"THE DVD SHOW" @ 50 - THE WARHOL TRIVIA ANSWER

It's the day after we concluded the year-long salute to 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' and it's time to reveal the answer to the trivia question I asked at the beginning:

'The Dick Van Dyke Show' has two somewhat tenuous connections to Andy Warhol. One was "outside the box" - one of those six degrees of separation situations on the production side. The other was within the "reality" of the show - one of Andy Warhol's works of art actually appeared in an episode.

So, nobody even attempted to guess the two connections Andy Warhol had to 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'. And that means I get to keep the Richard Rosebud Petrie Prize - (a rock and a paper clip glued together!)

Anyhoo, here are the answers:

The first connection was a "Six Degrees Of Separation" - actress Sylvia Miles played Sally Rogers in the original pilot for the show, "Head Of The Family", in which Carl Reiner played Rob Petrie.

From Wikipedia:

Over the years, Miles has become a cult figure, both for her ties to the avant-garde (Andy Warhol, Paul Morrissey, etc.) and her increasingly bizarre appearance over the years and her willingness to attend any public function. Wayland Flowers and his puppet Madame first uttered the widely quoted line "Sylvia Miles and Andy Warhol would attend the opening of a sewer."

The second connection was a showcase for his artwork within the reality of the series. In 1951, Warhol was commissioned to create the artwork for a book cover:

Throughout his career Warhol created numerous artist books. However, he also designed book covers for other authors. This is the design for the cover of the book ‘Pistols for two’ by Aaron Marc Stein.

In October of 1965, Millie Helper was reading this book, as seen in the episode "Draw Me A Pear".

 

 

And that's how Andy Warhol fits into the world of 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', both behind the scenes and within Toobworld.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: ODDJOB

We're sticking with commercial appearances today......

ODDJOB

AS SEEN IN:

VICKS 44 commercial

CREATED BY:

Ian Fleming

PORTRAYED BY:

Harold Sakata

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

Oddjob (often written as "Odd Job") is a henchman to the villain Auric Goldfinger in the James Bond film and novel, "Goldfinger". In the film he was played by the Japanese American actor Harold Sakata.

Oddjob, who also appears in the James Bond animated series and in several video games, is one of the most popular characters in the Bond series. The character, from his unusual appearance, manners, strength and method of killing, forms the archetype for which many henchmen of the Bond film series were based on, which includes Jaws, Nick Nack, Chang and Gobinda.

Oddjob's real name is unknown. He is named by Goldfinger as that describes his duties to his employer. Korean-born (all Goldfinger's staff are Korean), he is extremely strong, proven in one sequence where he breaks the railing of a staircase with his hand and a mantel with his foot. Oddjob is described as being a squat man with arms like thighs and [with] black teeth. A black belt at karate, Oddjob is also an expert with a bow and arrow, and with his metal, razor-edged throwable bowler hat. He has a cleft palate that renders his speech unintelligible to everyone except Goldfinger.

In addition to killing people who might cause trouble for Goldfinger, Oddjob functions as his personal guard, chauffeur, and manservant (though not his golf caddy, as depicted in the film). He has a taste for cats as food, apparently acquired in Korea when food was in short supply (Bond frames Goldfinger's yellow cat for destruction of surveillance film, and as punishment, sees the cat given to Oddjob for dinner).

He is killed when Bond uses a knife to shatter the window next to his seat on an aircraft, which depressurises the plane and blows Oddjob out of the window, a fate transferred to Auric Goldfinger in the film version. (According to my friend Neil Shovlin, Oddjob was electrocuted by James Bond in the Cineverse.)

In 2009, Manolith ranked Odd Job as the fourth best James Bond henchman.

Oddjob's Toobworld presence can be found either before the events of the movie, or even during it - if Oddjob commuted to work with Mr. Goldfinger and actually lived in the suburbs with Mrs. Oddjob (or Mrs. Ramoo, as we'll see......)

[Harold Sakata] appeared as Oddjob in a series of TV commercials for Vicks Formula 44 cough syrup in the 1970s. The advertisement showed Oddjob with a nasty cough, which results in him demolishing the neighborhood and frightening a woman inside her house as his cough spasms grow worse and worse. The woman grabs a bottle of Vicks Formula 44 and races for the door, only to see Oddjob karate chop through it. She quickly opens the door and gives him a spoonful of the cough syrup, which cures his cough. The two bow to each other, and the woman looks past Oddjob to see the destruction he has caused.

