NEW @ TOOBWORD CENTRAL

Two new arrival for the Toobworld Library, and one of them is home-made!

Brian-El, a member of the Idiot's Delight Digest (and probably from Krypton), mailed me a burned copy of the 'Mary Tyler Moore Show' reunion that was held on Oprah's talk show. Oprah went all out with recreations of the WJM office and of Mary's first apartment in Minneapolis.

Thanks, Uncle Brian!

Amazon had a one-day deal - the four seasons of 'Futurama' altogether for under 50 bucks. I couldn't pass that one up!

BCnU!

REAPER SMOKES

I finally finished the last three episodes of 'Reaper' Saturday. And although it didn't really end on a cliff-hanger, the finale felt like the creative team expected to get another season for the show. That's not going to happen, but at least we were left with the feeling there was hope for Sam to not only get out of his deal with the Devil, but also to rescue Andi's soul as well.

That will be left up to the Fates in Toobworld... maybe to intrepid 'Reaper' fanficcers out there. In the meantime, there was at least one last definite link to the TV Universe for the show......

Mary Pat, a new greeter at the Work Bench, was a smoker. And her cancer sticks of choice? Morley's, the brand most TV characters ask for by name! Other shows that had the Morley brand:

'Beverly Hills, 90210'
'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'
'Cold Case'
'Criminal Minds'
'ER'
'Jake 2.0'
'Killer Instinct'
'The L Word'
'Malcolm in the Middle'
'Medium'
'Millennium'
'Mission: Impossible'
'Nash Bridges'
'New Amsterdam'
'Prison Break' (alternate universe)
'The Outer Limits'
'Space: Above and Beyond'
'Special Unit 2'
'Spy Game'
'That '70s Show'
'The Twilight Zone' (a big maybe......)
'The X-Files'

In much the same way as the Devil owns the souls of Sam and Andi, Toobworld owns 'Reaper' now......

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JUDGE ROY BEAN

For this "Two For Tuesday" edition of the "As Seen On TV" showcase, during our annual summer celebration of the TV Western, we have one of the most colorful characters to be found west of the Pecos.....

JUDGE ROY BEAN

AS SEEN IN:
"The Streets Of Laredo"

AS PLAYED BY:
Ned Beatty

Eventually Judge Roy Bean will be inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame during the summer months. The reason he's not going in this year is because of the tenth anniversary of the Hall. With a new inductee going in every week, it might have diminished the over-sized legend of the man. And when he does go in, he'll go in looking like Edgar Buchanan. AS SEEN IN:
'Judge Roy Bean'

AS PLAYED BY:
Edgar Buchanan

But it's always nice to feature a Ned Beatty character here at Toobworld Central, so I'll take the opportunity when I can! BCnU!

GOOGLIN' DOWN THE ROAD

If you've got access to "Google Street View", you can use it to get inside the alternate dimension of Earth Prime-Time!

So far, you can't travel down the main street of Cicely, Alaska, looking for their moose; and you can't use it to check out the water tower in Hooterville in search of the Bradley girls. But the producers for one of Great Britain's most popular soap operas have allowed the Google Street View car to rumble along 'Coronation Street'. It's all in connection to the re-launch of the show's website, so I'm not sure how long the access will last.....

BCnU!

EUReKA! NO TAYLOR-MADE ZONK!

In the episode "It's Not Easy Being Green", Global Dynamics needed 'Eureka' sheriff Jack Carter to collect all the samples of globinium (a safe alternative to plutonium) in town. Tess Fontana teased him by saying that he could rely on his easy-going Andy Griffith charm to get those people to give up their samples.

No Zonk here to be deactivated! There's no mention of any of Griffith's TV shows, but we all know which one she meant. I mean, Carter's a small-town sheriff like Andy Taylor; I don't think he's going to be confused with a Southern lawyer or a private school's headmaster.

