MEMORIAL DAY PROGRAMMING NOTE

I know I don't have to tell Team Toobworld this, but there are the occasional visitors to the Inner Toob blog who don't have the ample knowledge of televisiology that we all enjoy......

Out of my admiration for the late Harry Morgan, it would have been nice to make today's Memorial Day edition of the "As Seen On TV" showcase part of the salute to Colonel Sherman Potter. But he represents one of the major divergences from the original book of "M*A*S*H", as are Major Winchester and Captain BJ Hunnicutt.

Had I been able to use him, the Memorial Day piece would have focused on his career, while the ASOTV feature would have been about his character's life story and personality.

Enjoy the day. And always remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could enjoy the world of the Toob.....

POTTER'S PLATITUDES

As it is Memorial Day, and we paid tribute to Colonel Sherman T. (Tecumseh?) Potter today, I thought perhaps we should take a moment and reflect on what he had to say.....

MEMORIAL DAY: REMEMBERING COLONEL POTTER

When it came time to choose a departed member of the Toobworld military to honor on Memorial Day, my first thought went to Lt. Columbo, who served during the Korean Conflict and whose actor - Peter Falk - we lost last year. (It's my belief that Columbo also passed away.)  But a quick check of Inner Toob showed that we honored him for Veteran's Day in 2009. I think it would be better to find another candidate who deserves to be honored on this day.

And as with Peter Falk, we lost the actor who played our honoree last year......

COLONEL SHERMAN T. POTTER

Here's from the 'M*A*S*H' wiki:

Colonel Potter's first appearance on the series came in the second episode of Season Four, "Change of Command". Voiceover narration gives the date as September 19, 1952.

A Methodist, Sherman Potter was from Hannibal, Missouri, the childhood home of Mark Twain. (Two early episodes mention a home in Nebraska and in Ohio, however, and Potter implies in another episode that he's a Presbyterian.) His mother's name was Emma. Potter learned (among other things) Army foot care from a fellow Missourian in World War I — future President Harry S Truman although Truman was from Independence which is across the state; likewise they were also in different branches of the service-Potter was a cavalryman and Truman was a artilleryman. He also revealed early on that he was one-quarter Cherokee, when Frank Burns complained that Hawkeye "always gets the Cowboys, while I get stuck with the Indians!" (referring to friendly troops versus enemies, brought in for treatment). 

Sherman Potter enlisted in the Army at fifteen, when he lied about his age to get into the cavalry and was a member of the "1st cavalry" {Presumedely this is either supposed to be the 1st US Cavalry Regiment which didn't go oversees in World War I or the 1st US Cavalry Division which wasn't formed until 1921!}. Potter's serious love of horses is noted in several different episodes -he claimed in one epsiode to be able to shoe his own horse (His exact age during the series is debatable.

When Potter first takes command September 19, 1952 he claimes to be 51 which would place his birthdate in 1900/or 1901. In the episode, "Pressure Points", Potter gives his age as 62. With the episode set in 1952, he would have been born in 1890, and been fifteen years old in 1905; likewise in a two part epsiode when Major burns is missing {Gone from the show} he claims to have smoked cigars for 47 years-since 1905/6 {age 15{?} In 7.2, he mentions having been in the army for thirty-five years; assuming the year is 1952, he would have joined in 1917, the year the United States entered the First World War. Assuming he did enlist at age fifteen, he was born in 1902. In another episode, he mentions joining the cavalry during the days of Theodore Roosevelt's "Rough Riders", which only existed during the Spanish-American War of 1898 which would have made him 69 in 1952 when the mandatory military reitrement age for officers is 60{!) . In 11.7 Potter rants that someone over sixty shouldn't go to Florida; both the previous and succeeding episodes reveal that the timeline is the June/July of 1953.

He married Mildred in 1916. A conversation with a wounded soldier in the episode "Point of View" reveals their wedding date as September 8. However, in the episode "Settling Debts", he states that his anniversary is Groundhog Day, February 2 (he picked that day so he wouldn't forget it). In 4.7 Potter writes to Mildred on their 27th wedding anniversary which with 1952-27 means he was married in 1925-had he married in 1916 it would have been their 36th wedding anniversary in 1952! In 7/10 Potter is angry at himself for forgetting to write Mildred on their 35th anniversary. 

