PRODUCT UNBECOMING: DUNKIN DON'TS

Forget everything I said about the integration of Degree deoderant into that episode of 'Eureka'; even winking at the blatant product placement with obvious humor couldn't save a similar moment in this week's episode of 'Psych' ("Daredevils!"). It was forced and labored as Gus mused on how much he'd love a coffee once he saw the sponsor's logo on the uniforms for Dutch The Clutch's road crew.
So we got to see that the logo was for Dunkin' Donuts while Shawn and Gus bickered over what Dunkin Donuts made them think about. The dialogue was all as clunky as these sentences have been.....

BCnU!
Toby O'B

O'BSERVATIONS: FROM CAAN

When Dalek Caan utilized the emergency temporal shift to escape the Doctor in 1930, he was able to break the time lock on the Last Great Time War and rescue Davros from the Nightmare Child. (See my previous posting about that.) However, the effort broke Caan's mind and left him with the facility for the Second Sight.

Among his prophecies were:

• “…he is coming, the three-fold man. He dances in the lonely places; oh, Creator Of Us All, the Doctor is coming.”
  
• [Davros paraphrases] “…the Children of Time will move against us.”
  
• “…he is here, the Dark Lord is come.”
  
• “…I flew into the wild and fire; I danced and died a thousand times.”
  
• “…death is coming, oh I can see it. Everlasting death for the most faithful companion.”
  
  

As you can see, most of those prophecies were about the Doctor. It could be argued that "He dances in the lonely places" could also refer back to when Jack was a Time Agent and keeping his "dance card" quite full with all manners of humanoids and aliens, no matter the gender - if there even was one. But as it's bracketed by other references to the Doctor, we'll keep it simple and say it was the Doctor as well. (I just don't think he was very good at "dancing"....)

And of course, the Children of Time would be the Army of the Doctor: Donna, Jack, Martha, Sarah Jane, Rose, Mickey, and even Jackie. (I would have loved it if Wilf Mott had been able to go along for the ride!)

But it's that last prophecy that has had online community of 'Who'-fans buzzing, even after the final episode aired.

Exactly who did Caan mean by "the most faithful companion"?

Most people think it's a reference to Donna Noble. The Donna Noble who had grown so much during this past season to become one of the greatest Companions ever on the show, had been reduced to her personality and memories from before even the Christmas special "The Runaway Bride". In order to save her mind from burning out due to the power of the Time Lords it now housed, the Doctor had to perform a Vulcan mind-wipe, a little trick he must have picked up when he was on Vulcan at some time. (A definite 'Star Trek' connection there, really. He was on the planet visiting a swamp-based colony of humans when he began his first regeneration in "The Tenth Planet". The Vulcans probably avoided them and let them live in that undesirable land mass as if it was a reservation.)

So anyhoo, that could be what Caan meant by the death of the most faithful Companion. But not many people are happy with that splainin. They wonder why Donna would be considered the most faithful of all the Companions the Doctor ever had. Especially since we don't have any clue how long Dr. Grace Holloway stayed with the Doctor. (I'm leaning towards the idea that they remained lovers and she stayed with him until her death. And the experience of a finite, mortal love was why the Doctor was resistant to declaring his love for Rose.)

Here's my idea....

I think Dalek Caan was talking about himself.

He could rightly consider himself the most faithful companion of Davros. After all, he risked his life to rescue the creator of the Daleks from certain death in the Time War. And his insanity became insight when he realized the futility of the Dalek existence, and so planned for this eventual onslaught to lead to his own death.

For Caan, everlasting death would be a gift.

I'm just sayin', is all......

BCnU!
Toby O'B

TODAY'S TWD: THE NIGHTMARE CHILD

"But you were destroyed,

in the first year of the time war at the gates of Elysium.

I saw your command ship fly into the jaws of the Nightmare Child.

I tried to save you."

The Doctor

'Doctor Who'

Faults I may have with Russell T. Davies and his handling of 'Doctor Who', but I do give him his props in various areas. First off, that he was able to revive 'Doctor Who' from its long slumber and in such a way as to make it probably more popular than it ever was.

And then there's his creative turns at coining names. The Moxx of Balhoon, the Clan Slitheen, Raxicoricofallipatorius, Klom, Adipose -# Well, that was just lazy, or maybe the TARDIS translation of their name in their native language.

And then in "The Stolen Earth", the Doctor mentioned the fate of Davros in the jaws of the "Nightmare Child". (I'm wondering if he was inspired by the KISS Psycho Circus computer game?)

No other mention is made of the Nightmare Child, but even so, the TARDIS Wiki had a splainin as to what it was:

The Nightmare Child was an area large enough for a ship to fly through the mouth of, it was near the Gates of Elysium, during the Last Great Time War. Davros' ship was damaged near the Nightmare Child and the Doctor witnessed him fall into its jaws, and attempted to save him.

