SATURDAY MORNING SUPER HEROES (MORE OR LESS)

 

'The Flash' (the latest incarnation in the Television Multiverse) is certainly not suffering from a sophomore slump. After a great first season in which Barry Allen explored his new powers, tangled with the Reverse Flash, added new members to his Rogues Gallery, and dabbled in time travel, the series didn't waste any time in jumping into a new, major story arc - the Multiverse.

So far, we've had the classic tale of Flash meeting his Earth-2 counterpart Jay Garrick, which culminated with the iconic recreation of the cover illustration for "Flash Of Two Worlds". And plenty of new recipients for Cisco's catchy code-names have been crossing over from that world as well - Atom Smasher, Sand Demon, Tokamak, and a young female Dr. Light (who does exist in the comic books, but I preferred the original Michael Rennie clone.)

But the best of all had to be the minute long (at most?) appearance by King Shark, whose appearance was probably just to set up the introduction of the Harrison Welles from Earth-2.



I don't know if Welles killed King Shark in order to save the Flash, or merely stunned him, but it was an incredible CGI display on a television budget just for that quick scene. I'm hoping we get to see him again.

It also made me wonder if King Shark exists (existed?) in the main Toobworld. (This remake of 'The Flash' exists in Comic Book Toobworld.) He never showed up in the TV series from the early 1990s; very few of the Rogues Gallery did - maybe just the Trickster? But if King Shark does exist in Toobnworld, I wonder if his origin story would be the same as that to be found in the comics. I know I don't adhere to all of the origin stories for various comic book characters - the Joker, for example. (And I'm talking about the Clown Prince of Crime from the 1966 'Batman', not from 'Gotham.' I think mine is better, from a strictly TV POV, with references to 'Get Smart' and 'The Man From UNCLE'.) And definitely the writers for the various comic book-inspired TV shows don't either. (Just check out this season's 'Flash' episode "The Fury of Firestorm' and then match it to the DC Comics database file on Tokamak.)

So with King Shark, perhaps he's an evolutionary descendant of some kind of Mega-Shark from the age of the 'Dinosaurs!' - who knows?



BCnU!

TVXOHOF, NOVEMBER 2015 - PRINCESS DI

For the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, November is the month when we induct someone who is a newsmaker - a politician, many times a former President of the United States, and sometimes even those who report the news (Walter Cronkite, Murphy Brown).

As we have a "British Invasion" theme running all year, there were three major televersions I considered for the "honor": Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth II....  But the winner is:

PRINCESS DIANA

formerly

LADY DIANA SPENCER

There have been many incarnations of "Princess Di" over the years since she died in that car accident.  Like JFK, Abe Lincoln, and Marilyn Monroe, there will likely be many more.  With so many different actresses playing the role in stand-alone projects like TV movies and mini-series, all of them can be dispatched to other TV dimensions; spread the love!

But the official portrayal of Princess Diana in the main Toobworld has her interacting with established TV characters in different TV series, and we've added a TV movie destined for an alternate dimension because all three appearances were of the same actress as Diana - Nicky Lilley.

The first time she played the role was in a 2003 TV movie about "Prince William".  Because of so many recastaways of other real-life/historical figures in this dramatization of the life of Diana's oldest son.  This was followed by a video-taped flashback watched by Mike Spicer, a minor celebrity who once hosted a horrible game show.  He was presented to her at a charity event and this was the moment he was re-watching.

But the most bizarre appearance by Nicky Lilley as Princess Diana was in the second episode of 'Ashes To Ashes' in its first season.  It happened in the 1980s dream world of comatose shooting victim Detective Alex Drake so it wasn't really her.  But it was based on Alex's memories of the waking world, so it can be considered as "proof" that the Princess existed in Toobworld.

Prince William (2002)

"Midsomer Murders"
    - Hidden Depths (2005) 

"Ashes to Ashes"
    - Episode #1.2 (2008) 

I don't know how much longer Nicky Lilley can pull off this acting impersonation of Princess Diana since the Royal has a finite shelf life for her appearance.  Ms. Lilley will hopefully have a long life ahead of her and she will continue to age.  (This was a problem faced by other Toobworld characters who should have remained frozen in Time like Lt. Commander Data, River Song, and George and Marian Kirby.)

