OOH, LA LAW

ROSE:

"Every Sunday I watch 'la Law'."

DOROTHY:
"That's 'L.A. Law'!"
(Later)
SOPHIA:

"Very nice 'counselor'!

Just exactly how close are you to the TV when you're watching 'la Law'?"

'The Golden Girls'

With this example of a Zonk, there's no mention of the MacKenzie-Brackman law firm. So it could be that 'L.A. Law' in Toobworld was the generic title for a reality show, along the same lines as 'L.A. Ink'... only about lawyers.

That reality show could still have been about MacKenzie-Brackman, especially since some of the kids left their zip code comfort zone of 'Beverly Hills 90210' and drove by the office building where the law firm was located - and one of them mentioned that he didn't watch the show.

Three of the actors who starred in 'L.A. Law' in the Trueniverse were mentioned in connection to the show - Harry Hamlin (on 'Six Feet Under'), Jimmy Smits (on 'Married... With Children'), and Corbin Bernsen (in episodes of 'Just Shoot Me', 'Seinfeld', and 'Matlock'). But here's a possible splainin: they all appeared as themselves on the reality show called 'L.A. Law', with the law firm handling cases for them.

Another mention of interest - in 'Psych', Henry Spenser was a likely candidate to be the identical cousin of Arnold Becker. And back in 1989, Henry thought the show would be a passing fad (despite the involvement of his cousin.) With all of these mentions - even into the new millennium! -  if it is a reality show in Toobworld, it proved to have legs.

Finally, Alan Rachins appeared in an episode of 'Eli Stone' in which he was credited as a "Familiar Lawyer". Longtime visitors to Toobworld know that I don't put much stock in credits, but I think it would be safe to assume that he was actually Douglas Brackman.

But here's the thing - representing Eli at his disbarment hearing, this "familiar lawyer" was working for a law firm called McKinley-Breckman, not MacKenzie-Brackman.

It's a bit intricate, and built on sand, but here's how it might work.....

'L.A. Law' went off the air in 1994, but its last appearance in Toobworld was in 2002 with the reunion TV movie. So in that six year span, until Rachins showed up in that 'Eli Stone' episode, anything could have happened to Douglas Brackman.

It could be that he finally committed an act of sexual deviance so heinous that the partners of the firm had no choice but to convene and drum him out of the firm with a vote. Desperate to still trade on the firm's name to build up business for himself, Douglas could have incorporated himself as a law firm with fictional partners named McKinley and Breckman. (We've seen that happen before in Toobworld - 'Eisenhower & Lutz'.)

Douglas may have wanted to make the potential client think he was still affiliated with McKenzie-Brackman, hoping they weren't too familiar with the original firm's name. Eli Stone would have known the difference, but it wouldn't have mattered. He wanted the best lawyer for the situation, and probably no one knew the intricacies of office politics in a law firm better than Douglas Brackman.

Anyhoo, it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble.....

BCnU!

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AS SEEN ON TV: PAUL McCARTNEY

On this date in 1942, Paul McCartney was born.....

PAUL McCARTNEY

AS SEEN IN:
"Two Of Us"

AS PLAYED BY:
Aidan Quinn

 

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles (1960–1970) and Wings (1971–1981), McCartney is the most commercially successful songwriter in the history of popular music, according to Guinness World Records.

McCartney gained worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles, alongside John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. McCartney and Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and wrote some of the most popular songs in the history of rock music. After leaving The Beatles, McCartney launched a successful solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman, and singer-songwriter Denny Laine. McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles in the UK.

In a 1980 interview, Lennon said that the last time he had seen McCartney was when they had watched the episode of 'Saturday Night Live' (May 1976) in which Lorne Michaels had made his $3,000 cash offer to get Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr to reunite on the show. McCartney and Lennon had seriously considered going to the studio, but were too tired. This event was fictionalised in the 2000 television film "Two of Us".