Dalek Caan, who escaped from 1930 using a temporal shift flew into the jaws of the Nightmare Child, saving Davros in the process. (DW: The Stolen Earth)

[Retrieved from http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Nightmare_Child]

But they don't offer any official authenticity for this interpretation, or their source for making this claim. So I think whoever wrote up this splainin must have made it up from whole cloth. Which is fine, (I'm about to do the same thing!), but say so.

I'm thinking the interpretation of the Nightmare Child is wide open, and until it is finally specified within the show itself, (perhaps in a "Time War" movie starring Paul McGann? My Little Buddy Sean would be so happy!), then we can speculate on our own interpretations of what exactly was the Nightmare Child.

And of course, with me being a televisiologist who believes in most TV shows sharing the same spatial plane of existence, I have my own suggestion for the Nightmare Child:
Here's how "The Doomsday Machine" was described in the 'Star Trek' Wiki, "Memory Alpha":

The doomsday machine, also referred to as the planet killer, was an automated, self-propelled weapon capable of destroying entire planets. It was encountered in 2267 by the Federation starships USS Enterprise and USS Constellation. Its origins were unknown, but based on its apparent trajectory, it was believed to have come from outside the Milky Way Galaxy.

This planet killer could have been created by either Davros and the Daleks, or by the Gallifreyan Time Lords, with the intent of destroying the other's home planet. Or it could have been one of the lesser participants in the Great Time War, with the intentions of destroying both of those major combatants.

Somehow the doomsday machine evaded being trapped within the time-locked parameters of the Time War area (probably busted its way out!) and then traveled through space until it encountered Commodore Decker's ship the Constellation.

Like I said, this is just a theory and will be discarded once there is official verification of what the Nightmare Child actually is. But until then, it makes for a nice way to combine 'Doctor Who' with 'Star Trek'.

The Time War is another option, linking 'Doctor Who' with 'Enterprise', but that discussion would probably take a LOT of postings!

BCnU!
Toby OB

O'BSERVATIONS: MARTHA, MY DRONE

You know what "Bad To The Drone", the season premiere for 'Eureka', needed? It needed a scene in the cafe's refrigerator (which must have some serious TARDIS technology installed there!) between Zoe Carter and Martha the sentient drone. A heart-felt chat between "girls".

This would have helped to sell the idea that Martha would later seek Zoe out at her house and try to help her "escape" her own father, as Martha was going to do. (Her father being the scientist who built her.)

Just sayin', is all.....

BCnU!
Toby O'B

PRODUCT UNBECOMING: DEGREE ABSOLUTE

I won't say I hate product placement in TV shows. I do dislike them intensely. I make the distinction to be polite; I would hate to offend anybody who might wish to pay me off with swag....

But I would rather have fictional products in TV shows, even if there's not much hope for using them to link other shows. Still, it IS possible - Oceanic Airlines, Morley Cigarettes, Playpen Magazine, the New York Ledger, the Los Angeles Tribune.... - for these products to link one or more TV series together.

But when it's a recognizable product, there's no thrill of the game in using that to link TV shows together; it's a bit of a cheat, like saying 'NYPD Blue' and 'The Cosby Show' both are linked because they take place in New York City. And despite the tweaks to the script in order to make the mention of the product seamless and hopefully palatable, it's still an assault on our enjoyment of the story. And as such it ruins the scene.

My favorite example, Claire squeezing her Dad with just a little more "love" than necessary when he gave her a Nissan Rogue.

Tim Kring is finally speaking out against the practice and his show 'Heroes' is one of the biggest abusers of the stunt.

But at least if it's going to be done, at least do it with humor!

That's why I wasn't as bothered by the ending of 'Eureka' Wednesday night. Storage bins with labels marked "Degree" put a corporate identity to the program. Why? The new "Chairman" of Global Dynamics told them all that the order had come down from the D.o.D. that Global Dynamics should begin funding itself with corporate sponsors. And Degree at least kicked off their product placement for the third season by addressing this synergy outright.
And it was a nice touch that at least some of the characters acted like it was as disgusting to them as it is to those who hate actual commercial.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

NEW @ TOOBWORLD CENTRAL

Like an orphan without a storm, I found another package sitting on my doorstep last night as I was heading out to meet my buddies in the Bit Torrent Rebel Alliance. My latest delivery?

'JAMES MICHENER'S "CENTENNIAL"'

This ranks right up there as one of my five favorite TV Westerns of all time. I remember when it came out in the mid-1970s, I would rush back to my dorm from whatever rehearsal I was involved in at the time to see the latest installment. (I think it was airing on NBC on either Wednesdays or Thursdays....)

I had all but the first two hours on videotape, but now - at last! - it's on DVD.

Oh. Sure. You want to know my five favorite TV Westerns now, right?

1) 'The Wild, Wild West'
2) 'Maverick'
3) 'Alias Smith And Jones'
4) 'Centennial'
5) 'The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr.'