The events of the movie "Goldfinger" could be only based on reality and not a reflection of the actual reality. (Except in the Cineverse.) "Goldfinger" could be what "UNreel" wants the world to think happened, when in fact, Oddjob may have escaped death from electrocution - at least as far as his televersion was concerned.

If so, it could be that he showed up in Toobworld three years after the movie came out, this time known by his real name of Ramoo. With Auric Goldfinger dead, and times being what they were, he took a job as the henchman to a crazed big-game hunter named Jonathan Kincaid. They traveled to a nearly deserted island where they found seven stranded castaways... and Kincaid decided that one of them would be his quarry.

Unfortunately for him and Ramoo, Kincaid chose Willie Gilligan, who had divine protection from the Universe......

BCnU!

"THE DVD SHOW" @ 50 - THE LAST WALTZ

I mentioned earlier that 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' was the "Camelot" of TV sitcoms. And if a lot of sitcoms which followed couldn't aspire to reach the same heights, they at least tried to invoke some of its magic by mentioning it by name.

Luckily, because Alan Brady went on to create a TV show based on the life of Rob Petrie, we don't have to consider these mentions of the show as Zonks. (By the way, in a case of Toob imitating Life, Alan Brady found out that the networks just didn't see him as a Rob Petrie kind of guy. So he finally had to re-adjust his concept and he hired an actor who looked just like Robert Simpson Petrie - Dick Van Dyke. And that's why 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' can be mentioned in other TV shows without causing a Zonk.

Here's my final entry in this year-long salute to the show.....

SIX SHOWS THAT INVOKED 'THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW'

1] 'thirtySOMETHING' - "THE MIKE VAN DYKE SHOW"

Mike Steadman engaged in a daydream in which his life was just like that seen in the sitcom.

2] 'THE NANNY' - "TAKE BACK YOUR MINK"

From the IMDb: The show is mentioned by name. There is an inside joke involving actress Ann Guilbert, who plays Yetta and who played Millie Helper on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Fran laments the fact that Millie never got a spin-off show of her own, to which Yetta replies that she heard the actress was difficult to work with.

3] 'PUSHING DAISIES' - "THE LEGEND OF MERLE McQUODDY"

When dealing with Charles Charles, Emerson Cod wanted Ned the Pie Man to "trip over an ottoman and Dick Van Dyke his ass."

4] 'THE JACKIE THOMAS SHOW' - "PILOT"

When Jerry Harper was hired to be the new head writer of 'The Jackie Thomas Show', he had dreams of being just like Rob Petrie in the classic sitcom. He even kept a framed picture of the show on his desk. When he met Jackie Thomas and learned how the buffoonish star saw the show's concept, he sadly turned the picture face down.....

5] 'HERMAN'S HEAD' - "WHEN HAIRY MET HERMY"

The various incarnations of Herman's psyche called in Buddy Sorrell and Sally Rogers to come up with jokes for Herman to say. (They could have been manifestations of the characters from the TV show, or Herman knew of them in real life.)

6] 'FAMILY GUY'

And then there's this from the Tooniverse......

BCnU!

"THE DVD SHOW @ 50" - CAMBRIDGE SPIES

This week, Inner Toob is also paying tribute to another 50th anniversary - the first James Bond movie, "Dr. No", opened in theaters 50 years ago this coming Friday. So I thought it might be nice to combine the two... and 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' gave me the perfect opportunity with an episode about a spy named Bond....

Here's a summary of the episode "The Man From My Uncle", written by "Huggo" for the IMDb:

It's the beginning of a three day weekend for Rob,and he's in a giddy mood because of it. His mood is heightened when Mr. Phillips, a federal agent, stops by wanting to use their house as a stake-out post to watch the goings-on of their neighbor, Mr. Gerard. It isn't Mr. Gerard they are after, but his criminal nephew. Laura doesn't really like the idea of their house being used for a stake-out, but Rob thrives on the idea of a little excitement. Believing it being for the public good, they agree. The agent they send is Harry Bond. While Laura generally feels nervous not only with Harry in the house but also with a criminal possibly in their neighbor, Rob can't help but get in Harry's way while he tries to act the spy. But when a little trouble may be brewing at Gerard's house, Rob may have to get involved in the surveillance, as Harry is suffering not only from over-exposure to Rob, but a massive toothache. 