Luckily for the integrity of the Toobworld structure, we're in the Trueniverse; within the reality of Earth Prime-Time, Tess was just referring to Andy Griffith's charm as a comic story-teller - the guy known for such stories as "What It Was, Was Football".

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: GEORGE HEARST

GEORGE HEARST

AS SEEN IN:
'Deadwood'

AS PLAYED BY:
Gerald McRaney

Born near Sullivan, Missouri on September 3, 1820, to John and Elizabeth Collins Hearst, George was the oldest of three children. From a young age, George worked on the family farm and received very little formal schooling.

Though Hearst had no political experience, he was nominated to the State Assembly and won a seat representing San Francisco as a Democrat in 1865. During his two years in office, he acquired the 48,000 acre Piedra Blanca Ranch at San Simeon, California and later bought several adjoining ranches that would later become the site of the famed Hearst Castle.

When gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1875, Hearst began to take note and when the Manuel brothers discovered a large outcrop of gold in what would quickly become the gold camp of Lead, Hearst sent people to investigate. In 1877, Hearst himself arrived in Deadwood and bought the mine from the Manuel brothers and named it the Homestake Mine. Buying up additional claims in the Deadwood area, the Homestake Mining Operation soon was the largest in the Black Hills and the leading producer of gold in the United States.

For the full story, visit the "Legends Of America" website.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV SPECIAL: THURMAN MUNSON

It was thirty years ago today that Thurman Munson lost his life in a plane accident..... AS SEEN IN:
"The Bronx Is Burning" AS PLAYED BY:
Erik Jensen

[Jensen as Munson with John Turturro as Billy Martin]

[Jensen as Munson with Daniel Sunjata as Reggie Jackson]

BCnU.....

ROCKFORD FILIAL

From Variety:

NBC, Universal Media Studios and Steve Carell's Carousel Television have tapped "House" creator-exec producer David Shore to shepherd a redo of the classic 1974-80 gumshoe drama that starred James Garner and put Stephen J. Cannell on the map as a writer-producer.

"The minute I heard this I said, 'Let's get it on for midseason' ... but we're going to take our time and get it right," said Angela Bromstad, prexy of primetime entertainment for NBC Entertainment and UMS. "We know that David has the right sensibility as a writer to take on this kind of big character."

As I operate in the hinterlands, nobody's going to ask me, but....

I'm against the idea of a remake, no matter how good the pedigree. If they wanted to go with a show similar in style, or at worst, about the son Jim Rockford never knew he had? Fine. I'm down with that. That second suggestion just screams "Toobworld!"

But there can be only one "Rockfish".

Having said that, if the show must be made, the perfect guy for the role is unfortunately already tied up in another series....... I always said that James Garner should have appeared on 'Bones' as Seely Booth's grandfather. (Grandfather and NOT father: According to the show, Booth had a good relationship with his grandfather, but not his father.)

I think David Boreanaz has the laid-back, sardonic wit and world-weary resignation to pull off the role.

But I'd only be really happy if he was playing Jim Rockford, Jr........

BCnU!

K-ZONK

On 'Leverage' this week, Nate Ford and his team of con men could have messed up "The Order-23 Job" before it was really underway because of a technical error.

If their target Eddie Marangian had been paying attention, he would have noticed that the TV news graphic that flashed on the screen was from TV station KXXB. But he was in a Belbridge, Massachusetts, hospital - and the call signals for every TV and radio station east of the Mississippi begins with a "W". O'Bviously, working under time constraints, Hardison probably could only have loaded up that graphic, the only one he could find that was somewhat appropriate.

However, with cable and satellite, there are super-stations - like TBS and WGN - which transcend their boundaries to play all over the country. And that's what they could have said to Marangian if he ever brought it up.

Of course, there's the power of the script-writer. Not everything has to be brought up....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: WILD BILL HICKOCK

WILD BILL HICKOCK

AS SEEN IN:

'Deadwood'

AS PLAYED BY:

Keith Carradine

BCnU!