His last telephone call to Lennon, which was just before Lennon and Ono released Double Fantasy, was friendly. During the call, Lennon said (laughing) to McCartney, "This housewife wants a career!" which referred to Lennon's househusband years, while looking after Sean Lennon. In 1984, McCartney said this about the phone call: "Yes. That is a nice thing, a consoling factor for me, because I do feel it was sad that we never actually sat down and straightened our differences out. But fortunately for me, the last phone conversation I ever had with him was really great, and we didn't have any kind of blow-up." Linda McCartney, speaking in the same 1984 interview stated: "I know that Paul was desperate to write with John again. And I know John was desperate to write. Desperate. People thought, well, he's taking care of Sean, he's a househusband and all that, but he wasn't happy. He couldn't write and it drove him crazy. And Paul could have helped him... easily."

But more importantly about this date, it's the birthday of my friend Mark Thompson!

BCnU!

From Wikipedia:

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"GOODNIGHT BURBANK"

My tele-bloggin' buddy Joe Bua (of "I Am A TV Junkie" fame - you'll find the link to the left, blokes!) clued me in to this new online sitcom called 'Goodnight Burbank'.

It's not really for me, although it's mostly because I just don't do longform online TV very well. My attention begins to wander and there's so many tangents I want to explore in the Internet.

And I'm puzzled as to why Dominic Monaghan is slumming in this. As a favor to a friend, perhaps?

But I did like this episode because it offered up a leading contender for a 2011 Toobits Award with the presence of John Barrowman as himself.....

BCnU!

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AROUND "CAPE" ZONKS

In "Paradigms Of Human Memory", 'Community' took a few jabs at one of the biggest losers on their parent network, and I don't mean "The Biggest Loser". I'm talking about the super-hero series 'The Cape'.

From Wikipedia:
'The Cape' is an American superhero drama series. It premiered on NBC during the 2010–2011 television season as a mid-season replacement beginning with a 2-hour pilot episode on Sunday, January 9, 2011 at 9 PM Eastern and Pacific Time, with follow-up episodes continuing on Monday evenings in the 9 PM time slot beginning on January 17. NBC subsequently cut the total number of episodes to be aired from 13 to 10 as a result of low ratings. On March 2, 2011, NBC announced that the series finale would only be aired on the network's web site.

I had the two-hour pilot for 'The Cape' in my DVR queue, but I kept putting off actually watching it until it was too late - the DVR died. (Some claim I worked it to death, but I think this time, it was suicide....)

So everything I had saved on there was lost. But I'm told by reliable sources (Hi, Rob!) that the pilot was okay, but that the series quickly went downhill with the second episode.

Nevertheless, even without having seen any of it, I feel confident that 'The Cape' can remain in the main Toobworld. A few attempts to Zonk it by the student body of Greendale Community College isn't going to prevent that.

What helps the case is that 'The Cape' is such a generic title that even if we were to adhere to it being in the superhero genre, it still doesn't mean it had to be about the exact same guy whom we - well, some of you - were watching on the TV show in the real world.

And the Toobworld version of 'The Cape' still doesn't have to be about a superhero at all, if all we have to go by are the references in the 'Community' episode. Abed was running around the cafeteria in a cape, but it wasn't like he was doing super-heroic things. It looked more like his version of 'The Cape' was about some caped clod who caused problems because he liked to wear a cape that always got in his way. (In the example shown, the cape ended up knocking Jeff's food tray to the floor.)

Here are the Zonks about 'The Cape' offered up during the episode:

Jeff yelled after the fleeing Abed - "It won't last three weeks!" Ever the optimist, Abed shouted back - "Six years and a movie!"

Britta barged in on Abed and Troy just as they were about to watch the premiere of 'The Cape' and switched the TV over to the news reports coming out of Tunisia. (And if the premiere of the Toobworld version was the same as in the Trueniverse, the bitch just picked a random night to pull this stunt - the revolt didn't actually happen for another five days.)

In a more conciliatory mood, Jeff allowed that maybe 'The Cape' would find new life on cable.

As you can see, none of those are specific enough to actually be Zonks against the real TV series.

