SATURDAY MORNING SUPER VILLAINS - THE ARCHER'S GRANDPA

'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'
"Safety For The Witness"
 

In 1927, Cyril T. Jones was a custom gunsmith who owned and operated a shop in a big city.  (That's according to an on-screen graphic, but we all know it was New York.)  Aong his clients were some of the country's worst mobsters.  Two of those hoods, Big Dan Foley and Joe Felix, gunned him down after he stumbled upon them killing a witness to one of their earlier crimes.  Just before they shot him they apologized since they enjoyed giving them their business, always interested in buying new merchandise from him.
 
But Mr. Jones survived the attack and decided to exact his own revenge rather than risk being killed like that other witness.
 

Although it didn't come up in the course of the show, Jones was born in 1887 and was 40 at the time of his shooting.  (This is based on how old Art Carney was when he played the role.)
 
I have no proof for this, but here is my conjecture for a theory of relateeveety which will connect this episode of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' to the TV series 'The Honeymooners' and 'Batman'.
 
Cyril T. Jones' wife had died by the time of the episode and his children were already grown, Cyril having married young.  He had a daughter who married a man named Norton and they had twin sons, Edward Lillywhite and Edmund Archeron Norton.  Ed married Trixie (last name unknown, but her first name was Thelma) and he went to work in the New York City Bureau of Water And Sewage Operations.  Meanwhile, his brother Edmund turned to the dark side, eventually becoming the arch-villain known in Gotham City as "The Archer".
 

(I've written about the Brothers Norton in the past.)
 
Cyril T. Jones probably lived long enough to have seen these events, being 80 by the time 1967 rolled around......
 

BCnU!
 

LITTLE BIG SCREEN - "BULLITT"

No matter what TV dimension, "Bullitt" is a 1968 movie starring Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bissett.  It's probably best known for the high speed car chase through the streets of San Francisco.

In "The Bullitt Mustang", the latest episode of 'Blue Bloods', that iconic car belonged to Owen Cairo and was stolen.  'Blue Bloods' takes place in an alternate TV dimension which has a different NYC mayor than in the main Toobworld, where Bill Di Blasio holds that office (as mentioned in 'The Mindy Project', 'The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt', 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' and in 'Constantine' which takes place in Comic Book Toobworld (as well as in Earth Prime-Time... I think.)

I'm kind of surprised that "Bullitt" was never made into at least a TV pilot by 1970.  But there's no mention of it in Lee Golberg's incredible research book "Unsold Television Pilots (1955 through 1989)".  However, at least that keeps it easy to deal with any mentions of the movie, unlike such other films as the franchises for "Back To The Future" and "The Terminator" which were given Toobworld treatments.

Among the TV shows in the main Toobworld which made reference to "Bullitt" are:

• 'The Flash' (1991)
• 'Full House'
• 'Rederlet'
• 'Hetty Wainthrop Investigates'
• 'UC: Undercover'
• 'Entourage'
• 'Arrested Development'
• 'NCIS'
• 'Gilmore Girls'
• 'Trauma'
• 'General Hospital'
• 'The Mentalist'
• 'Warehouse 13'
• 'Lost'
• "The Man From UNCLE: The Fifteen Years Later Affair"
• The first "Charlie's Angels" movie

BCnU!

FANFICCER'S FRIEND - SIPOWICZ!

A few years back, I ran a monthly feature here in the Inner Toob blog called "Fanficcer's Friend".  I would find pictures from outside the realm of Toobworld - newspaper photos, screencaps from movies, etc., anything EXCEPT from other TV shows - which could be used to illustrate fanfic about the TV characters played by the actors seen in those pictures, even if the pictures weren't of their characters.  Some examples - a publicity picture of Leonard Nimoy as he signed his first studio contract (Paris from the IMF?) and DeForest Kelley in Westerns (Bones back in Time?).

So here's another:

My friend and brother Iddiot Jim Peyton posted this picture in Facebook with the caption:

St. Marks Place, 1978. Legendary clothing boutique Trash & Vaudeville, who outfitted stars like Debbie Harry and The Ramones, announced recently that it will be vacating the St. Marks location that it has inhabited since 1975. Photo by Leonard Freed.

Now, doesn't that cop look like NYPD detective Andy Sipowicz in his younger days as a patrolman?

Toobworld Central accepts recasting when it comes to the aging process, so no matter who this real-life police officer is/was, we have no trouble in claiming that in Toobworld he was Sipowicz.

Eventually Andy Sipowicz will be inducted into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, probably as part of the Birthday Honors List, since we made valid (at least I think so!) arguments in the blog that he knew Henry and Shawn Spencer of 'Psych' and that one of his ex-wives had an affair with 'NCIS' agent Tony DiNozzo.

Thanks for finding that picture, Jimbo!

BCnU!

MAYBERRY MARRIAGE MEME

This meme is a fail, of course.  Emmett Clarke, who ran the fix-it shop, was married to Martha.

Not that it was a happy marriage all the time.....

BCnU!

Thanks to my cousin Coco for bringing this to my attention......

TUESDAY NEWS DAY - MORE "PORRIDGE"?

BBC1 may be bringing 'Porridge', one of Ronnie Barker's best TV shows*, back to Toobworld in order to celebrate 60 years of comedy on the Beeb.  (They're marking 'Hancock's Half Hour' as the beginning for the genre.)