So over ten years since she started portraying Princess Diana, it could be that Nicky Lilley may have already passed the shelf date for the role.

But one other reason why I wanted to make sure Ms. Lilley is the face of Princess Diana for the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame.  Although it could be considered exploitation of Di's memory to be playing the role in the first place, Ms. Lilley has shown that she had principles about protecting that memory.

Back in 1998, Kia Motors of Korea was planning to film a blipvert in which Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed would have been seen escaping safely from the paparazzi thanks to the Kia Sephia.  (This outcome would have established a pocket dimension with a different timeline than that of the real world and Toobworld.)

The tagline for the car (to be known as Mentor in the UK)?  

"It's about time everyone had a well-made car."

Nicky Lilley was originally hired to play the role, but quit under protest because of the poor taste displayed in the commercial's storyline.   "The whole idea was sick," she said at the time. "It was like the crash wouldn't have happened if she had been in this car."

Following Ms. Lilley's objections, the production company for the blipvert changed the storyline.  

For more on the story, click here.

And that's why it will be Nicky Lilley as Princess Diana in the Hall......

TV ON TV - A "VICIOUS" INVOLVEMENT IN "DOWNTON ABBEY"

Freddie Thornhill: 

Why do I have to be the butler? 

Stuart Bixby: 

Well, you're the one who pinched the costume... 

From when you were on 'Downton Abbey'. 

Freddie Thornhill: 

They gave it to me! 

'Vicious'

Taking the premise of the Toobworld Dynamic as a fictional reality, what we see on our own TVs as 'Downton Abbey' is the actual presentation of the historical events of the Crawley/Grantham family in the early decades of the 20th Century.  Any reference to 'Downton Abbey' as a TV show in other TV shows which shared the same dimension of 'Downton Abbey' would not be a Zonk.  O'Bviously a TV show was made about those historical events, but it would not look the same as what we see in the show we watch.

The casting of Freddie Thornhill as a butler in the Toobworld 'Downton Abbey' TV show is a good sign that it is a different looking TV show from the one we see.  As happens with "televersions" of historical figures as seen in our TV productions, they don't always look like the actual persons portrayed.  (Richard Crenna as Ross Perot, anyone?)  And such would be the case with whichever butler was played by Freddie Thornhill.

And I think I knew who he was playing.  Freddie only made a guest appearance on the program, so he would not have been a member of the regular cast of servants at the Abbey.  (And most of those were younger men.  Carson was the only one of an approximate age to how Freddie looked, but again, he was a major character.)

Instead, I think Freddie was playing Stowell as seen in the "Moorland Holiday" episode of 'Downton Abbey'.  He was the butler to the Aldridge family and sometimes he was insolent to Lord Sinderby, probably because of his employer's Jewish heritage.

Freddie looks nothing like the historical Stowell and he was certainly older than the butler was in 1924.  (Freddie was almost a decade older when he played the role.)  But it's the only role of some meat to it which could have fit the aging, self-centered thespian.

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD: REMEMBERING JIMMY KIMMEL'S UNCLE FRANK

 From Wikipedia:
Francis "Frank" Potenza (November 11, 1933 – August 23, 2011) was an American retired police officer for the New York City Police Department and former security guard. He later became a television actor for the late night show, 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'. He appeared as Jimmy Kimmel's "Uncle Frank" on the ABC show as a regular from 2003 until the year of his death, 2011.

To remember "Uncle Frank" on his birthday, i hope you enjoy these video tributes suggested by my friend and co-worker Anthony Perroncino......

Today is also Veterans' Day.  Uncle Frank served in the military during the Korean Conflict, so he is also our showcase for the annual Veteran of Toobworld.

Good night and may God bless... and thank you for your service.......

TUESDAY NEWS DAY - ACROSS THE CINEVERSE

DOC BROWN

in

the teaser trailer

Robert Zemeckis has directed a short movie to add to the 30th anniversary edition of the "The Back To The Future" trilogy.  It's going to address the discrepancies which were promised in the second movie but which were never delivered, now that its online date has come and gone.

This is relevant for the Toobworld Dynamic because the movies have been absorbed into the TV Universe, thanks to the appearances of Doc Brown and Marty McFly in TV commercials and a TV series.