When I was a kid, I loved this episode, and most of that was due to Godfrey Cambridge as the guest star. As an adult, I can see its flaws - it's one of the more far-fetched episodes from the fifth season, after Carl Reiner walked away from overseeing the entire production and everybody was feeling the strain of being the best for so long. Plus there was the allure of the big screen for two of them.....

James Bond was the overall inspiration for the episode - after all, the spy in question was named Bond... Harry Bond. But the episode title was also a play on NBC's espionage hit 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' And with Godfrey Cambridge in the guest role as Bond, the show may have been tipping its hat to the role played by Bill Cosby in 'I Spy', which was ground-breaking in its day. (Bond, Harry Bond, was a spy more in keeping with the likes of John Drake of NATO and MI6 rather than like Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin of U.N.C.L.E.)

Rob:

“Hey, Mr. Bond – I took a picture with this infrared camera.”

Mr. Bond:

“Of what?”

Rob:

“Well...of you sleeping.”

Mr. Bond:

“Mr. Petrie, why did you do that?”

The episode aired on April 20, 1966. If it took place in the Toobworld timeline around that same time, and because Rob Petrie was so enthusiastic about the whole spy business and all its trappings, then it's likely he had seen the following James Bond movies at the local theater in New Rochelle:

• "Dr. No" (1962)
• "From Russia With Love" (1963)
• "Goldfinger" (1964)
• "Thunderball" (1965)

And he was probably looking forward to seeing "You Only Live Twice" the following year.

James Bond exists in Toobworld, thanks to the 'Climax!' episode "Casino Royale" which was an adaptation of the first book by Ian Fleming. But the movies were fictions created as part of an elaborate cover story for 007 so that any mention of his exploits in the "real" world of Earth Prime-Time would be discounted as coming from people who confuse reality with what they see on the movie screen.

So, technically, it was pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, as Muskie Muskrat would say, that Rob Petrie might have crossed paths with James Bond at some point in Toobworld.  What James Bond would look like however?  After all, it was just a cover identity adopted by British Intelligence in tribute to the American "Jimmy Bond", an agent for Combined Intelligence.  (I have no evidence that the British James Bond ever looked like Sean Connery in Toobworld.  As it stands now, the best of all Bonds in the movies may have only been a role played by the televersion of Sean Connery.....)

But it was more likely that this weekend experience was going to be the closest Rob ever came to a spy named Bond.

Laura:

“Well, how can he spy with a bad tooth?”

Rob:

“Honey, those guys are trained to spy 

with bamboo shoots under their fingernails.”

BCnU!

"THE DVD SHOW @ 50" - THE END OF THE ROAD

Today marks the 51st anniversary of 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'. One year ago today, I took part in Ivan Shreve's brilliant blogathon celebrating the "Camelot" of sitcoms' 50th anniversary by posting about 29 blog posts during the course of that day. And even then I felt as though I really didn't squeeze as much out of this, my third favorite TV show of all time. (Okay, if you must know - 'The Prisoner' and 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' rank above it. 'Columbo', 'Doctor Who', 'Lost' and 'Maverick' follow.)

So for this past year, I've been posting other articles about particular facets of the show:

• guest characters who may have appeared in other TV shows (Mrs. Glimpsher on 'I Love Lucy' and a Camp Crowder soldier on 'Columbo')
• theories of "relateeveety," including tie-ins to the TV Western salute and to Black History Month
• and salutes to actors connected to the show who passed away. (I failed John Rich, the show's best director, by not marking his passing with one of these posts. At least I'll get to mention Biff Elliot later today....)

Today will mark the end of that year-long effort. For this last hurrah, I have a couple of items to post. But I think I may do one last article for Halloween - and no, it won't be about the Twiloites.....

BCnU!

BACCARAT!

AS SEEN ON TV: LE CHIFFRE

Continuing our celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the first James Bond movie, we take a look at the portrayal of the first Bond villain... from eight years earlier than that in Toobworld (and a year before that in BookWorld.......)

LE CHIFFRE

AS SEEN IN:

'Climax!'

