AS SEEN ON TV: PHOENIX HOUSE

A little something different for the ASOTV showcase.....

PHOENIX HOUSE

AS SEEN IN:
'N.Y.P.D.'
"Candy Man, Parts One & Two"

From the Phoenix House website:
In 1967, six heroin addicts came together at a detoxification program in a New York hospital.

They talked about the struggles of staying clean and decided to help one another through the tough days ahead. Together, they moved into a brownstone on Manhattan’s West Side and lived as a community, encouraging and helping each other to stay sober. That is how Phoenix House was born. What made it work was the structure and approach to treatment brought to the fledgling program by psychiatrist Mitchell S. Rosenthal, M.D. and counselors from New York City’s Addiction Services Agency (ASA). As deputy commissioner of ASA for rehabilitation, Dr. Rosenthal made Phoenix House the model for a citywide treatment network. In 1972, Phoenix House became an independent nonprofit organization and has since grown to become the nation’s leading provider of alcohol and drug abuse treatment and prevention services operating more than 123 programs in eleven states. Currently, we care for a population of more than 6,000 men, women, and adolescents. We work with teens at risk, support clients in recovery, and offer a wide range of treatment options for adults and adolescents. These include assessment and evaluation, detoxification, outpatient and residential programs, sober living residences, after-school and day programs for teens, case management, special women’s services, and programs that serve substance abusers with mental health problems.

So this episode took place soon after that first Phoenix House was established, and the dialogue reflects that.....

Detectives Ward & Corso enter Phoenix House.....

For More:
http://www.phoenixhouse.org/locations/new-york/

BCnU!

THE MUIR VIEWER

In the 'NYPD' episode "Last Port Of Call", a young boy was nearly abducted by a deviant in a lower Manhattan playground. The boy's name was Robert "Bobby" Muir - he was six years old, which means he was born in 1961.

I'd like to suggest that his great-grandfather met the Time Lord known as "The Doctor" back in 1925, in the 'Doctor Who' episode "Black Orchid". Sir Robert Muir was the Chief Constable for the area in Oxfordshire where Cranleigh Hall was located, and he was good friends with Lord Cranleigh and his family. (Although he was a married man, Sir Robert showed particular interest in the Doctor's Companion Tegan... and it wasn't altogether unrewarded.)

The Doctor thought maybe Sir Robert knew more about the Time Lords than he should, since the Chief Constable kept talking about another Doctor who was also known as "The Master". But it turned out he was only speaking of the famous cricketer W.G. Grace.

As I mentioned earlier, Sir Robert could have been Bobby Muir's great-grandfather. Although not seen or mentioned in the story, Sir Robert must have had a son old enough to start a family of his own if he hadn't already. Sir Robert's grandson, Bobby's father, may have been in the United States in the late 1950's working as a diplomat at the British Consulate, or maybe he was in New York on business. Whichever, he may have been a bit of a rake as well, which resulted in him getting a local Manhattan girl pregnant. Muir was probably pressured into marrying her to give the child legitimacy, but it was a loveless marriage and didn't last long. (Patricia Muir didn't sound too upset that her former husband had remarried and moved to Florida, even though she seemed to have been left worse off financially.)

Bobby Muir will be turning 50 this year in Toobworld, if his character wasn't already killed off at some point off-screen.....

Another theory of relateeveety filled with maybes.......

BCnU!

CASTING OUT "OUTCASTS"

It looks like 'Outcasts', the latest sci-fi offering from the BBC (which hasn't even made it across the Atlantic yet), is insisting on the show taking place in 2040 AD, rather than leaving open the pozz'bility of 2040 as being designated in a new timeline.

I've seen five episodes of the series so far, and at one point Tipper Malone, Forthaven's wunderkind wastrel, talked about the New York Dolls as being from the last century.

This could still be saved, however, with a splainin that he was talking about a new incarnation of that band with nebulous ties to the original. (We've seen that happen with other groups, like the Inkspots, only not with hundreds of years between them.)

And if we accept that, then 'Outcasts' must take place more than four hundred years in the future. That way it's out of the way of the various 'Star Trek' series. Why is that important? Because PAS Chief Stella Eisen mentioned that with the last earthquake, San Francisco tipped into the bay.

Frisco is the location for Starfleet headquarters, so for both shows to exist on the same timeline, 'Outcasts' has to take place after at least 'Star Trek: Voyager'.

But if they continue to make allusions to our own recent events, why even bother to keep coming up with splainins?

