA

As I was away from Toobworld Central for a week, and working with my old dial-up craptop, I couldn't pay my proper respects to certain people who have passed away during that time, and who all contributed to Toobworld.

Odetta was a civil rights activist, mostly through her music, and she made several appearances on TV as herself in arts programs. But she also contributed a few characters to the Tele-Folks Directory. Two of them passed on long before Odetta's televersion did, but another won't see her moment on the Toobworld stage until 2017, even though the TV-movie "The Fire Next Time" aired in 1993.

Should "The Fire Next Time" be unable to reconcile itself with the events of 2017, we'll have to place that tele-flick into the same alternate dimension which houses all of those other bad weather TV-movies.

Here are the women who have Odetta to thank for giving them life in the Television Universe:

The Fire Next Time (1993)

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974) .... Big Laura

"Have Gun - Will Travel" .... Sarah Gibbs
The Hanging of Aaron Gibbs (1961)
A destitute black woman wants a chance to say a last goodbye to her condemned husband, and the take body home for burial.

Popular African American folksinger Odetta guest stars as Sarah Gibbs, the wife of a man condemned to be executed. Hoping to bid one last goodbye to her husband Aaron (Rupert Crosse), and to claim the body after the hanging, Sarah hires Paladin (Richard Boone) to help her carry out her wishes. Unfortunately, the town marshal (Roy Barcroft) adamantly refuses to allow Aaron any visitors--and the hostile townsfolk already have plans for the poor man's corpse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

May God Bless.....

BCnU.....
Toby O'B

TODAY'S TWD: ANNA'S DAY

Sorry I'm late with the daily Tiddlywinkydink. I was in transit for part of the day to get back to Toobworld Central, and then I had to spend a few hours making nice with my cat Sand to make up for leaving him alone for a few days.

Today, in Sweden and Finland, is Anna's Day. I don't know how it started, and I'm too tired to go look it up. (Now THAT'S lazy!) But on this day we're supposed to acknowledge everyone named Anna. And in doing so, it also marks the day to begin the preparation of the Christmas lutefisk.

That's one of those foods, like Bulger's Wheat Germ, that I won't eat just based on the name. I don't even know what it is - I'm assuming it's fish - but it'll never pass my lips because of that name.

Anyhoo......

I'm joining in with the Anna's Day celebrations with a list of a few Toobworld Annas. O'Bviously there was no way I'd get them all, not even those who were regular characters on major TV series. I used the character search at imdb.com and only got through the "F" names of actresses, and that was over a 1000 names!

And these are not just Annas from American TV shows. Since this is an international celebration, you'll see that most of these women are from shows from around the world.

Anna Conroy - 'Slings & Arrows'

Dr. Anna Del Amico - 'ER'

Anna Winterson - 'Sweet Medicine'

Anna Ward - 'Rock Follies of '77'

Anna DeSouza - 'Emmerdale Farm'

Mrs. Anna Madrigal - 'Tales Of The City'

Anna Miller - 'Lost Room'

Anna Sophia Antonia Garces-Keller - 'Family Biz'

Anna Maria Verdugo - 'Zorro'

Sheriff Anna Turner - 'The Dead Zone'

Anna Schick - 'The Young & The Restless'

Anna Chancellor - 'Cold Lazarus' & 'Karaoke'

Anna Fairley - 'Reckless'

Anna Stern - 'The O.C.'

Anna Dodwell - 'Pacific Drive'

Anna Daptor - 'KYTV'

Anna Krakauer - 'Love Of Life'

Anna Nardini - 'Gilmore Girls'

Anna Owens - 'Anna And The King'

Anna Pegram - 'Fox'

Anna Kirkwell - 'Where The Heart Is'

Anna Denton - 'CrashBurn'

Anna Williams Bedford - 'The Chase'

Anna Wolek Craig - 'One Life To Live'

Anna Jacobs - 'Models, Inc.'

Anna Crozier - 'A Wing And A Prayer'

Anna Brigmore - 'The Mallens'

Anna Lacey - 'Noah's Ark'

Anna Tellwright - 'Anna Of The Five Towns'

Anna Taggaro - 'One Tree Hill'

Anna Gripenhielm - 'Nya tider'

Anna Wiegel - 'Unter uns'

Anna Krogh Moller - 'Sommer'

Anna Andersson - 'Sunes Jul'

Anna Polonskaya - 'Svakha'

Anna Mohlin - 'Hem Till byn'

Anna Taratsa - 'Ola stm taratsa'

Princess Anna Bilinska - 'Slawa i Chepla'

Anna Jensen - 'Zwei manner am Herd'

Anna Akerblom Bergman - Den Goda Viljan
[She may be a candidate for the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame!]