"Casino Royale"

CREATED BY:

Ian Fleming

PORTRAYED BY:

Peter Lorre

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

Le Chiffre (The Cypher or The Number) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, "Casino Royale". On screen Le Chiffre has been portrayed by Peter Lorre in the 1954 television adaptation of the novel for CBS's 'Climax!' television series, by Orson Welles in the 1967 spoof of the novel and Bond film series, and by Mads Mikkelsen in the 2006 film version of Fleming's novel.

Fleming based the character on occultist Aleister Crowley.

Le Chiffre, alias "Die Nummer", "Mr. Number", "Herr Ziffer", "Ochiu Spart" (Romanian for "Smashed Eye") and other translations of "The Number" or "The Cipher" in various languages, is the paymaster of the "Syndicat des Ouvriers d'Alsace" (French for "Alsatian Workmen's Union"), a SMERSH-controlled trade union.

In the novel, he makes a major investment in a string of brothels with money belonging to SMERSH. The investment fails after a bill is signed into law banning prostitution. Le Chiffre then goes to the casino Royale-les-Eaux in an attempt to recover all of his lost funds. There, however, Bond bankrupts him in a series of games in Chemin de Fer. Le Chiffre kidnaps Bond's assistant, Vesper Lynd, to lure him into a trap and get his money back. The trap works, and Le Chiffre tortures Bond to get him to give up the money. He is interrupted by a SMERSH agent, however, who shoots him between the eyes with a silenced TT pistol as punishment for losing the money. The torture Bond suffers at the hands of Le Chiffre briefly upsets 007's confidence in his profession, and he toys with the idea of leaving the service until the novel's conclusion, when a new threat emerges.

Le Chiffre's death is seen by the Soviet government as an embarrassment, which in addition to the death and defeat of Mr. Big in "Live and Let Die", leads to the events of "From Russia With Love".

David Cornelius of Efilmcritic.com described Lorre as "the real main attraction here, the veteran villain working at full weasel mode; a grotesque weasel whose very presence makes you uncomfortable." Peter Debruge of Variety also praised Lorre, considering him the source of "whatever charm this slipshod antecedent to the Bond oeuvre has to offer."

From the source:

“So,” continued Bond, warming to his argument, “Le Chiffre was serving a wonderful purpose, a really vital purpose, perhaps the best and highest purpose of all.  By his evil existence, which I foolishly helped to destroy, he was creating a normal of badness by which, and by which alone, an oppostie norm of goodness could exist.  We were privileged, in our short knowledge of him, to see and estimate his wickedness and we emerge from the acquaintanceship better and more virtuous men.”

BCnU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OBIE 65!!!!

Today is my brother Tim's birthday!  (And NO!  The "65" is not his age - he's younger than me!)

Tim is a big Denver Broncos fan, so to celebrate his birthday, I'm offering up this Super Six list of appearances which former Broncos quarterback John Elway has made on television.  (Some of which make him eligible for the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame!). Tim's favorite player is Elway - see that framed picture over his left shoulder? That's a picture of the two of them together. Just by chance he ran into his football hero.)

SIX JOHN ELWAY TV APPEARANCES

1] 'LAS VEGAS'

Elway played himself in the second season finale "Centennial", along with Jon Bon Jovi and Dean Cain.

2] 'HOME IMPROVEMENT'

In "The Eve Of Construction", Elway kicked off his Toobworldly presence by working with Habitat For Humanity.

3] NBC SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL

Since Tim is the third child in our family, I figured this slot would be the best birthday berth for the inevitable video.....

4] 'THE GREAT FOOD TRUCK RACE'

During the 'Rocky Mountain Highs And Lows' episode of last year, Elway showed up - I guess to prove the show really was in the Rocky Mountains area?

5] 'THE 1983 NFL DRAFT'

John Elway was the 1st overall draft pick that year.  But he was picked by the Baltimore Colts, and Elway wanted no part of that team.  He threatened to play pro baseball instead until Baltimore finally traded him to the Broncos.

6] 'WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?'

September 10, 2001 - Elway appeared on the game show the day before the world changed forever......

(I didn't mean to end that list as Debbie Downer. But it is a good illustration of the timeline demarcation point for the modern world.)

Anyhoo, happy birthday to Timothy Ticklepepper, as my Grammy used to call him!