My work here is done. Up, up, and away!

BCnU!

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AS SEEN ON TV: THE LOUD FAMILY

THE LOUD FAMILY

AS SEEN IN:
"Cinema Verite"

AS PLAYED BY:
William Carberry (Bill) Loud (born January 22, 1921)
Played by Tim Robbins

Patricia (Pat) Loud (born October 4, 1926)
Played by Diane Lane

Lance Loud (June 26, 1951 – December 22, 2001)
Played by Thomas Dekker

Kevin Robert Loud (born January 28, 1953)
Played by Johnny Simmons

Grant Loud (born May 5, 1954)
Played by Nick Eversman

Delilah Ann Loud (born October 15, 1955)
Played by Caitlin Custer

Michele Loud (born October 15, 1957)
Played by Kaitlyn Dever

From Wikipedia:
'An American Family' is an American television documentary filmed in 1971 and first aired in the United States on PBS in early 1973. The show was 12 episodes long, edited down from about 300 hours of footage, and chronicled the experiences of a nuclear family, the Louds of Santa Barbara, California, during a period of time when parents Bill and Pat Loud separated and Pat filed for divorce.

In 2002, 'An American Family' was listed at #32 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time list. It is one of the earliest examples of the reality television genre, which became very popular in the 2000s.

In 1983, HBO broadcast "An American Family Revisited: The Louds 10 Years Later".

In 2003, PBS broadcast the show "Lance Loud!: A Death in an American Family", shot in 2001, visiting the family again at the invitation of Lance before his death. The same family members participated in the documentary, with the exception of Grant. Lance was 50 years old, had gone through 20 years of addiction to crystal meth, and was HIV positive. He died of liver failure caused by a hepatitis C and HIV co-infection that year. The show was billed by PBS as the final episode of 'An American Family'.

From the press release:
“An American Family” was a total departure from the television shows of the time when it aired in 1973, and brought public scrutiny to a family unprepared for the consequences. CINEMA VERITE shows how the Louds were thrust into the spotlight as parents Pat (Diane Lane) and Bill (Tim Robbins) struggled with their marriage while raising their children. In particular, Pat was criticized for asking for a divorce and for her support of her openly gay son Lance (Thomas Dekker) at a time when homosexuality was rarely represented on television.

CINEMA VERITE tells the behind-the-scenes story of the groundbreaking 12-hour PBS documentary series "An American Family," which chronicled the lives of the Louds in the early 1970s and catapulted the Santa Barbara family to notoriety while creating a new genre: the reality TV series. Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Diane Lane, Oscar and Golden Globe winner Tim Robbins and Golden Globe and Emmy winner James Gandolfini star in the HBO Films presentation. CINEMA VERITE debuts SATURDAY, APRIL 23 (9:00-10:45 p.m. ET/PT) only on HBO.
 
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AS SEEN ON TV: BILL LOUD

BILL LOUD

AS SEEN IN:
"Cinema Verite"

AS PLAYED BY:
Tim Robbins

From People Magazine
(February 28, 1977)
Bill and Pat Loud and their five children gave TV viewers an intimate, sometimes embarrassing glimpse into their lives in a 12-installment NET documentary on the American family in 1972. In one episode Pat ticked off Bill's shortcomings on camera and announced she wanted him to move out. The Louds, who lived in Santa Barbara, Calif., got a divorce in 1972.

Bill, a manufacturer of mining machinery parts, has remained in Santa Barbara. "I'm still doing the same thing I was doing when the series took place except living in the same home," he says. The $120,000 residence went to Pat in the divorce settlement and, after being rented for three years, was recently sold. Bill and Carol and her two tiny Shihtzu dogs have settled into a small townhouse in the Montecito area.

Bill does not believe the TV exposure that made him and his family instant celebrities had an adverse effect on his life. "It was an enriching experience, and it's fun to be recognized in the supermarkets," says Bill.