"Doc Brown Saves the World" will once again star Christopher Lloyd as Emmett Brown. In the story, Doc Brown embarks on a mission to save the world from a nuclear holocaust in 2045 by preventing certain technologies like the hoverboard and Mr. Fusion from being created.  

I'm assuming he'll also make sure that the movie "Jaws 19" and flying cars won't come to pass either.  (Pepsi did bring out a limited edition of Pepsi Perfect for the anniversary and Nike will have the self-tying sneakers available by next year.  Maybe Doc Brown's actions will cause that delay.)

Once the short film makes its debut, those discrepancies between the Cineverse and the real world will be reconciled.

BCnU!

MURDER MOST REPEATED

Earlier this year, I wrote about a court officer in San Francisco who killed a juror on a case back in the 1970s and tried to make it look like he had discovered the body already dead.  His inspiration was a case from the 1960s in which the same thing happened at a meeting of the world's greatest detectives.

(And with this case, I linked 'McMillan & Wife', 'Burke's Law' and 'Starsky & Hutch'.)

About forty years later, that second murder was added into the accounts of the murder at the "Super Sleuth" convention and how the latter inspired the former.  And a court officer in Honore, St. Marie, named Erol Dumas learned of both those cases this past year and decided to adapt it for his own scheme in killing the man who was responsible for the murder of Erol's lover.  But once again, the scheme was foiled by the local police.

SHOWS  CITED:

• 'Burke's Law' - "Who Killed Supersleuth?"
• 'McMillan & Wife' - "Guilt By Association"
• 'Death In Paradise' - Season 4, Episode 8
• 'Starsky & Hutch'

BCnU!

VIDEO SUNDAY - REMEMBERING TOM O'BRIEN, JR.

Today would have been my Dad's 86th birtthday......

 



SATURDAY MORNING SUPER-HEROES - OF BATS AND ROBINS AND PARTRIDGES

HOLY DANCE-OFF!

Once again, the marvelous mash-up blog for comic book covers, "SUPER TEAM FAMILY: THE LOST ISSUES" has come up with a cover which could well have been a tie-in to a TV show that never was:

This entirely works as a TV show concept since both 'Batman' and 'The Partridge Family' were on the ABC schedule.  A true crossover was not possible - 'Batman' went off the air in 1968, and 'The Partridge Family' didn't debut until 1970.  But Batman (and the Boy Wonder) could have made a guest appearance in an episode of the musical sitcom if ABC still retained rights to the series. 

Seems like a fairly easy story to construct, despite the difference in the two shows.  The cover supplies the basics - the Partridge Family has to help Batman survive the bombs planted by the Joker by continuing to play.

But the details would fall into place as well.  Their paths probably crossed because the Partridge Family were scheduled to play a gig in Gotham City.  (I think a charity dance sponsored by the Wayne Foundation would be the way to go.)  Perhaps Laurie went out on a date with Bruce Wayne's ward Dick Grayson while they were there.  And maybe even Bruce Wayne had the chance to flirt with Shirley Partridge.  

For good measure, I think Danny might have fallen under the spell of the Joker who thought he found a kindred spirit whom he could mentor.  Only Danny would have been playing the Joker for a fool the whole time and would have turned the tables in the big fight scene.  And Keith might have toyed with the idea of becoming a costumed super-hero himself, only to be embarrassingly rescued by his youngest siblings, Tracy and Chris.

And I know I would have liked to have seen a sub-plot involving that pun of "Batman & Reuben" played out.  It would be a must!

Every day "Super Team Family: The Lost Issues" has a new cover.  For a one-man operation, his output is incredible!  Click on that link above and check it out.....

BCnU!

SPLAININ TO DO: THE FICTIONALS

'The Librarians' is a fun successor to such shows as 'Warehouse 13' and 'Torchwood' in general theme, and as could be expected for a show about magical items, it is full of whimsy.

There is a danger that one day they'll introduce something that is so... "Zonkish", that I can no longer advocate for its placement in Earth Prime-Time.  But so far, I can splain away any discrepancies that have popped up in the series.  Then again, with the second season premiere, 'The Librarians' have supplied a new facet to the Toobworld Dynamic which can splain away a plot situation that has always been around but which has become more prominent in the last few years - the problem of recastaways adapted from books.

