THE BREAKFAST PSYCH

This really doesn't fall into the purview of Toobworld Central, but I still wanted to share this O'Bservation.....

As Shawn Spencer of 'Psych', James Roday has now appeared with three actors from "The Breakfast Club":

Judd Nelson ("Death Is In The Air", with Burton Guster),

Ally Sheedy ("An Evening With Mr. Yang" & "Mr. Yin Presents"),

as well as with Anthony Michael Hall as John Smith of 'The Dead Zone' in a USA Network promo. (They're both seen here with Adrian 'Monk'.)

So that means Emilio Estevez and Molly Ringwald have to make appearances on 'Psych' in order to complete this trivia nugget. (And if Anthony Michael Hall could get an actual episode, that would be cool.....) It reminds me of 'St. Elsewhere' when the old gang from Steve Allen's version of the 'Tonight' show appeared as the parents of various doctors at St. Eligius: Louis Nye (as Dr. Axelrod's dad), Bill Dana (as Dr. Fiscus' dad), Tom Poston (as Dr. Morrison's dad), and Steve Allen himself, with his wife Jane Meadows (as Dr. Ehrlich's parents).

BCnU!

TELE-GENETICS: JUST FOLLOW THE NOSE

I'm often critical of tele-genetics employed in TV shows - the casting of parents or siblings or children of a main TV character. I don't know if the actors were involved were cast for their celebrity status in hopes of luring in viewers, but a lot times it certainly wasn't for any similarity in appearance.
(I suppose the argument could be made that Brendan Fehr and David Boreanaz look like brothers in this still from 'Bones'; but during an actual episode of the show, I just don't see it.)

But there's no arguing the case of Conway Jefferson and his son Frank, seen together only in the opening scene for the second TV adaptation of "The Body In The Library", a Miss Marple mystery:

CONWAY JEFFERSON

FRANK JEFFERSON

It's always the structure of the nose for me - whether in looking for tele-genetic similarities or in the depiction of historical figures (a major reason why I never fully bought Paul Giamatti as 'John Adams'.) And in the case of the Jefferson pere et fils, they both have that striking Galllic proboscis.

Of course, there's a good reason why - Conway Jefferson was played by Ian Richardson, and in an uncredited turn, his son Miles appeared as Jefferson's doomed son Frank.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: BEAU BRUMMELL

BEAU BRUMMELL

AS SEEN IN:
"Beau Brummell: This Charming Man"

AS PLAYED BY:
James Purefoy

From Wikipedia:
Beau Brummell, born as George Bryan Brummell (7 June 1778 – 30 March 1840 (aged 61)), was the arbiter of men's fashion in Regency England and a friend of the Prince Regent, the future King George IV. He established the mode of men wearing understated, but fitted, tailored clothes including dark suits and full-length trousers, adorned with an elaborately-knotted cravat. Beau Brummell is credited with introducing and establishing as fashion the modern man's suit, worn with a tie. He claimed to take five hours to dress, and recommended that boots be polished with champagne. His style of dress was known as dandyism.

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD: MERLIN OLSEN

Merlin Olsen, former pro-football player and NBC football color commentator, has passed away at the age of 69. On 'CHiPs' and 'The Brian Keith Show', Olsen provided a televersion of himself in one episode each.

He also created several characters for Toobworld, both in the present timeline and back in the Old West days circa the 1870s. The most famous of these would be 'Father Murphy' (aka frontiersman John Michael Murphy) and Jonathan Garvey of 'Little House On The Prairie'. Along with Perlee Skowrin, the character he played on 'Kung Fu', these men passed away about a century ago at least.

As for his present day characters, they include:

Aaron Miller, 'Aaron's Way'
Buddy Landau, 'Fathers And Sons'
Merlin Fergus, 'Petticoat Junction'
Todd Simms, "The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story"

All of whom could have easily survived to this point in Time, and conceivably will survive the passing of the actor who played them. (It's not like any of them were ever going to be recast in new productions.)

As for Webb McClain, the old friend of Buford Pusser in the TV version of 'Walking Tall', he died in the one episode in which he appeared. McClain had become a paid assassin and was hired to kill his old friend. But Shefiff Pusser was able to outgun him during a hunting trip; to preserve the memory of his old friend, Pusser made it look like McClain died in a hunting accident.

