MTM ZONKS - NOT IN CLEVELAND

Because Mary Tyler Moore made a special guest appearance in the season premiere of 'Hot In Cleveland' - and in a scene with Betty White to boot - the writers couldn't resist tossing in a few references to 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' in which Betty White was a co-star.

To set the scene.....

Betty's character was in jail for the stash of stolen goods in her storm cellar. (Her late husband had been a fence for the mob.) And she was sharing the jail cell with a mob wife (played by Mayr) whom Elke had not seen in 33 years.

The mob wife used chalk to draw a stylized letter "M" on the wall above her bunk, and it was basically the same font as the wooden "M" which hung in the apartments of Mary Richards. When Elke asked what it stood for, she was told it was for "Murder". That's not what the mob wife was in for; but it was all she could think about once Elke started playing the harmonica.

When the mob wife found out that Elke once sold off a stolen Faberge egg and used the money to establish an animal shelter, she admitted that Elke's scheme took a lot of spunk. And then she added the classic follow-up line first heard in the pilot episode of 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' - "I HATE spunk!"

(Not that it was related to the MTM show, but that Faberge Animal Shelter was a reference to Betty White's well-known love and protection of animals.)

When the mob wife was finally taken away by the guards, Elke urged that they not wait another 33 years before they see each other again. This one was a bit more subtle - the final episode of 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' was the last time these TV legends worked together, and it had been 33 years since it was broadcast.

None of these references can be considered Zonks, because 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' was never mentioned by name. They're all just coincidences, something that happens a lot in the TV Universe.

BCnU!

SWEATER JEST

Earlier tonight, Malcolm Jamal Warner guest-starred on the "Asian Population Studies" episode of 'Community' as Shirley's ex-husband Andre. It looks like he'll be a recurring character because he appears to have changed his ways and will definitely be back in Shirley's life.

We got a sense of his new course in life while he was outside the library talking to Jeff. And during that revelatory conversation, they were also able to squeeze in a pop culture reference!

When Jeff complimented Andre about his sweater, Andre said, "Thanks. My father gave it to me."

Within the reality of the sitcom, that's all it was - a statement as to where Andre got the sweater, from his Dad. But for the audience in the Trueniverse, the 'Community' writers wanted them to recognize the reference to 'The Cosby Show', in which Malcolm Jamal Warner played the song of Bill Cosby. And Cosby's character of Dr. Huxtable was known for the colorful sweaters he would wear......

But since 'The Cosby Show' was never mentioned, we have no worries bout a Zonk to be disabled!

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD/AS SEEN ON TV: SARGENT SHRIVER

SARGENT SHRIVER

AS SEEN IN:
'Kennedy'

AS PLAYED BY:
Al Conti

From the New York Times obituary:
R. Sargent Shriver, the Kennedy in-law who became the founding director of the Peace Corps, the architect of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s war on poverty, a United States ambassador to France and the Democratic candidate for vice president in 1972, died on Tuesday in Bethesda, Md. He was 95.

For more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/us/politics/19shriver.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries

Also played on TV by:
Carl Mueller ("Too Young The Hero")

Geoff Kahnert ("Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women Of Camelot")

Richard Rider ("Adieu, De Gaulle, Adieu")

James Nelligan ("The Kennedys")

BCnU.....

SUPERMAN'S LEGACY - IN NAME ONLY

He may be fighting for Truth, Justice, and the American Way in other TV dimensions, but in Earth Prime-Time, Superman has been dead since the early 1960's. (I've stated this often enough in the past, but this being a blog and not a web site, it's not as easy to find such info listed.)

After Superman died, Lois Lane probably discovered that her suspicions about the connection between Superman and Clark Kent proved true. And from there, all of their secrets, both Clark's and Kal-El's, were revealed (most likely after Clark's apartment was searched.)

Once the world learned the true nature of Clark Kent, supposedly just a mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, about how he always risked his life for theirs and ultimately sacrificing his life to save two men (even if they were low-life villains Ray Luca and his flunky Paulie), I would think people would want to pay tribute to Clark as well as to Superman.

That would be my splainin for the Kent Foundation seen in Jerry Orbach's last episode of 'Law & Order: Trial By Jury'. And I think ordinary people would honor his memory on a more personal level - by naming their children after him - with "Clark" or "Kent". Perhaps even a "Kal-El". (Well, Nicolas Cage did just that in the Trueniverse!)

Given that reasoning, I can't see how the Clarke Family in the Washington, D.C., area could have resisted naming their son Kent. When we met Kent Clarke in the most recent episode of 'Lie To Me' ("Saved"), he was suffering from a neurological disorder. And he was harboring a dark secret that involved his sister Ilene, a paramedic being investigated by Dr. Cal (NOT Kal!) Lightman.