After World War I, Sherman Potter entered medical school, serving his residency in St. Louis and beginning his practice in 1932. Potter's uncle, a veterinarian, had sparked his interest in medicine, and he'd known several general practitioners at home, but he wanted most of all to become a surgeon. Potter remained in the Army, having married Mildred while still serving in the Cavalry, and served in a number of administrative positions before his final tour of duty, in Korea. He and Mildred purchased a home in Missouri "because she wanted to be able to put a nail in any wall she chose" (since they often lived on Army bases), and raised a dentist son (who disappears later on, as he later mentions having only a daughter). He and Mildred were grandparents; in an early episode, their son had a daughter, Sherry Pershing Potter, but after their son got replaced with a daughter, they then instead had a toddler grandson, Cory Wilson. 

He also mentioned having an eight-year-old granddaughter.

Potter would later admit in an episode that he had been a prisoner of war in World War I, and that he had been tortured and beaten. Potter was in World War II but the series is not consistant with his service-in one spisode he claims to have gotten the Purple Heart medal when his still blew up in Guam-which would have been in the summer of 1944 in the Asia pacific Area; in another epsiode he claims to have been in the Battle of the Buldge-which was in the winter of 1944 in the European theater! 

During World War I, recalling that he held the rank of private at the time, he and members of his Army unit spent the night in a French château while under fire. They came across a cache of brandy, and proceeded to drink all but one bottle. They made a pledge (a tontine) that the last survivor of the group would get the bottle, and make a toast to his old friends. (Years later, Potter turned out to be the last survivor of the group, and drank the toast together with his new friends at the 4077th.)

Col. Potter's leadership qualities were easily matched by his superiority as a surgeon. He led mainly by example, always doing his best and encouraging others to do the same. He was at times willing to ignore the letter of regulations in order to abide by their spirit. Easy going by nature, Potter understood the hellish realities of life in a MASH unit, and the need for jokes, pranks and recreation to boost morale.

When he found out about Hawkeye and B.J..'s gin distillery, he offered advice on how to improve its yield, explaining that he had such a still while stationed on Guam during World War II; he even stated that he had received a Purple Heart as a result of that still exploding in his face.

The maverick doctors in turn respected Potter's authority, and were as a consequence more willing to obey his orders than they had those of Col. Blake and/or Major Burns. At the same time, however, Potter did not suffer fools gladly; he was sterner and more decisive than his predecessor, and readily put his foot down if he felt things were getting too carried away, as well as castigating staffers who slacked in their duties. At the same time, his Regular Army background gave him a knowledge of the system and its foibles (and a number of superior officers with whom he was on first-name basis) that allowed him to cut through Army red tape that Col. Blake could not. 

Despite the distance that military duty imposed upon him, Col. Potter was, at heart, a family man. He kept in regular contact with his wife, children, and grandchildren, and told them all about the people he served with at the 4077th. For the most part, Potter and his wife, Mildred, had to maintain a long-distance relationship, although he was able to meet her for a couple weeks in Tokyo at one point. Potter kept a framed portrait of his wife on his desk, and every morning gave his wife a salute. In the Season 6 episode "Lil", Potter befriends Colonel Lillian Rayburn, a visiting dignitary, much to Radar's consternation. But when the friendship begins to get too warm he reminds himself of the "lady back home with [his] picture on [her] piano." In "Strange Bedfellows" from Season 11, Potter's son-in-law, Robert Wilson, pays a visit. But after learning of a one-night stand Robert had with a woman in Tokyo, Potter admitted to Robert he once had a brief extramarital affair himself. After handing the departing Robert a picture frame with a snapshot of him and his family, Potter said to Robert "promise me you'll stay in the picture".

Colonel Potter also showed that he was a man of integrity, who, after surviving two World Wars, had grown tired of fighting. More than once, when old Army buddies committed serious errors that resulted in men being unnecessarily hurt or killed, Potter reported them to headquarters, even though it broke his heart to turn on his old friends.