The only character I'm not sure about is Stan Webster, from the TV movie "A Fire In The Sky". There was a cryptic comment at the IMDb.com about how Merlin Olsen saved the day by hiding out in his sleeping bag. I have no idea what that means, but it sounded sarcastic and I have a feeling that Webster died in that sleeping bag.

Not that it matters in the grand scheme of Toobworld, as "A Fire In The Sky" belongs in that alternate TV dimension of prime-time disasters (and I don't mean 'The Jay Leno Show').

So with his work for NBC football and his appearances on 'CHiPs' and 'The Brian Keith Show', Merlin Olsen will one day be inducted as an honorary member of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

Good night and may God bless, gentle giant.

BCnU......

TVXOHOF, 03/2010: HOWDY DOODY & BUFFALO BOB

Toobworld Central is about the only place where puppets are not treated as second-class citizens, unlike the rest of the TV Universe. Sure, TV characters and other human beings interact with them - within boundaries - but not on a regular basis.

If they did, we would have seen them as regular characters in other TV shows that weren't puppet shows. Eva Longoria appeared on 'Sesame Street'; so why aren't there Muppets living on Wisteria Lane in 'Desperate Housewives'?

Toobworld Central wants to treat all TV characters as equals, whether they be human, extra-terrestrial, robot, talking animals, reincarnated automobiles, or puppets. And that's why we try to induct a TV puppet into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame once a year.

This year we redress a major oversight with the induction of the Grandmaster of all TV Puppetry, Mr. Howdy Doody!

And it doesn't seem right that we would do so without his buddy, Buffalo Bob Smith! Here's a list of the credits that serve as their qualifications for entry:

Andy's Funhouse (1979)

"The New Howdy Doody Show" (1976)

"Happy Days"
- The Howdy Doody Show (1975)

"Puppet Playhouse"

"Howdy Doody"

Howdy Doody and His Magic Hat (1954)

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1987)

"The New Hollywood Squares"
- Episode dated 9 March 1987

It's Howdy Doody Time (1987)

NBC 60th Anniversary Celebration (1986)

The Solid Gold Show (1977)

"Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In"
- Episode #5.1 (1971)

"What's My Line?"
- Episode dated 15 August 1954

"Quantum Leap"
- Genesis: Part 1 - September 13, 1956 (1989)

I'm sorry this situation has finally been addressed and that Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob are at last members of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

We never meant to string them along.....

Sorry about that, Chief.

BCnU!

NEW 2 VIEW @ TOOB HQ

Some new additions to the Toobworld Central Library stacks this week:

'POLDARK' (SERIES 1)
One of my first immersions into the world of British costume dramas (right after 'I, Claudius'). It'll be interesting to go back now and see it again, now that I'm more familiar with so many of the UK's great character actors in TV work.

Some of my more "out-there" theories of televisiology are the "Born To Rerun" essays, in which I speculate that a certain character is the reincarnation of another. 'Poldark' provided a two-fer in this regard: it's the contention of Toobworld Central that aristocratic Ross Poldark and his gypsy wife Demelza were reincarnated as well-to-do Greg Montgomery and his free-spirited wife Dharma Liberty Finkelstein ('Dharma & Greg').

'SOAP' (THE COMPLETE SERIES)
Always loved this show and I knew the videotapes from its first run on Comedy Central were not going to last forever. Someday I hope they can do a special reunion episode, if only to let us know how those final cliff-hangers were resolved from nearly thirty years ago. (Even if several of the cast members are no longer with us.)

'NEWSRADIO' (THE COMPLETE SERIES)
One of those great shows that was hated by its own network. Dave Foley made for the perfect male version of Mary Richards, and the character of Bill O'Neil was Phil Hartman's last hurrah.

Just ordered today:
The complete collection of 'Futurama' - and that includes the four movies that have come out since the series ended.

I got this through the Amazon Gold Box Deal of the Day and that was thanks to an alert from TVShowsOnDVD.com. As a minor thank you for the notice, I ordered my copy via their Amazon link so that they could get some coinage in return. It may not be much remuneration, but every little bit helps for the great service they provide.

If you order from Amazon, please consider doing so via TVShowsOnDVD.com. Thank you.

BCnU!

MATRICULATIN' WITH 'EM

ABC detective series 'Castle' seems to have this desire to link itself to the world of 'Law & Order'. The New York Ledger newspaper has cropped up several times and Beckett and Castle even visited the Ledger's offices on one occasion.

With this week's episode delving into the world of S&M and domination, they made a trip to Hudson University where the victim had been working on her thesis.