CINEMA VERITE tells the behind-the-scenes story of the groundbreaking 12-hour PBS documentary series "An American Family," which chronicled the lives of the Louds in the early 1970s and catapulted the Santa Barbara family to notoriety while creating a new genre: the reality TV series. Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Diane Lane, Oscar and Golden Globe winner Tim Robbins and Golden Globe and Emmy winner James Gandolfini star in the HBO Films presentation. CINEMA VERITE debuts SATURDAY, APRIL 23 (9:00-10:45 p.m. ET/PT) only on HBO.

BCnU!

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AS SEEN ON TV: LANCE LOUD

LANCE LOUD

AS SEEN IN:
"Cinema Verite"

AS PLAYED BY:
Thomas Dekkar

From Wikipedia:
Alanson Russell "Lance" Loud (June 26, 1951 – December 22, 2001) was an American magazine columnist and new wave rock-n-roll performer. Loud is best known for his 1973 appearance in 'An American Family', a pioneer reality television series which featured his coming out, which led to his status as an icon in the gay community.

Loud's fame came with 'An American Family', a documentary of his family's life, which was broadcast in the U.S. on PBS in 1973, drawing 10 million viewers and causing considerable controversy. The show was based in Santa Barbara, California. He moved to New York City, driven by his obsession with the Velvet Underground and everything related to Warhol. He became a regular at Max's Kansas City and attended Charles Ludlam productions at La Mama, with luminaries such as Jackie Curtis (who later became a close Loud family friend) and Holly Woodlawn. Shortly after the series ended, Lance appeared on 'The Dick Cavett Show', performing with a working version of what would later become Mumps (which at that point included Delilah Michelle and Kevin in the line-up), under the name "Loud". He stated at the time that he thought the filmmakers had intentionally edited the series to make him seem obnoxious and grating.

Loud became a gay icon by having his homosexuality revealed to a national audience in the documentary series, although he never explicitly came out on the series. His sexual orientation became a thing of national controversy and media scrutiny after several appearances on 'Dick Cavett' and other talk shows. But the overwhelmingly positive and grateful feedback of thousands of gay men led Lance to embrace this role with passion and his usual flamboyant, often self-deprecating wit.

From the press release:

CINEMA VERITE tells the behind-the-scenes story of the groundbreaking 12-hour PBS documentary series "An American Family," which chronicled the lives of the Louds in the early 1970s and catapulted the Santa Barbara family to notoriety while creating a new genre: the reality TV series. Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Diane Lane, Oscar and Golden Globe winner Tim Robbins and Golden Globe and Emmy winner James Gandolfini star in the HBO Films presentation. CINEMA VERITE debuts SATURDAY, APRIL 23 (9:00-10:45 p.m. ET/PT) only on HBO.

BCnU!

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"AMC" & "OLTL": THEIR TELEVERSIONS

Even though they were all supposed to share the same TV dimension, many TV shows would reference either 'One Life To Live' or 'All My Children', the two ABC soap operas which will be going off the air - as announced at the end of last week.

So Toobworld Central had to accept that TV shows were made about the lives of these "real" people in the towns of Llanview and Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, with actors who bore remarkable resemblances to them.

The IMDb had two such Zonks listed for 'One Life To Live':

'Friends'
"The One with Joey's Award" (#7.18)" (2001)
- The show is mentioned at the Soapie Awards.

'Castle'
"Nanny McDead" (#1.2)" (2009)
- Castle says his first novel was inspired by the daytime soap.

I think mostly because of the influence from Susan Lucci's portrayal of Erica Kane, there were a lot more references to 'All My Children':

'Mystery Science Theater 3000'
1]  "Master Ninja II (#4.24)" (1992)
- Servo: "I'm missing 'All My Children.'"
2]  "Alien from L.A. (#6.16)" (1993)
- Mike: "Guys, it's Ted from 'All My Children'!"
3]  "Angels' Revenge (#7.22)" (1995)
- Crow: "They can get 'All My Children'."
4]  "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie" (1996)
- Crow: "Quiet everyone, 'All My Children' is on."