Ilene Clark, Dr. Lightman, Kent Clarke

There were no snide jokes about the Superman mythos - comic books, movies, TV shows - at all. And I would have expected that at least Loker would have made a crack about that name if Superman was fictitious in that world. So at least we were spared from disabling any Zonks.

Since no one felt the need to mention the meaning behind Kent Clarke's name, it just stands to reason that people named after the alias of the late Superman were a common occurrence in Toobworld.

SHOWS CITED:

'The Adventures Of Superman'

'Crime Story'

'Law & Order: Trial By Jury'

'Lie To Me'

BCnU!

ADDENDUM: Currently I'm watching the latest episode of 'Bones' and this theory could also be applied to a member of the staff at the Jeffersonian Institute - Dr. Clark Edison......

THE HAT SQUAD/AS SEEN ON TV: DON KIRSHNER

DON KIRSHNER

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Paul Shaffer

From the Associated Press:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Rock promoter Don Kirshner, whom Time magazine once dubbed the "Man With the Golden Ear," died Monday in a Florida hospital, a close friend and business associate said. He was 76.

Promoter Jack Wishna told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Kirshner was in a hospital in Boca Raton being treated for an infection.

"Donny Kirshner would take a kid off the street, bring him up to his office in the Brill Building and turn him into Neil Diamond, Carol King, James Taylor, on and on," Wishna said. "I haven't spoken to anyone in the music business that Donny hasn't either discovered, promoted, or touched in some way.

"I've never seen anybody like this in my life," he said.

Kirshner was behind "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" in 1972, and gave national exposure to musicians including Billy Joel and The Police. The show also boosted careers of comics including Billy Crystal, Arsenio Hall and David Letterman.

The show also featured artists Kirshner helped launch including Prince, The Eagles, Lionel Richie and Ozzy Osborne.

Good night and may God bless.

BCnU......

RIVERS RE-RUN THROUGH IT

When Andy Rivers was hired by MInneapolis TV station WJM to be their sportscaster in the mid 1970's, he soon became a casual boyfriend to the associate producer of the newscast, Mary Richards.

It never came up in the show, and it probably wouldn't have mattered to the open-minded Mayr, but it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that Andy Rivers had been previously married. And if so, perhaps he had a son, one that was even named after him.

It could be that Andy Rivers, Jr. grew up not wanting to share the same name as his father - not so much that he resented Andy Rivers for breaking up the family but because he wanted to follow his father into the broadcast news biz. So maybe he amended his name slightly and became known as Sandy Rivers. We've seen Sandy Rivers as Robin Scherbatsky's co-anchor on a local New York City news station, but now she's working for him as his news researcher at another station.

SHOWS CITED:
'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'
'How I Met Your Mother'

BCnU!

THE JOHN DRAKE NAMESAKE

John Drake was a simple crofter working on the Downton Abbey estate. He was married with several small children when we met him as a hospital patient in the second episode of 'Downton Abbey' (by the American TV reckoning).

In March of 1913, Drake was suffering from dropsy of the heart (an abnormal accumulation of fluid in a body cavity which is known today as edema). This would have killed the farmer had it not been for a new and very risky procedure by Dr. Clarkson (at the urging of Mrs. Isobel Crawley) which drained the fluids from the pericardial sac and saved his life. We'll probably not see Mr. and Mrs. John Drake again in the series, which is more concerned with the family and staff within 'Downton Abbey' itself. For Toobworld Central, this would be a good thing, because it leaves us free to do some speculation for a theory of "relateeveety".

We know nothing more about John Drake's children other than that there were several of them. And it was inferred that they were all too young to work the farm if Drake had died before or even after getting that procedure.

So let's say one of those children was a boy, perhaps around ten years old. By 1923, he would have been 20 years old and perhaps even married. I would think definitely by 1927 he would have a wife and even perhaps a child on the way.

If so, then on March 19, 1928, a son could have been born to that son of Mr. & Mrs. John Drake of the Downton Abbey farms. And what better name for the first-born son than to name him in honor of his grandfather?

I doubt very much that 'Downton Abbey' will play out in the timeline that far for us to learn if such a supposition actually happened. And the concerns of the series would lie elsewhere as I've already mentioned. So I think we're safe in making this claim:

John Drake, crofter of 'Downton Abbey', was the grandfather of John Drake, a 'Danger Man' who worked for NATO and then for MI-6. It seems harmless enough as a theory of relateeveety. After all, most McGoohanists already make the assumption that 'Secret Agent' John Drake became 'The Prisoner' known as Number Six in a mysterious place called "The Village".