Potter is also a confessed lover of cowboy ballads, Zane Grey and the song Sentimental Journey by Doris Day, having listened to the song more than 28 times. He'd seen every Doris Day movie... alone. But, while Mildred didn't know, he said "Doris doesn't know either".

Potter became the administrator of a veteran's hospital in Missouri. Father Mulcahy, after losing his hearing from an explosion in the M*A*S*H series finale, was now the hospital's Catholic chaplain. Max and Soon-Lee Klinger, after experiencing discrimination in Toledo, moved to the area so that Max could take a job as Potter's assistant.

It can't be proven, but I think Sherman Potter passed away at some point around 1981.  That would be 28 years after the ceasefire in the Korean Conflict, and the same span of time as found in the period between the finale of 'M*A*S*H' and the passing of Harry Morgan.....

AS SEEN ON TV: SAM DAMON

We remember.....

SAM DAMON

AS SEEN IN:

'Once An Eagle'

CREATED BY:

Anton Myrer

PORTRAYED BY:

Sam Elliott

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia & CombatReform.org:

["Once An Eagle"] tells the story of Sam Damon, career Army officer, from his initial enlistment to his rise to general officer rank. Along the way, he encounters Courtney Massengale time and again, an opportunistic, smooth talking Army officer devoid of the honor and integrity that guide Sam Damon during his career.

Sam Damon (Sam Elliott) is a good family man and praiseworthy warrior.

"Once an Eagle" is the story of Sam Damon, a Nebraska farm boy who wants to go to West Point but does not have the political connections necessary to gain an appointment. He enlists in the regular Army and serves in the 1916 Mexican border operation. Two years later, in France, he becomes an infantry squad leader and wins the Medal of Honor and a battlefield commission.

At World War I's end, Damon, a major, must revert to the rank of first lieutenant to remain in the post-war Army. As a company grade officer, he survives through the long, lean inter-war years, moving from post to dreary post in the American west and to overseas bases such as the Panama Canal Zone and the Philippines.

Throughout Damon's career, he is overshadowed by Courtney Massengale. Although Massengale does not have Damon's leadership skills or combat experience, he is seen as the epitome of the ambitious, poised and polished staff officer.

Damon, continually dogged by his "Mustang" origins, resolutely defends enlisted soldiers and their interests during an era when enlisted Soldiers were considered little more than unskilled laborers. Damon's critics, Massengale foremost among them, dismiss him as never having made the psychological shift from being a noncommissioned officer to being an officer.

When World War II begins, Damon is sent to the southwest Pacific, where his competence in combat eventually leads to division command. Near the war's end, Damon once again faces Massengale, now Damon's corps commander. Damon's division is decimated in a Japanese counterattack after Massengale prematurely commits the division's reserve elsewhere for no sound operational purpose other than that of receiving the glory of having captured intact a Japanese-held city. Damon survives the action but is faced with the moral conundrum of how - or even whether - to expose the powerful and politically connected Massengale. The story easily could have ended here. But, in a short, final section, Myrer extends the story by following Damon - and Massengale - into the early years of the Vietnam conflict.

Recalled in 1962 from retirement as a lieutenant general, Damon is sent on a fact-finding mission to Vietnam (called Khotiane in the book). Damon must once again confront Massengale, who is now a four-star general and the commander of the military advisory group. Damon discovers and attempts to derail an effort by Massengale to bring the United States into a full-scale war in Southeast Asia. However, before Damon can act, he is killed in a guerrilla grenade attack.

In creating the character of Sam Damon, Myrer provides the benchmark for what an American officer can and should be. Damon, though, is human and, therefore, far from perfect. What sets him apart is that he continually analyzes himself and tries to be the best officer he can be. On another level, Damon is a metaphor for the U.S. Army itself in the first seven decades of the 20th century. It came of age in World War I, achieved greatness in World War II, and withered in Vietnam.

BCnU.......