Anna Engberg - 'Hook'

Anna Merthin - 'Unter Den Linden - Das Haus Gravenhorst'

Anna Bochenek - 'Na Dobre I Na Zle'

Anna Bol - 'Oppassen'

Anna Danesi - 'Incantesimo'

And the following shows had regular characters by the name of Anna, but no last name was listed at the imdb.com:

'Groupe flag'
'Niania'
'Ihni'
'Neprata cena'
'Floribella'
'Isayev'
'Die Kleine Vampir'

In the Tooniverse, there's Anna Watson of 'Spiderman', and among the reality superstars, of course there is the late Anna Nicole Smith.

So as you can see, with just these names culled from thousands up the letter "F", it's little wonder I didn't get much farther.

But that just means I have something to work with next December 9th!

BCnU!

Toby O'B

TOOBWORLD AND THE TRIBUNE'S TRIBULATIONS

In the news today:

The Tribune Company, the newspaper and television chain that publishes The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, and the Hartford Courant, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday.

Looking at this just from a Toobworld perspective, I'm wondering if this will affect the storylines for the upcoming third season of 'My Boys'. In the show, Bobby Newman is a sports-writer for the Chicago Tribune; his friend and rival PJ Franklin works for the Sun-Times.

In the real world, of course, I'm worried about the employees at the Hartford Courant in Connecticut (being originally from the Nutmeg State).

BCnU!
Toby O'B

TODAY'S TWD: THE CULPER RING

On a recent episode of 'Chuck', Bartowski the Intersect pointed out that "The Culper Ring used to use stuff like that to pass along information during the Revolutionary War days."

I never read the comic book "The Y Man"; I just bought it for my Little Buddy over in Taiwan. The comic book has its own modern version of the Culper Ring, but here's the information about the original group, courtesy of Wikipedia:

The Culper Ring was a spy ring organized by Benjamin Tallmadge under the orders of General George Washington in the summer of 1778. The Ring's task was to infiltrate British-controlled New York City and report troop dispositions and intentions. The Ring conducted covert operations until the end of the American Revolutionary War, though its heyday was between 1778 and 1781.

One of those who allegedly aided the Culper Ring was an operative known only as "355," the group's code for "lady." Some historians believe that she was the only member of the ring arrested by the British and hanged as a spy. Others claim that she gave birth to Robert Townsend's child while she was a prisoner aboard the British hulk, The Jersey, but this story has been discredited. Robert Townsend did allegedly father a child by another woman after 355's death.

Nathan Hale and Tallmadge were close friends at Yale and Tallmadge's entry into the secret world was not accidental, nor did it begin with the Culper Ring in 1778. As early as 1777, Tallmadge acted as the operative John Clark's contact in Connecticut when Clark was based on Long Island. Before that, he worked for the spymaster Nathaniel Sackett, who was later fired.

BCnU!

Toby O'B

THE TWO MRS. LANDINGHAMS

We've seen how the TV characters of the main Toobworld are altered in the other TV dimensions, thanks to such shows as 'Star Trek' (and especially in one of its sequels, 'Deep Space Nine'), 'Sliders', 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys', and 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'. But we've also met characters in those alternate dimensions first - do they have counterparts in the original Earth Prime-Time? And are their lives different there?

We may have found an answer for at least one character, Mrs. Landingham of 'The West Wing'.

In that Aaron Sorkin production, Mrs. Landingham worked as the Executive Secretary for the President of the United States. But at the end of the second season - ooh! Spoiler alert! - she died in a car accident.

But in that alternate dimension, the President was Josiah Bartlet. In the main Toobworld, as in the real world, the President during that same span of time covered by the series was first Bill Clinton and then George W. Bush. So Mrs. Landingham wasn't working in that White House, and so she would not have found herself in the same set of circumstances that would have led to her death.

As to what she may have been doing, we can look to 'Gossip Girl', of all shows, for what she was up to.....

In a recent episode of 'Gossip Girl', Lily Bass talked to Mrs. Landingham on the phone. It turns out that in the main Toobworld, she's also a secretary. But she works for Bart Bass, not Jed Bartlet. So at the very least, she's outlived her doppelganger in that other TV Land where we first met her.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

TODAY'S TWD: THE FIRST BLIPVERT

Dec. 7, 1930:

W1XAV [Boston] broadcasts a video portion of a CBS radio program, The Fox Trappers orchestra program, sponsored by I. J. Fox Furriers. Included was what is sometimes called the first television commercial, which was prohibited by FRC regulations. [However, Donna Halper reports that as early as 1928 W1XAY in Lexington Mass. simulcast one hour of WLEX radio daily, and there is a mention of commercials in that hour. She also reports that Big Brother Bob Emery made an appearance on W1XAV, as did several other Boston area announcers, when W1XAV tried on a few occasions in 1930-31 to telecast a Boston radio station's programming. They first tried WEEI and then WNAC. The FRC took a dim view of their attempts to telecast a network program, however, since there was no agreement yet about whether or not experimental TV stations could run network commercials, so the FRC advised them not to try it.]

http://jeff560.tripod.com/chronotv.html

BCnU!
Toby O'B