It was there that they had given him a number, and taken away his name..... BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: ZZA ZZA GABOR

From the Seattle Post Intelligencer:

Ailing actress Zsa Zsa Gabor is recovering in the hospital after doctors successfully amputated half of her right leg on Friday.

Gabor was forced to lose her leg after a serious gangrene infection spread to her bone.

Surgeons removed the infected part of her limb at Los Angeles' UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center on Friday and the operation went without complication.

Gabor is now being monitored closely by medics at the facility.

ZZA ZZA GABOR

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Victoria Jackson

In October of 1989, in the TV sketch comedy dimension of Skitlandia, Zza Zza Gabor was involved in a breakout from the Chattanooga Women's Correctional Facility which was engineered by fellow inmate Leona Helmsley.

From SNL Transcripts:

Zsa Zsa Gabor:
I can't go on any longer, dahlink!

Leona Helmsley:
You wanna rot in that stinkin' joint?! Keep digging!

Zsa Zsa Gabor:
I'm not made for this type of thing. New York is where I'd rather stay...

Leona Helmesley:
Shut up!

Zsa Zsa Gabor:
I get allergic smelling hay...

Leona Helmesley:
Shut up! And you'd better keep that dog quiet!

Zsa Zsa Gabor:
He can't help it, he's very nervous.

Leona Helmesley:
I'm giving you five seconds to shut that mutt up!

Zsa Zsa Gabor:
Please, Froo Froo! Mommy needs you to be quiet!
[Froo Froo continues to bark nervously; Leona grabs it and shoots it dead]
Froo Froo! Ohh! My little Froo Froo!

All kidding aside, I wish Ms. Gabor the best and that she's well enough to go home to celebrate her 94th birthday in February.....

BCnU......

JELL-O IN WONDERLAND

Thanks to Mark Evanier of "The News According To ME" (link to the left, folks!), I've got a blipvert link between the Tooniverse and the Cineverse (if they have their own Tooniverse, than it's from that alternate movie dimension).

This may be a commercial for Jell-O, but it was created by the Disney Company. It features the title character from "Alice In Wonderland" with two characters from the original book but not from the animated movie adapted by Disney - the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon.

Alice is voiced by the same actress who did the honors in the movie (Kathryn Beaumont) and the presence of Sterling Holloway as the narrator suggests that he could be actually in the scene as the invisible Cheshire Cat, acting in a serlinguistic capacity. Therefore, the Tooniverse could lay claim to the cartoon movie version of 'Alice In Wonderland'. (Although it already has at least one version of the story already.)

Mark Evanier has more on the topic, which you can find here:
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2011_01_16.html#020086

That linking system on his blog is pretty iffy, so it might not lead you directly to the post, but rather to all of the posts he did on that day. Just look around a bit, because it's worth it.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: LEONARD NIMOY

Tonight on PBS, begins a new season of 'Prime Time Pioneers', beginning with a look at various sci-fi classics....

LEONARD NIMOY
(The Tooniverse)

AS SEEN IN:
'The Simpsons'

AS VOICED BY:
Himself

LEONARD NIMOY
(of the puppet people in Earth Prime-Time)

AS SEEN IN:
"Spitting Image Movie Awards 1987"

AS VOICED BY:
Joe Alaskey

From Wikipedia:
Leonard Simon Nimoy (born March 26, 1931) is an American actor, film director, poet, musician, and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original 'Star Trek' series 1966–1969, multiple films, television and video game sequels.

Nimoy began his career in his early twenties, teaching acting classes in Hollywood and making minor film and television appearances through the 1950s, as well as playing the title role to "Kid Monk Baroni". In 1953, he served in the United States Army. In 1965, he made his first appearance in the rejected 'Star Trek' pilot, "The Cage", and would go on to play the character of Mr. Spock until 1969, followed by seven further films and a number of guest slots in various sequels. His character of Spock generated a significant cultural impact and three Emmy Award nominations; TV Guide named Spock one of the 50 greatest TV characters. Nimoy also had a recurring role in 'Mission: Impossible' and a narrating role in 'Civilization IV', as well as several well-received stage appearances.

Nimoy's fame as Spock is to such an extent that both his autobiographies, "I Am Not Spock" (1977) and "I Am Spock" (1995) detail his existence as being shared between the character and himself.

For more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Nimoy

The 'Spitting Image' version of Leonard Nimoy exists in Earth Prime-Time along with the real Leonard Nimoy. When a spirit from the puppet island of Yazoo (AKA "Living Island") takes on a puppet shell, it becomes that which it resembles. In this case, the spirit actually becomes Leonard Nimoy.

Two for Tuesday!

BCnU!