So if we're forced to cast out 'Outcasts' from the main Toobworld, then what alternate TV dimension should be its new home?

As long-time readers must have figured out by now, I have a couple of suggestions.....

1] "OVER THERE"
This is the alternate dimension which has been dominating the third season of 'Fringe'. It's already a world of chaos because Dr. Walter Bishop crossed over from Earth Prime-Time to abduct the doppelganger of his recently deceased son. The walls between the dimensions have been breached and are in danger of collapsing; the drastic measure to seal the rift was to fill the affected area with "amber" - no matter how many people - or who - happened to be trapped in the vicinity. This is a world already pushed to the limit, but which has made incredible scientific advancements because of it. This would be a world which could build huge ark ships to travel to distant planets by 2025, and which could have developed accelerated human cloning. As for that DBV apparatus that could visualize what a person was thinking, no matter where in the TV Universe the show took place - even if it was the main Toobworld - that machine does exist. It was developed after forty years of improvements over the model used on 'The Prisoner' Number Six in the episode "A, B, or C".

2] "THE WEST WING WORLD"
Because of his Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay with "The Social Network", I don't think Aaron Sorkin will be interested in looking back and working on old successes like 'The West Wing', not with so many new opportunities ahead of him. But let's say he eventually wanted to re-visit the world of Jed Bartlet's America (now maybe even past the administration of Matt Santos.)

One reason to go back, if only for a one-shot reunion TV movie? Former President Josiah Bartlet finally dies (one way or the other, if you know your 'West Wing') from complications of his MS affliction. If that were to happen, then we would have to toss 'The West Wing' out of contention to be the new home for 'Outcasts'. But in the meantime, this TV dimension, which had been the home of international conflicts in Qumar and Equatorial Kuhndu, could logically serve as the scene for such events as the Shanghai Uprising, the First and Second Taiwan Crisis, the nuclear destruction of Chicago - and all before 2040. And it has had its share of natural disasters, so what's a few more?

I won't be surprised if in the next three episodes of 'Outcasts' (There are eight in all.) more references to the date being 2040 AD are tossed out by various characters. But with these options available for its new home, I'll be okay with it.

Not like you really care. LOL
BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JUSTIN BIEBER

JUSTIN BIEBER

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Miley Cyrus

From Wikipedia:
Justin Drew Bieber (born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian pop/R&B singer-songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who happened to come across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher, and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid. His debut single, "One Time", released worldwide in 2009, peaked in the top ten in Canada and charted in the top thirty in several international markets. His debut release, My World, followed on November 17, 2009, and was eventually certified platinum in the United States. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

His first full studio release, My World 2.0, was released on March 23, 2010 and has since received similar success; it debuted at number one and within the top ten of several countries, and was certified platinum in the United States. It was preceded by the worldwide top-ten single, "Baby," in January 2010. The music video of "Baby" is currently ranked as the most viewed, most discussed, and most disliked YouTube video. Bieber followed-up the release of his debut album with his first headlining tour, the My World Tour, the remix albums My Worlds Acoustic and Never Say Never – The Remixes, and the 3D biopic-concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never - which had an opening weekend gross that nearly matched the record for the biggest opening weekend for a concert-film.

The singer has been nominated and awarded numerous accolades over the past few years, winning Artist of the Year at the 2010 American Music Awards, and being nominated for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards, among others. Bieber is considered a teen idol, and has been subject to acclaim from fans, as well as criticism and controversy from matters concerning his popularity and image.

BCnU!

TELE-FOLKS DIRECTORY: CLOSING AN ACCOUNT

'BEING HUMAN'
In order to escape notice after Mitchell's vampiric feeding frenzy on the "Box Tunnel 20", George, Mitchell, Annie, and Nina moved to Wales. To the island of Barry, actually, where half of 'Gavin & Stacey' took place.

In a perfect world of television programming, this would eventually lead to appearances - even if they were just passing by in the background - by Gwen, Uncle Bryn, Nessa, Dave, and frisky neighbor Doris.
Well, she couldn't actually show up, as she passed away along with the actress who played her, Margaret John. But perhaps it could be mentioned that she was a victim of some visiting vampire or werewolf in the area.

Just an idea......

BCnU!

RAISING CAINE

'The Mentalist'
When Patrick Jane harangued Foley, the beleaguered forensics technician, down in his cramped basement "lab" for quick results on a fingerprint check, the nervous schlub griped: "I'm not David Caruso!"