Yeeha!

BCnU!
Toby O'B

TODAY'S TWD: NO-ZONK ZONE IN EUREKA

'Eureka' returned to the Sci-Fi network Tuesday night for its third season, with an episode entitled "Bad To The Drone". While Global Dynamics had to deal with a corporate hatchet queen, a rogue drone had attained sentience and was cruising the city, determined to stay "alive" - unlike those drones which had perished before it during tests.

"Martha" reached the level of intelligence and emotion to be found in a pouty, rebellious teenager; and as "she" was also packing serious firepower, that's not a good thing.

After seeing Martha lead her small "biker gang" of drones around the town of Eureka, Sheriff Jack Carter compared the sight to "The War Of The Worlds".

I think he was referring more to the Tom Cruise movie than he was to the HG Wells novel or to Orson Welles' radio production or the movie from the 1950s. That's one of the movies that has a double life in Toobworld, like the 1966 "Batman" movie, or the 'Star Trek' franchise. This is due to a TV series which claimed that the events that occurred in the movie actually did take place on Earth Prime-Time as well.

In Toobworld, the Tom Cruise version was based then on actual events!

So Jack would have known about the battle back in the mid-1950s and probably even saw archival footage of their spacecraft. For alls I know, he may have even seen one of their pods on display in Eureka somewhere!

The slightly triangular shape of Martha probably put him in mind of those space-craft, and that's why he compared "her" to the Martian vehicles.

At another point in the episode, Sheriff Carter's daughter Zoe described Martha as a Cylon. This was probably due to the back-and-forth action of its red beam in its visor. And here again, this wouldn't be a Zonk.

The original 'Battlestar Galactica' fleet arrived in Earth Prime-Time's solar system in 1980, and took up residence in an orbit invisible to the humans below. At some point between then and now, the Cylons must have followed after them. But they would have no need to bargain or hide from the humans. So in the years that followed, there had to be some kind of fire-fight with the Cylons... and since the Earth was apparently spared from their destruction, then I think it's safe to say that that any Cylon invasion in the main Toobworld was beaten down.

Even so, Zoe would have known of their existence and what they looked like. As with the "Martian" spaceships, she might have even seen a de-activated Cylon robot there in Eureka. Probably during a field trip to Global Dynamics.

(I also believe that the surviving Cylons in Earth Prime-Time also disappeared for a time until they were ready with their master plan - Cylons that could pass for human, right down to the genetic level! And I think one of them was in an episode of 'Las Vegas'!)

And both those splainins should serve to disable any possible Zonks from those references.

Eureka!

BCnU!

Toby O'B

TODAY'S TWD: VALENTINE'S DAY, 1962

Just doing a little sidestep to keep from posting 'Doctor Who' each day, every day......

Nothing signaled the respect AMC had for the return of its flagship series 'Mad Men' more than its berth in the Sunday night line-up. (When it first premiered last summer, it was during the week.) Sundays have now become crowded for my DVR sked, what with 'Burke's Law', 'Generation Kill' and 'In Plain Sight' needing their chance to join my queue. (I end up pushing 'Generation Kill' back to its rebroadcast a few hours later.)

The second season premiere had a great example of its attention to detail when it comes to its historical period. The episode picked up two years after the end of the first season, on Valentine's Day, 1962, and it ended with a montage of various characters from the show watching the CBS documentary of Jackie Kennedy's "Tour Of The White House".

Directed by Franklin Schaffner, it really did debut on February 14 of that year. And in a rare example of cooperation between networks, it also was shown on NBC that night.

For more about that documentary, with a link to the full tour, click here.
http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/2008/07/white-house-tour.php

And you can go directly on the tour from the main site, www.amctv.com....

BCnU!
Toby O'B

DOES THIS MEAN KOOKIE IS 75 AS WELL???

I guess I should say "Let me be one of the last to wish Edd Byrnes a happy birthday. He turned 75 on Wednesday. Only just now I learned of it from visiting "Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear" and "Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine". (Both links to the left, Slick.)

He rocketed to fame as Kookie (Gerald Lloyd Kookson III) on '77 Sunset Strip' and was the inspiration for the song "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb". (For this role, TV Guide ranked him #5 among America's 25 Greatest Teen Idols".)

He's appeared in guest roles on a lot of series since then: 'Maverick', 'Mannix', 'Murder, She Wrote', 'Burke's Law', and 'Alias Smith And Jones' among plenty of others.

So happy birthday, Mr. Byrnes. (Say that out loud, and it feels like Waylon Smithers should be jumping out of a cake!)

All the best from Toobworld!

BCnU!
Toby O'B

WHEN REALITY MEETS REALITY SHOW!

When that 5.4/5.8 earthquake hit Chino, Ca., 'Judge Judy' was in the process of taping another episode. You can see the reactions from the plaintiff, defendant, spectators and Judge Judy herself here.

BCnU!

Toby O'B