Back in September the BBC announced: "BBC1 will mark our enduring affection for all the great comedy characters we have met over the 60 years by enlisting the biggest names in British comedy writing and performing to revisit loved classics alongside launching new shows in a landmark comedy season."

A major sticking point for a 'Porridge' revival is that Ronnie Barker passed away in 2006, so there's no hope in bringing back Norman Fletcher for another stretch.  Richard "Godber" Beckinsale, Fulton "Mr. Mackay" Mackay, Brian "Barraclough" Wilde, Sam "Bunny" Kelly, and Michael Barrington, who played Governor Venables have all passed away as well.  But Christopher Biggins AKA Lukewarm is still with us, as are David Jason, Barker's co-star in 'Open All Hours' and Peter Vaughn, most recently seen in 'Game Of Thrones' as Maester Aemon.  They played Blanco and Harry Grout, respectively.

Luckily, they're not even thinking in terms of a remake with all new actors playing the roles of Fletch, Lennie Godber, Mr. Mackay, Mr. Barraclough, Bunny, and Lukewarm.  Instead, they're tackling a continuation in which a new actor will be playing Fletch's grandson (also called "Fletch" - hey, it's a great nickname!) who is locked up for computer hacking.  I'm okay with that.

Nothing is official yet; the BBC won't confirm what classic Britcoms are under consideration for new productions to be included in their Landmark Sitcom Season.  Hopefully all of the other candidates will be given this same continuation treatment rather than subjecting the loyal fans to remakes.  Nobody needed a new Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin this past year.  But I'm sure they would have welcomed new agents working for UNCLE in the 21st Century.

Hey, it worked for Jean-Luc Picard.....

BCnU!

* I think 'Open All Hours' would be the top pick for many Barker fans.......

MINUTIAE MONDAY - "MIDSOMER MURDERS"

Everybody always talks about the high murder rate in Cabot Cove, Maine, but Midsomer county in England might top their record.  Of course, that's looking at Midsomer county as a whole - if you just went by individual villages in the county, the spread thins out.  

And there are quite a number of villages in Midsomer!  I don't know if I'll ever see all of the episodes of 'Midsomer Murders', and I haven't been keeping track of those that I have seen, but it seems that several of these villages had to be used over again in other storylines.  (They certainly have had more than their fair share of murders in just the separate investigations!)

List of villages in Midsomer

• Aspern Tallow
• Badger's Drift
• Binwell
• Bishopwood
• Bow Clayton
• Broughton
• Burwood Mantle
• Calham Cross
• Causton
• Devington
• Dunstan
• Elverton-cum-Latterley
• Ferne Basset
• Finchmere
• Fletcher's Cross
• Ford Florey
• Goodman's Land
• Great Pelfe
• Great Worthy
• Haddington
• Little Crosby
• Little Upton
• Little Worthy
• Lower Warden
• Luxton Deeping
• Malham Bridge
• Malham Cross
• March Magna
• Marsh Wood
• Martyr Warren
• Midsomer Abbas
• Midsomer Barrow
• Midsomer Barton
• Midsomer Chettham
• Midsomer Deverell
• Midsomer Florey
• Midsomer Herne
• Midsomer Holm
• Midsomer Langley
• Midsomer Magna
• Midsomer Malham
• Midsomer Mallow
• Midsomer Market
• Midsomer-in-the-Marsh
• Midsomer Mere
• Midsomer Morchard
• Midsomer Morton
• Midsomer Mow
• Midsomer Newton
• Midsomer Oaks
• Midsomer Parva
• Midsomer Pastures
• Midsomer Priors
• Midsomer Sonning
• Midsomer St. Claire
• Midsomer St. Michael
• Midsomer Stanton
• Midsomer Vertue
• Midsomer Vinae
• Midsomer Wellow
• Midsomer Worthy
• Midsomer Wyvern
• Milton's Cross
• Monks Barton
• Morton Fendle
• Morton Shallows
• Newton Magna
• Pandlefoot Bailey
• Upper Warden

If any other location could give either Midsomer or Cabot Cove a run for their money in the murder game, it would have to be Oxford University......

For those of you unfortunate enough to be stuck in the real world and unable to visit the "real" Midsomer, you can take the various trail tours in the Wallingford area.

BCnU!

VIDEO SUNDAY - ECCE PROMO!

'Elementary' takes place in the TV dimension in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories back in the Victorian Age.  (It's also the same dimension in which Washington Irving never wrote "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow".)  'Person Of Interest' takes place in the world of Earth Prime-Time.  Now, it could be that the characters from each show do have dopplegangers in the other's TV dimension, but I think the easiest splainin for this confrontation is that it takes place in the Promoverse.

USA Network used to be a master at making these promotional commercials for their shows.  The characters from 'Burn Notice', Psych', 'Royal Pains', 'Monk', 'The Dead Zone', etc, have all interacted with each other in these promos.  Many of them could have been pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, in Earth Prime-Time, but some just have to be considered only to be found in the Promoverse.  For instance: the interaction between 'Monk' and 'The 4400', and 'Psych' with 'Defiance'.

All of the entries for the Promoverse may just be small offerings, but they promise a whole world behind them.....

BCnU!

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!