PROFESSOR JAMES MORIARTY

Here's what we learned about the Fictionals:

Flynn Carsen: You're a Fictional!  You're a fictional character brought to life from this world, [holds up book] your world, to this world.

Jenkins: Fictionals.  They stay to themselves; pulled from books into a world they do not understand and they tend not to adjust well.

Jenkins: There are two types of Fictionals.  Someone summoned him from this book; they called him into this world.
Fynn: And the other kind?
Jenkins: Much older....  Much more powerful.  Iconic characters whose stories are so well-told, so famous, so well-written, that they emerge into this reality under their own power.  They walk among us!  Mostly hidden... not very many of those....

Jenkins:  Fictionals are bound, but also empowered, by their source.  You can trap them within the rules of their own tales, but they can be extremely powerful if their narrative matches the real world.

Flynn summed up Jenkins' more detailed information thusly: Fictional characters come to life out of special editions of books and are very powerful beings.

THE RESIDENTS OF STORYBROOKE, MAINE

This definitively puts 'The Librarians' into the "Essentials" category for the Toobworld Dynamic because it not only can splain away how it was possible for the characters in various books to escape their own world and come to Storybrooke, Maine, as seen in 'Once Upon A Time', but perhaps even be the "logic" behind Captain Justice and Gumshoe, the characters who crossed over from the comic book world in the 1980s series 'Once A Hero'.

GUMSHOE & CAPTAIN JUSTICE

It's not a recent occurrence, and we've only just seen proof of this in the last week or so with the latest Geico blipvert:

For alls I know, this could be the "true" Peter Pan for Toobworld - a quick glance through the IMDb list for the character doesn't seem to have any other real candidates popping up in TV series.  (As played by Mary Martin, Mia Farrow, and Allison Williams, Pan is traipsing about in variations of ToobStage.)

But let's say for the moment that this Peter Pan was a Fictional.  He must have been summoned to Earth Prime-Time back in 1961 and then spent four years in Toobworld attending that high school.  (The banner does mark the reunion to be for the class of 1965.)

ADDENDUM:
Here's another Blipvert of Fictionals in which Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson investigate a home's heating system in the early 1990s.  Holmes is probably one of those Elementals who was able to bring himself and Watson through the vortex into Earth Prime-Time - not through magic as many of the others did, like Prospero, but use of his highly honed intellect and logic.

TERRY/PROSPERO

Getting back to Peter Pan, he was one of the more powerful fictionals "whose stories are so well-told, so famous, so well-written, that they emerge into this reality under their own power."  But I can see him being summoned by someone like Aunt Clara back then; that addled old witch would not have been able to remember the counter-spell and so that's why Peter Pan was trapped for so long on the main Toobworld.  And while he was trapped, he decided to spend his time finally getting a high school education.  

('Bewitched' has been a great source of Fictionals summoned to Toobworld by witches and warlocks: Hansel & Gretel, Prince Charming, Sleeping Beauty, the Artful Dodger, and Jack of the Beanstalk.  (The Giant from that episode - and the Witch from "Hansel & Gretel In Samanthaland" - remained within their stories.)

TOP ROW: HANSEL & GRETEL, SLEEPING BEAUTY
BOTTOM ROW: JACK, PRINCE CHARMING, THE ARTFUL DODGER

I believe the Fictionals resemble the image to be found in the mind of the one who summoned them.  In the two part season opener for 'The Librarians', Professor James Moriarty looked nothing like the illustrations by Sidney Paget.  Prospero must have summoned him from an edition of Sherlock Holmes stories which didn't include those drawings.  And he certainly didn't look like the televersion of the Napoleon of Crime from the Jeremy Brett TV series either.  (Prospero may have met him since he told Flynn that he had been living on Toobworld for centuries.)  Perhaps Prospero had in mind some other Moriarty whom he once knew which influenced the template for his visage.

This will also serve as the splainin as to why so many of the storybook Storybrookers don't resemble the traditional look for their characters.  (I think whoever summoned them was influenced by Disney movies.)