This was, in a Toobworldly way, pretty ballsy on the part of the production team for 'The Mentalist'. After all, the day may come when the Eye Suits will ask for a crossover between 'The Mentalist' and 'CSI'; and 'CSI: Miami', on which David Caruso stars, is a spin-off from the original 'CSI'. So how does it look if 'The Mentalist' is referring to 'CSI: Miami' as a fictional program and yet might be one day interacting with the show that spawned it?
Now THAT is what I call a Zonk!

Granted, Foley only mentioned Caruso, not the show or even his character of Horatio Caine. In any other circumstance, I'd just fudge it and say it could have been a reference to some other project in which the televersion of David Caruso is involved.

But what stymies that suggestion is that this isn't the first time for a mention of David Caruso on a TV series to Zonk 'CSI: Miami'. Recently on 'Hot In Cleveland', both Valerie Bertinelli and Betty White did their impersonations of Caruso as Caine. AND specifically mentioned the show.

And that was a good example why 'CSI: Miami', out of all three 'CSI' shows, is singled out for mention by other TV shows - it's that schtick Caruso has with his sunglasses and a quip......

(Other shows to have Zonked it: 'House', 'Psych', 'Castle', 'Reba', 'Californication', 'Gilmore Girls', 'Burn Notice', 'Cougar Town' and 'How I Met Your Mother'. 'Reno 911' even had one of its characters wearing the show's logo on a T-shirt!) So we'll just have to claim that a TV show was made about the forensics team down in Miami, and that David Caruso was hired to play Horatio Caine. (How many pasty red-headed actors could there be in Toobworld? Does Damian Lewis even have a televersion?)

And with all the attention and interference being brought to Horatio Caine's team at the "actual" crime lab while this show is being filmed, it's no wonder they haven't yet caught on to the fact that a serial killer is right there in their midst, working alongside them! BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: GEORGE STEVENS

GEORGE STEVENS

AS SEEN IN:
"James Dean: Race With Destiny"

AS PLAYED BY:
Robert Mitchum

From Wikipedia:
George Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer.

Among his most notable films were "Diary of Anne Frank" (1959), nominated for Best Director, "Giant" (1956), winner of Oscar for Best Director, "Shane" (1953), Oscar nominated, and "A Place in the Sun" (1951), winner of Oscar for Best Director.

BCnU!

ECHOES: STORMWATCH

"You come into my house and take my children away …

there's a storm coming – and it's me."

Charlie Sheen

"You know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek Homeworld?

The Oncoming Storm."

The Doctor

BCnU!

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF A CROSSOVER

'Fringe':
Back in the 1980's, when Dr. Walter Bishop was performing experiments on children in Jacksonville, Florida, he tested young Olivia Dunham (identified as "Subject 13") for mental acuity with a challenge to put together a group of blocks correctly in some sort of significant pattern. She complained that she couldn't do it, but Walter kept sharply insisting that she finish it.
'Alias':
Around that same period of time, young Sydney Bristow assembled the blocks under the supervision of her father Jack. It was all part of "Project Christmas", which tested the aptitude of children to see if they should be recruited later in life to be spies.
Although "The Indicator" blocks are admittedly a very trivial connection, it forges a link between the two series that holds as strongly as a crossover.

Both shows were produced by JJ Abrams, making it a similar situation to the Toobits-winning Coffee Bucks - the coffee franchise that has been referenced in 'Scrubs' and 'Cougar Town', both of which were produced by Bill Lawrence. BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: WOODY ALLEN

WOODY ALLEN

AS SEEN IN:
"The Spitting Image Movie Awards 1987"

AND:

'D.C. Follies'

AS VOICED BY:
Unknown

From Wikipedia:
Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Konigsberg; December 1, 1935) is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright.

Allen’s distinctive films, which run the gamut from dramas to screwball sex comedies, have made him a notable American director. He is also distinguished by his rapid rate of production and his very large body of work. Allen writes and directs his movies and has also acted in the majority of them. For inspiration, Allen draws heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema, among a wealth of other fields of interest.

Allen developed a passion for music early on and is a celebrated jazz clarinetist. What began as a teenage avocation has led to regular public performances at various small venues in his hometown of Manhattan, with occasional appearances at various jazz festivals. Allen joined the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the New Orleans Funeral Ragtime Orchestra in performances that provided the film score for his 1973 comedy Sleeper, and performed in a rare European tour in 1996, which became the subject of the documentary "Wild Man Blues".

For more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Allen

BCnU!