"MEN IN BLACK" RUN ON DUNKIN'

It's been ten years since the "Men In Black" have been on the theatre screens, and I'm surprised they never mounted a TV version about the exploits of Agents K and J. The Men in Black do exist in Toobworld, but never officially connected to the movies. (For example, we saw two agents in 'The X-Files', played by Jesse Ventura and Alex Trebek.)

But now the "Men In Black" have found a back-door entry out of the Cineverse and into the TV Universe.....

With a blipvert.

Here's a look at what you get from that Dunkin' Donuts tie-in app with "Men In Black 3".

Just another attempt for the government to control your minds through your cell phones. (I don't have one, BTW.)

Still, at least now I can claim the right to bring the three "Men In Black" movies into the Toobworld Dynamic. And I'll give this particular agent the code name of "DD" (for Dunkin' Donuts, natch!)

BCnU!

SKED ALERT! "NEWSROOM"

Aaron Sorkin is coming back to TV, this time on HBO!

'Newsroom' feels like it combines the best of the worlds of 'The West Wing' and 'SportsNight' with the freedom HBO provides for Sorkin to cut loose.

Here are a couple of clips to give you a taste of what's to come:

And that's the way it will be.....

LEE WAY

Yesterday we suggested the possibility that Lee Grant's Prosecuting Angel in the movie "Defending Your Life" had been the Defending Angel in the "Bontsche Shveig" chapter in "The World Of Sholom Aleichem" in 'The Play Of The Week'.

She probably became jaded after the way everything turned out for Bontsche and decided it would be easier working the other side of the Court in Heaven.

"Defending Your Life" would have made an excellent addition to the TV Universe. It's a small film that could easily have been produced for television rather than the big screen. And it could have been adapted for TV, with the focus shifted to those angels working in the office for the defense in all the cases that come in every day. Sort of a celestial version of 'The Office' or going even further back, 'Barney Miller' or 'Calucci's Department'.

And then we could have hinted that the original movie was being absorbed into the Toobworld Dynamic, out of the Cineverse. (Just so long as Lee Grant's character of "Ms. Foster" wasn't recast.)

Easier still would be just to say that her character in the "Bontsche Shveig" story is the Toobworld counterpart to her character in "Defending Your Life". It's just that her life ran along different paths in each world.

Here's a scene from the movie which gives her a nice showcase.....

BCnU!

PASSING THE TORCH

First off - big thanks to Rob Buckley of "The Medium Is Not Enough" (Link to the left, dear reptiles*) for sharing this at his site. I don't think I would have seen it otherwise. (At the very least, none of the FB Who groups I belong to have showcased it yet.)

So it was written by kids, although I think the script was polished up by somebody. Still, there's a Zonk in this, an alteration to the timeline - the 10th incarnation of the Doctor originally lit the torch.  But that must have been revised once the 11th incarnation of the Doctor rebooted the entire Universe with help from Amy Pond in "The Big Bang".

BCnU!

* Found it in "The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling" during my research today

THE HAT SQUAD: JOYCE REDMAN

From the Los Angeles Times:

Joyce Redman, a two-time Oscar-nominated Irish-born actress whose erotically charged dinner-eating scene opposite Albert Finney was a highlight of the bawdy 1963 British film comedy "Tom Jones," has died. She was 96.

Redman died [May 10] in Kent, England after a short battle with pneumonia, said her son, actor Crispin Redman.

A veteran of the London and Broadway stage, Redman received her first Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress for "Tom Jones," which starred Finney as the incorrigible 18th century English title character who has a series of amorous adventures.

One took place with Redman's bold and brazen Mrs. Waters.

It is because of her passing that Inner Toob is featuring the "ASOTV" version of Jenny Jones today....

Ms. Redman made her mark in Toobworld as well, supplying TV characters like Auntie Hamps in 'Clayhanger', Laura Marchant in 'The Rector's Wife', and Sophie Dupin de Francueil in 'Notorious Woman'. When it comes to literary characters as seen on TV, Joyce Redman's Becky Sharpe is the official portrayal for 'Vanity Fair'. (Someday I hope to find a picture of her in that role.)