GRAMPA SAM DRACULA, NEE SAM CARRARI

Not all characters adapted from books who interact with TV characters are Fictionals.  There could be other reasons for them being recastaways.  Take Dracula for example.  Buffy Summers fought the true Dracula, but he looked nothing like any of the other TV incarnations of the Vampire Lord, especially Sam Dracula AKA Grampa.  My splainin for all of those other Draculas (Draculae?) - any vampire sired by Dracul would then carry that surname as a mark of their "parentage".

FRANK & TED STEIN

Speaking of Dracula, let's turn our attention to the Frankenstein Monsters.  The only one who should be considered a Fictional would be the Creature who appeared in these episodes of 'The Librarians', and his appearance again was dictated by the mind of Prospero (as was also the case for the Queen of Hearts.  I think in that case, ol' Prospy was feeling a stirring in his loins.....)  But with all of the other Monsters, including Herman Munster and Frank from Maine, they were all created by the Dr. Frankenstein of Toobworld... or one of his relatives.

JULIUS CAESAR

(BUT COULD REALLY BE CALIGULA AS A FICTIONAL)

QUEEN VICTORIA

GEORGE WASHINGTON

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

Fictionals can also be based on real people summoned out of history books and the like.  Again we turn to 'Bewitched' for four good examples - George Washington, Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Queen Victoria.  Having them summoned out of books and looking as they were illustrated in those books removes any Zonks that might clash with other recastaways.  (The only exception would be Benjamin Franklin, who was actually transported out of Time.)

One final thought - Jenkins, the Caretaker of the Annex, is actually Sir Galahad from the legends of King Arthur and the Round Table.  And I should put the accent on legends - there is no proof that Galahad actually existed.  

JENKINS AKA SIR GALAHAD

So what if Jenkins/Galahad is actually a Fictional himself, pulled from a magical edition of "Le Morte D'Arthur" by Thomas Mallory?  It could be the reason why he knew so much about the Fictional race (although granted, Jenkins is a warehouse of information... information... information about almost every topic imaginable.)  

And if he was a Fictional, then it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that Lancelot du Lac and Morgan Le Fay escaped through the same portal from BookWorld many centuries ago.

Just sayin', is all........

TV SHOWS CITED:

• 'The Librarians'
• 'Bewitched'
• 'Peter Pan' (three productions)
• 'Sherlock Holmes'
• 'Once Upon A Time'
• 'Once A Hero'
• 'Voyagers!'
• 'Dracula'
• 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'
• 'The Munsters'
• 'Struck By Lightning'
• Geico

BCnU!

TVXOHOF HAT SQUAD - SENATOR FRED DALTON THOMPSON & D.A. ARTHUR BRANCH

We've lost another member of the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame with the passing of Fred Dalton Thompson, the former Senator from Tennessee.  He was 73 and the cause was lymphoma.

Thompson was one of those actors with whom I disagreed politically but I was able to separate the actor from the characters he played.  And his roster of roles in movies and TV shows were always good.  For me, it started with his role as Knox Pooley on 'Wiseguy', even though I had seen him in the movie "No Way Out".  I don't remember him in that, but Knox Pooley jumped off the screen for me.

It was his role as NYC District Attorney Arthur Branch In the 'Law & Order' franchise for which he has been immortalized in the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame.  Because of the death of Jerry Orbach in 2004, I dedicated the entire year of inductions into the TVXOHOF for 2006 to the 'Law & Order' series.  And as November is always dedicated to politics and newsmakers, D.A. Branch got the nod that month.

And it was well deserved!

• 'Law & Order' - 121 episodes
• 'Conviction' - Pilot episode
• 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' - 16 episodes
• 'Law & Order: Trial By Jury' - 18 episodes
• 'Law & Order :Criminal Intent' - 1 episode

I think it's only right that we should consider D.A. Branch as having passed away as well.  But we'll have to see if it comes up with any mention in 'Law & Order: SVU' later in the season to see how to play it officially.....

Earlier when I said that I first started taking notice of Thompson with his role in 'Wiseguy', I should have specified that it was as an actor.  Because he had a major role in my first true immersion into reality programming as the lead counsel for the Republican senators on the Watergate committee hearings.  (Of course I was looking more at the work done by the Democrats, but also Senators Lowell Weicker - from my home state - and Howard Baker, who was Thompson's mentor.

Here are two reports on Thompson's role in the hearings.......

Good night and may God bless, Senator Thompson.