WISH-CRAFT: AUTUMN TV
'Entourage' is winding down and you can feel it in the performances and the story-lines. Sometimes it's been almost painful to watch. (On the Toobworld front, however, it maintains a high level of "League Of Themselves" appearances that will serve well for future connections.)One bright spot in all of this has been the opportunity to ogle - er, watch - Autumn Reeser in the role of Lizzie Grant.
I've seen her in a few things before (but not 'The O.C.' - not my thang), and I was hoping her two guest appearances on 'Human Target' might lead to her joining the cast. Instead, I see she's joining the cast of 'No Ordinary Family' as the wife's co-worker. (Hopefully they'll expand on that, even if it means she's revealed to be one of the bad guys.)
But I came up with an idea for her to star in her own show, one which would build on the Past.'Banacek'
That's right - the 1972 rotating "Mystery Movie" starring George Peppard as Thomas Banacek, a freelance insurance investigator in Boston who solved impossible thefts for a very large fee.
I see Autumn Reeser as a third generation Banacek (Please, Lord - NOT a Thomasina!) who is following in her late grandfather's footsteps.
But she's not freelance as he was; she would work for a specific firm as she's still just starting out, as good as she is.
And here's the kicker - her boss at this company would be Carlie Kirkland, the character played by Christine Belford in the original series. Although this Banacek is sporting a great track record in with recovery results, Ms. Kirkland is still antagonistic towards her. That's because she can't help holding it against Ms. Banacek that her grandfather found love and started a family with somebody else, not her.
This wouldn't have to be a network show. As it would be set in Grandpa Banacek's old stomping grounds of Boston, I think an episode of 'Leverage' would serve up nicely for a backdoor pilot.
Why did I think of 'Banacek' as a vehicle for Autumn Reeser? I just like the way that she fills out a business suit. And Thomas Banacek was always a snazzy dresser.
Besides, I just want to hear more of those phony Polish proverbs.....
BCnU!
CARLOS THE JACKAL
My favorite character in the tele-play is the gentle holy man in the forests of San Lorenzo, Bokonon. A lot of this can be attributed to the fact that Kevin McCarthy played the role.
He was known for the following "Pappyisms":
"Enter Mark Twain" from 1959 in which Mark Twain was played by Howard Duff'
"The Emperor Norton" from 1966 with William Challee as the author and riverboat captain (and Sam Jaffe as Joshua Norton)
"The Twenty-Sixth Grave" from 1972 featuring Ken Howard as Samuel Clemens.
I think that first Samuel Clemens who showed up in Nevada circa 1859 had to be someone who needed to disguise who he really was; and he may have stolen Clemens' identity at some point while cruising along the Mississippi. It certainly wasn't a case of Famous Impostors Syndrome, because Clemens wouldn't become nationally known until about 1865. 
For some reason, this temporal interloper thought he should look the way Mark Twain would famously look later in his career. Not that it mattered, since he was inhabiting the aura of the original Clemens. That's what the Cartwrights and Emperor Norton would see. We in the Trueniverse would be the only ones who could see the difference.
The only way to make sense of it all is if there had been that giant reboot. And thanks to events in both 'Primeval' and 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy', the Earth was supplied with such a revision. In both shows, characters went back in Time and caused massive alterations to the pre-established timeline - events that once took place no longer happened. For the example I usually offer, Henry Talbot McNeil was no longer the President of the United States during the late 1960's to the early 1970's, as seen in 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'; as established in the real world, it was now a succession of Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford.
KEN HOWARD
KEVIN McCARTHY
JERRY HARDIN
JAMES GARNER
HAL HOLBROOK