"THE LEAGUE" OF THEMSELVES - JERRY JONES

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has enough TV series credits to qualify him to enter the TV Crossover Hall of Fame:

• "Dallas: War Of The Ewings"
• 'Dallas'
• 'Coach'
• 'Entourage'
• Diet Pepsi MAX commercial
• Papa John's commercial

But now he'll also be in the 10/11 season premiere of 'The League'.

I'm not going to induct him right away. Maybe if the Cowboys go. all. the. way. But I don't want to overload the Hall with too many televersions in the League of Themselves.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: Q 4 TUESDAY

For the "Two for Tuesday" segment, we could have combined any of the James Bonds. However, there was a recastaway in the movies which translated to the television universe as well......

Q

(Major Boothroyd)

AS SEEN IN:

VISA Commercial

PORTRAYED BY:

Desmond Llewelyn

Q

(Formerly R. Real name unknown)

AS SEEN IN:

HEINEKEN Commercial

(Maybe a SCHWEPPES commercial as well)

PORTRAYED BY:

John Cleese

TV STATUS:

Recastaways

(The "Q" designation is a work-related title. No Zonk involved.)

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. Q (standing for Quartermaster), like M, is a job title rather than a name. He is the head of Q Branch (or later Q Division), the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service. The character never appears in Fleming's novels though Fleming's first two novels do refer to him; in subsequent Fleming novels, we read only of "Q Branch". The character "Q" appears in the Bond film series and the novelizations of Christopher Wood, John Gardner and Raymond Benson.

In the novels, Q is first mentioned by a name in "Dr. No". He is referred as Major Boothroyd. Boothroyd was at the post of Q for all the novels by Ian Fleming.

DESMOND LLEWELYN AS Q
Beginning with "From Russia with Love", Desmond Llewelyn portrayed the character in every official film except "Live and Let Die" until his death in 1999. In the 1977 film "The Spy Who Loved Me", as Q was delivering the underwater Lotus, Major Anya Amasova/Agent XXX (Barbara Bach) greets Q as "Major Boothroyd".

The scenes in the films where Q briefs Bond on the gadgets that he is going to use on his mission would include dialogue of antagonism between the two, with Q often annoyed by Bond's wandering attention span, often telling him "Now pay attention, 007," and Bond's seemingly playful lack of respect for the equipment he and his branch develop and famously telling the agent, "I never joke about my work, 007" (a line referenced by his successor in "Die Another Day"). In "Thunderball", Bond can be heard muttering "Oh no" when Q joins him in the Bahamas.

However, on occasion, Q has shown a warm and fatherly concern for 007's welfare, such as at Bond's wedding in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", when he assures Bond that he is available if Bond ever requires his help despite Bond planning to leave MI6, and when, at the behest of Miss Moneypenny, he secretly sneaks gadgets out of MI6 to help Bond survive his vendetta against the drug tyrant Sanchez in "Licence to Kill". 

JOHN CLEESE AS R, THEN Q (R2Q?)

In "The World Is Not Enough" an assistant to Q was introduced, played by John Cleese. His real name has yet to be revealed, but he is initially credited as R in "The World Is Not Enough", stemming from a joke in which Bond asks the elder Q: "If you're Q, does that make him R?"

Q&R
Their only shot together in the movie.
(Sorry for the quality.....)

He was officially referred to as "Q" in "Die Another Day" (2002) following actor Llewelyn's death in 1999.

Initially portrayed as rather clumsy, R then became more self-assured and more in the style of his predecessor. They both shared the same attitude towards their professional work, requesting that Bond be more careful in the testing laboratories and return his equipment intact. 

In "Die Another Day", Bond at first refers to R as "Quartermaster" but, silently impressed by the gadgets he is given, calls him "Q" at the end of their meeting. (The "Die Another Day" DVD reveals that Bond initially saw R as an 'interloper', only awarding the proper title of 'Q' after R has proven himself.)

It's possible that Q-R was a serlinguist and he is the man we see in the following Schweppes commercial:

If so, his comments about the James Bond movies are an expression over his concerns about the work done by "UNreel".

Or it could just be John Cleese, schilling yet again.....

"If it hadn't been for Q Branch, you'd have been dead long ago."

Q

BCnU, Q!