AS SEEN ON TV: DICK VITALE

College basketball's "March Madness" is upon us....

DICK VITALE
AS SEEN ON 'SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE'

AS PLAYED BY:
Jay Mohr
AS PLAYED BY:
Andy Samberg

From Wikipedia:
Richard J. "Dick" Vitale (Dickie V) (pronounced /va?'tæl/; born June 9, 1939) is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well-known as a college basketball broadcaster and for the enthusiastic and colorful remarks he makes during games. He is known for his catchphrases such as "baby" and "diaper dandy".

He has authored seven books and appeared in several movies.

Vitale has authored nine books:
"Dickie V's ABCs and 1-2-3s", Ascend Books (October 2010)

"Living a Dream: Reflections on 25 Years Sitting in the Best Seat", Champaign, IL Sports Publishing LLC (January 1, 2003)

"Dick Vitale's Fabulous 50 Players and Moments in College Basketball: From the Best Seat in the House During My 30 Years at ESPN", Ascend Books (October 6, 2008)

"Time Out Baby!", Berkley (December 1, 1992)

"Vitale", Simon and Schuster; 1st Edition edition (1988)

"Dickie V's Top 40 All-Everything Teams", Masters Press (June 1994)

"Tourney Time: It's Awesome Baby!", Masters Press,(December 1993)

"Holding Court: Reflections on the Game I Love", Masters Press (November 1995)

"Campus Chaos: Why the Game I Love is Breaking My Heart", Sideline Sports Publishing (December 1999)

For More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Vitale

Vitale's got his own website:
http://www.dickvitaleonline.com/

Go UConn!

THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY: MIKE & HAPPY HAINES

Speaking of the family of Lt. Mike Haines.....

I think it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble (as Muskie Muskrat would say) that the 'N.Y.P.D.' detective had an older brother who served in the Navy during World War II, first in the Pacific and then in the Mediterranean. His first name was Joseph, but everybody knew him as "Happy". He was a crew member on board the PT 73, whose crew was known as 'McHale's Navy'.

Whether he had ever been a red-head like his younger brother, it'd be impozz'ble, just impozz'ble to say - since he lost most of his hair at an early age and what was left had turned dark (as happened with my Dad and my sister.....)
BCnU!

THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY: MIKE HAINES & MICHAEL HAYES

I picked up a DVD of 25 episodes of 'N.Y.P.D.' and - like its successor at the 27th Precinct, 'Law & Order' - the show is more concerned with the cases worked by the cops rather than tehir personal lives. So far all I know about Detective Johnny Corso is that he can speak Italian and he has a younger sister; Detective Jeff Ward is married to a school teacher named Ethel; and Lt. Mike Haines has a daughter and a wife named Rosemary.

But what if Mike and Rosemary Haines had more than one child? What if he had a couple of sons as well, one of whom was named after him?

At the time 'N.Y.P.D.' aired on ABC, the character I have in mind to be Michael Haines, Jr. would have been about eleven years old. And Mike Jr. would have been a redhead, just like his old man - a "ginger", as they call them on 'Doctor Who'.

Lt. Mike Haines was a tough, hard-nosed guy, and he may have been as tough on his kids as he was on the detectives who worked for him. ("The people upstairs aren't happy. And when they're not happy, I'm not happy. And I don't think any of you want me to be unhappy.") If so, maybe Mike Jr. - and another brother - stood firm against their father, butting heads with him in family squabbles, proving to be just as stubborn as he was. Things may have come to a head finally, to such a point where Mike Jr. rebelled and changed his name to make a full break from his father.

As for the name change, I think he'd keep it simple, as close to the original as pozz'ble. I'm thinking he legally changed his name to Michael Hayes upon reaching adulthood.

And I think the brother - let's call him Danny, mainly because the character I have in mind has a brother named Danny - also changed his last name to Hayes. But there may have been more to his reasoning. Danny got into trouble with the law and to spare his Dad any grief from the connection, he changed his name. But he may have still wanted to keep close ties to his brother, so he also changed his name to "Hayes".

Here's the plot summary for the TV show 'Michael Hayes' from IMDb:

"Michael Hayes is a tough but sensitive ex-cop who goes to work in the U.S. Attorney's office in New York City. When his boss is seriously injured in a bombing, Hayes becomes Acting U.S. Attorney, and butts heads with a number of enemies, both inside and outside the law. He also cares for his nephew Daniel and his brother's wife Caitlin, while waiting for his brother Danny to settle into society following a jail stint."

As you can see, if Michael Hayes was the son of Mike Haines, the acorn didn't fall far from the tree as far as their career paths were concerned.

I realize this theory of relateeveety is a tough sell, made even more difficult by the addition of other members of the Hayes family in the latter series. But the idea of Mike Haines and Michael Hayes being father and son - especially with Jack Warden and David Caruso being such redheads! - was too tempting to resist.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JULIE TAYMOR

JULIE TAYMOR

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Kristen Wiig

NEW YORK (AP) — Julie Taymor, the Tony Award winning director of "The Lion King," will no longer direct Broadway's troubled "Spider-Man" musical as producers announced a new creative team and postponed the show's official opening to summer.


Taymor, who also co-wrote the book for "Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark," will remain a part of the new team, lead producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris said Wednesday, in announcing an unprecedented sixth delay for the musical.

"Julie Taymor is not leaving the creative team. Her vision has been at the heart of this production since its inception and will continue to be so," the producers said in a statement.

"Julie's previous commitments mean that past March 15, she cannot work the 24/7 necessary to make the changes in the production in order to be ready for our opening."

On Wednesday, a friend and longtime associate said the lack of time to hone the show had been one of Taymor's great frustrations.

"She's been distraught that there's so little time to rehearse," said Jeffrey Horowitz, artistic director of the Theatre for a New Audience.

BCnU!

ABED'S BACK-STORY

I may have shared this earlier, although I don't see evidence of it......

During one of the episodes of 'Community' this season, Abed was missing from the main storyline, but that's because he had a whole plot going on in the background:

BCnU!

BLUE EYES AND RED NOSES

Trust me. Stick with it.....

BCnU!

THE WAVERLY WONDER

Thinking long term for Toobworld Central, I may go with an all British theme for next year's inductees into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame. Commemorating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 - of course, the Mayans may have other plans for us all.

But for January, the theme for which is usually Classic TV Characters, I was thinking Alexander Waverly, one of the five section heads of U.N.C.L.E. Did you know that he has a counterpart in Skitlandia?

BCnU!

PRIME-TIME WAITS FOR NO MAN

Here's a classic League of Themselves appearance by Tom Waits.

It was the perfect song for mining comedy gold, but it's "The Heart of Saturday Night" and "Closing Time", followed by "Tom Traubert's Blues" and "Waltzing Mathilda" for me......

BCnU!

KATE WINSLET'S BODY OF WORK....

Here's why Kate Winslet will probably snare the 2011 Toobits Award for Best League of Themselves Appearance in a Commercial....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: LI'L BILL O'REILLY

Might as well bash FOX News two Video Weekends in a row.....

LITTLE BILL O'REILLY

AS SEEN ON:
'TalkShow with Spike Ferenstein'

AS PLAYED BY:
Jared Gilmore


ONE



TWO



THREE



BCnU!