AS SEEN ON TV: TONY HAWK

Today is my nephew Neil's 22nd birthday, and to mark the occasion for the skateboardin' recent graduate of Keene University, here's the Tooniversion of skateboard champion Tony Hawk for the "As Seen On TV" showcase:

TONY HAWK

AS SEEN IN:
'The Simpsons'

AS PLAYED BY:
Himself
Happy birthday, Neil! And congrats on your graduation!

BODICE TWIPPING!

The one night I watched 'Jeopardy!' while on vacation, host Alex Trebek had this exchange with one of the contestants during the introductions:

Alex: Laura White is from Nebraska. Along with two of our producers on the program. It's always fun to dress up and go to special events. And you get to do that in a period gown that I want to hear about.

Laura: Yes. I'm a Jane Austen scholar so I go often to the Jane Austen Annual General Meeting. And we all dress up in low bodices and with our reticules and our--it's all very lovely.

Alex: And you have a regency gown that you wear?

Laura: I got it from [an] auction from the BBC production of "War and Peace".

Alex: Okay. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Laura: Mm-hmm.

Alex: All right.

I'll bet it's fun! Actually, posting that just gave me an excuse to share this picture from the BBC production of "War And Peace":
Homina thrice!

AS SEEN ON TV: SHAKESPEARE & BACON

Just a quickie today for the "As Seen On TV" gallery, 'Two for Tuesday' edition:

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE & FRANCIS BACON

AS SEEN IN:
'Doctor Who'

AS PLAYED BY:
William Shakespeare: Hugh Walters
Francis Bacon: Roger Hammond

AS SEEN IN:
'Mr. Peabody's Improbable Adventures'

AS VOICED BY:
Paul Frees as both men

BCnU!

MUNCHING LUTHER

While I was on vacation, MediumRob of "The Medium Is Not Enough" (link to the left, folks!) let me in on an email he got:

In the penultimate episode, there was a line which ties the show into Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order...

They said something like "Get New York on the phone. Ask for Detective Munch of the Special Victims Unit. Bizarre!

I checked it out on tv.com which had some more details:

Luther says to his young officer, "Contact Detective Munch in New York; he works in the Special Victims Unit." Detective John Munch is a character in the U.S crime drama.
So another show is added to Munch's extensive resume, probably insuring that he would never be overthrown as the Crossover King.

'Homicide: Life On The Street'

"Homicide: The Movie"

'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'

'Law & Order'

'Law & Order: Trial By Jury'

'The X-Files'
'The Wire'

'The Beat'

'Arrested Development'

And now he's mentioned on 'Luther'.

I'm surprised by the omission of 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' from this list. (Granted, I got this list from the IMDb - hardly the most reliable of sources - but I'm sure I would have heard about him being on the show.) We've lost the opportunity to see him interact with Detective Bobby Goren, but wouldn't it be neat to see him meet Zack Nichols?

Detective John Munch exists as a puppet, thanks to 'Sesame Street', but that's not a legitimate appearance. Puppets are spirit beings who inhabit shells to give them visible form and they adopt the persona of that shell. So this puppet was a Munch wannabe:
Munch can also be found in the sketch comedy TV dimension of Skitlandia. Back in October of 2009, Richard Belzer played the role for a quick bit on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live':

Now, Kimmel mentions the French version of 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' - "Paris enquêtes criminelles" - as being one of the shows in which Munch has appeared. And Belzer confirms it by telling the audience "It's all true." Yet I haven't found any mention yet that he ever appeared in any episode from that show's three seasons. And he lives part time in France, so it's not like it would have been a hassle to be him over there.

I'm also uncertain if Munch ever appeared in animated form on a show like 'The Simpsons' or 'Family Guy'.

But it's an impressive list so far, and he may yet have another show to add when 'Law & Order: Los Angeles' airs in the fall.

A quick note to CBS and ABC - you'd be helping yourself if you could get Detective Munch to appear on one of your shows. (CBS especially has the right showcase - 'CSI: NY'!) It's too late now, but he should have shown up in an episode of 'The Unusuals'.......

BCnU!

NUMBERS RUNNING

'Lost' may have ended, but "The Numbers" keep adding up......

Target gave us an appropriate price for computer keyboards in one of the blipverts which ran during the series finale:
In last Saturday's episode of 'Doctor Who' ("The Lodger"), most people may have picked up that the Eleventh Incarnation of the Doctor sported the number "11" on his jersey, but as can be seen in this picture, both teams also had a number "23". (The one from the opposing team is to the left.)
And finally, on the personal front, the Inner Toob blog got in on the action as well: BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JORAN VAN DER SLOOT

The story about Joran Van Der Sloot - who has been under suspicion for years in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway - and his murder of a young Peruvian woman broke just as I was going on vacation. But I stuck to my pre-arranged theme of Phil Hartman characters from 'Saturday Night Live'.

Now that I'm back, however, we can shine the spotlight on this scumbag......

JORAN VAN DER SLOOT

AS SEEN IN:
"Natalee Holloway"

AS PLAYED BY:
Jacques Strydom
blerg

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY FROM TOOBWORLD!

[Thanks to Mark Evanier....]

OBI ONE (AND TWO)

A Father's Day theory of Relateeveety......
Gabe Kelly was a black American soldier stationed in England after World War II ended. He fell in love with an English girl named Mandy Dean and she gave birth to Gabe's daughter. This resulted in her being shunned by her own family.

After Mandy was found murdered, Private Kelly was under suspicion for a short time as her killer, but it turned out to be another soldier who was responsible. Gabe was redeployed but planned to come back for his daughter once he was cashiered out of the armed forces.

His original plan with Mandy was for them to move to Harlem in New York City, but it's the belief of Toobworld Central that upon becoming a civilian, Gabe Kelly instead chose to relocate to England. That way, his daughter could grow up in the country where she at least had a possible chance to become acquainted with her grandparents. (That wasn't very likely based on what happened in the episode, however.)

Once she did grow up, Gabe and Mandy's daughter married and may have moved to the Norfolk town of Market Shipborough*. One of her children, most likely her youngest, was named Anthony. He grew up to join an elite horse guard in the British army. Unfortunately he lost part of his leg in Iraq, but with help from his lawyer Peter Kingdom, Tony was able to rebuild his life in Market Shipborough.

This theory of relateeveety connecting 'Foyle's War' to 'Kingdom' is speculation and not to be considered an official part of either TV series. Both characters were played by Obi Abili.

'Foyle's War' - "Killing Time"
'Kingdom' - [Series 3, Episode 1]

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Since my vacation is over and I'm back in my adopted city, who better to close out this two week tribute to the talented Phil Hartman?

FRANK SINATRA

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Phil Hartman
BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: PHIL DONAHUE

PHIL DONAHUE

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Phil Hartman BCnU!