Hudson University is the go-to college in Dick Wolf's corner of the TV Universe. But it's also been mentioned in other shows like 'Without A Trace', 'Tru Calling', 'The Cosby Show', and even 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'. Even though that takes place in Canada, Degrassi student Jimmy Brooks was accepted there. And nothing says he couldn't go to a NYC college just because he's from Canada.....

According to a map once seen in an episode of 'Law & Order', Hudson University in the same general area as Yeshiva University is in the real world. Not too far from Toobworld Central, as a matter of fact.

Hudson University also shows up in DC Comics; but as we know from 'Smallville', there's no real connection between the TV Universe and the Comic Book Universe save for its inspiration.....

'Castle' takes place at the 12th Precinct; 'Law & Order' at the 27th. Maybe someday they'll have to confer with a detective from Lennie Briscoe's old stomping grounds.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: MARY SHELLEY

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT SHELLEY

AS SEEN IN:
'Highlander' - "Modern Prometheus"

AS PLAYED BY:
Tracy Keating

In this televersion of her life, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was inspired to write the story of Frankenstein's Monster after a visit from Duncan MacLeod. Perhaps it was more from knowing that he could rise from the dead, because it couldn't be due to the loneliness brought about by immortality. While "Frankenstein" didn't concern that issue, it was addressed in her story "The Mortal Immortal"......

Back in 2008, I wrote a more detailed look at the life of Mary Shelley in Toobworld, which can be found here.

BCnU!

ZONKS IN SHADES OF "GREY'S"

Speaking of 'Grey's Anatomy' as a source of Zonks, here's a list of the shows which have referred to it. (Removing all talk shows (Oprah, Letterman), game shows ('Jeopardy'), cartoons ('Simpsons', 'Family Guy', 'Tripping The Rift') and variety shows ('Jay Leno Show', 'Saturday Night Live').

CROSSOVER
'The O.C.' actually links to the show with Dr. Roberts transferring to Seattle Grace Hospital.

MENTIONS OF THE TITLE:
'Scrubs'
'The Office'
'Ugly Betty'
'Entourage'
'Notes From The Underbelly'
'Nip/Tuck'
'Greek'
'10 Things I Hate About You'
"True Confessions Of A Hollywood Starlet"

MENTION OF ACTORS ON THE SHOW
'Psych' - Shawn mentions Patrick Dempsey. In Toobworld, he could be the host of a medical reality show by the name of 'Grey's Anatomy'.

'Nip/Tuck' - Christian referred to the Isaiah Washington situation that led to his departure from the show.

SPOOF
When the Winchester brothers found themselves in a TV universe of their own, they were stuck on the set of 'Dr. Sexy, M.D.'. It was like 'Grey's Anatomy', but no other connection was made.

REFERENCES TO 'GREY'S ANATOMY' NICKNAMES
(Mostly "McDreamy" & "McSteamy")
'ER'
'The Sarah Silverman Program'
'Degrassi: The Next Generation'
'Nip/Tuck'
'Greek'
'Two And A Half Men'

AN ACTUAL ZONK?
In the "Operation: Oswald Montecristo" episode of 'The Knights Of Prosperity', a poster for the show is seen on the set for 'Live with Regis And Kelly'. I don't know how closely it resembles 'Grey's Anatomy' the series as we know it in the real world.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

AS SEEN IN:
'The Highlander'

AS PLAYED BY:
Christopher Staines

From Wikipedia:
Percy Bysshe Shelley (4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded among the finest lyric poets in the English language. He is most famous for such classic anthology verse works as "Ozymandias", "Ode to the West Wind", "To a Skylark", and "The Masque of Anarchy", which are among the most popular and critically acclaimed poems in the English language. His major works, however, are long visionary poems which included "Prometheus Unbound", "Alastor", "Adonaïs", "The Revolt of Islam", and the unfinished work "The Triumph of Life". "The Cenci" (1819) and "Prometheus Unbound" (1820) were dramatic plays in five and four acts respectively. He wrote the Gothic novels "Zastrozzi" (1810) and "St. Irvyne" (1811) and the short works "The Assassins" (1814) and "The Coliseum" (1817).

Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron. The novelist Mary Shelley was his second wife.

In Duncan MacLeod's faulty memory, Shelley was married to Mary Wollstonecraft when he met them at the Villa Diodati in 1816. But they weren't married yet.

Being immortal doesn't guarantee a perfect memory.

BCnU!