But even with another Academy Award nomination for Olivier's adaptation of "Othello", it will be as Jenny Jones/Mrs. Waters in "Tom Jones" for which she will always be remembered. And that is because of this scene:

In the 1997 TV adaptation, the producers wisely chose to merely suggest this scene, letting it occur off-screen. After all, how could they possibly compete with the suggestive exuberance of Albert Finney and Joyce Redman?

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JENNY JONES (MRS. WATERS)

JENNY JONES

aka

MRS. WATERS

AS SEEN IN:

'The History Of Tom Jones, A Foundling'

CREATED BY:

Henry Fielding

PORTRAYED BY:

Camille Coduri

AS DESCRIBED IN WIKIPEDIA:

Mrs. Jenny Jones-Waters (the Partridges' servant, a very intelligent woman who is used by Mrs Allworthy-Blifil to deflect suspicions on Tom Jones’ maternity from herself)

FROM THE SOURCE:

Now Mrs. Waters and our hero had no sooner sat down together than the former began to play this artillery upon the latter. But here, as we are about to attempt a description hitherto unassayed either in prose or verse, we think proper to invoke the assistance of certain aerial beings, who will, we doubt not, come kindly to our aid on this occasion.

“Say then, ye Graces! you that inhabit the heavenly mansions of Seraphina’s countenance; for you are truly divine, are always in her presence, and well know all the arts of charming; say, what were the weapons now used to captivate the heart of Mr. Jones.”

“First, from two lovely blue eyes, whose bright orbs flashed lightning at their discharge, flew forth two pointed ogles; but, happily for our hero, hit only a vast piece of beef which he was then conveying into his plate, and harmless spent their force. The fair warrior perceived their miscarriage, and immediately from her fair bosom drew forth a deadly sigh. A sigh which none could have heard unmoved, and which was sufficient at once to have swept off a dozen beaus; so soft, so sweet, so tender, that the insinuating air must have found its subtle way to the heart of our hero, had it not luckily been driven from his ears by the coarse bubbling of some bottled ale, which at that time he was pouring forth. Many other weapons did she assay; but the god of eating (if there be any such deity, for I do not confidently assert it) preserved his votary; or perhaps it may not be dignus vindice nodus, and the present security of Jones may be accounted for by natural means; for as love frequently preserves from the attacks of hunger, so may hunger possibly, in some cases, defend us against love.

“The fair one, enraged at her frequent disappointments, determined on a short cessation of arms. Which interval she employed in making ready every engine of amorous warfare for the renewing of the attack when dinner should be over.

“No sooner then was the cloth removed than she again began her operations. First, having planted her right eye sidewise against Mr. Jones, she shot from its corner a most penetrating glance; which, though great part of its force was spent before it reached our hero, did not vent itself absolutely without effect. This the fair one perceiving, hastily withdrew her eyes, and levelled them downwards, as if she was concerned for what she had done; though by this means she designed only to draw him from his guard, and indeed to open his eyes, through which she intended to surprise his heart. And now, gently lifting up those two bright orbs which had already begun to make an impression on poor Jones, she discharged a volley of small charms at once from her whole countenance in a smile. Not a smile of mirth, nor of joy; but a smile of affection, which most ladies have always ready at their command, and which serves them to show at once their good-humour, their pretty dimples, and their white teeth.

“This smile our hero received full in his eyes, and was immediately staggered with its force. He then began to see the designs of the enemy, and indeed to feel their success. A parley now was set on foot between the parties; during which the artful fair so slily and imperceptibly carried on her attack, that she had almost subdued the heart of our hero before she again repaired to acts of hostility. To confess the truth, I am afraid Mr. Jones maintained a kind of Dutch defence, and treacherously delivered up the garrison, without duly weighing his allegiance to the fair Sophia. In short, no sooner had the amorous parley ended and the lady had unmasked the royal battery, by carelessly letting her handkerchief drop from her neck, than the heart of Mr. Jones was entirely taken, and the fair conquerer enjoyed the usual fruits of her victory.”

Here the Graces think proper to end their description, and here we think proper to end the chapter.

BCnU!