Sometimes it was just mentioned by name:

'Seinfeld' - "The Stand-In"
'The Nanny' - "A Fine Friendship" & "Once a Secretary, Always a Secretary"
'Mad About You' - "Just My Dog"
(Jamie also mentions Susan Lucci.)
"Ugly Betty' - "Petra-Gate"
(Henry says that he used to watch 'All My Children' with his mom.)

There was no getting around that 'All My Children' was a TV show in Toobworld as well, not when there were references made to its actual production:

'Friends'
1]  "The One Where Eddie Won't Go"
- Gunther says he is a former soap-opera actor: "I used to be Bryce on ll My Children'.
2]  "The One with the Race Car Bed"
- Joey mentions he has an audition for a part in this show.
3]  "The One with Joey's Award"
- The show is mentioned at the Soapie Awards.

'Just Shoot Me!'
"Hostess to Murder"
- Larry mentions that the script for the murder party is written by some of the writers for this show.

'Twice in a Lifetime'
"Healing Touch"
- Two nurses discuss Susan Lucci not winning an Emmy.

'The Knights of Prosperity'
"Operation: Oswald Montecristo"
- Rockefeller mentions Mark Consuelos's character Mateo from 'All My Children'.

And because of Victoria Chase's background as an actress on soap operas, and especially because she had a long-running feud with Susan Lucci (that "conniving little teacup poodle"), 'All My Children' ended up playing an important role in 'Hot In Cleveland':

1]  "Pilot"
- Elka mentions she likes the show with Susan Lucci
2]  "Sisterhood of the Travelling SPANX"
- Melanie Moretti gets offered a role on this show
3]  "I Love Lucci: Part One"
- Victoria appears on a version of this show
4]  "I Love Lucci: Part Two"
- Victoria and Susan film a scene together on the set of this show

We got to see scenes from the televersion of the soap opera in the 'Desperate Housewives' episode "Not While I'm Around" (a clip of Jeff Martin kissing Erica Kane from 'All My Children' was shown on the television during a scene at the prison) and in the 'Modern Family' episode "Chirp".

And it turns out that an entire episode of 'All My Children' as seen in the Trueniverse was really the broadcast of the show from Toobworld, thanks to the participation of Victoria Chase.

Even in the Tooniverse, 'All My Children' had a presence as a soap opera:

'King of the Hill'
"Hanky Panky: Part 1"
- The show is mentioned by name.

I would not be surprised if other TV shows continue to mention at least 'All My Children' long after it's off the air in the Trueniverse. You KNOW that Victoria Chase will be gloating over Lucci's loss of a job!

Finally, 'All My Children' contributed to the expansion of Toobworld with two other soap operas. First there was 'Loving' in 1983 and then 'The City' picked up where 'Loving' ended in 1995 and ran for another two years.

BCnU!

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COLUMBO: THE SHOW-MAN

TV SHOWS IN WHICH COLUMBO COULD BE CONSIDERED A REAL PERSON

'Big Wolf On Campus'

'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'

'Entourage'

'The Office' (UK)

'Blue Murder'

'Brothers & Sisters'

TV SHOWS IN WHICH "COLUMBO" WAS A TV SHOW

'Mystery Science Theater 3000'

'Saxondale'

'Are You Being Served?'

'NCIS'

TV SHOWS THAT COULD GO EITHER WAY RE: COLUMBO

'Life On Mars' (UK)

'Sanford & Son'

'Peep Show'

'Monk'

BCnU!

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MURDER BY THE BOOK: "COLUMBO" & "THE MENTALIST"

This post deals with the most recent episode of 'The Mentalist' ("Every Rose Has Its Thorn") and by necessity I'll have to discuss the solution to the murder. If you have it stored on your DVR for later viewing, you'd be well off to take a hike to some other blog for the time being.

But first, let's talk about Lt. 'Columbo'. And by the way, I'll be giving away quite a few solutions to the murders on that series; if you haven't seen this classic already, there's no hope for you......

The rumpled detective gets mentioned a lot in other shows, usually as a pop culture reference nickname for another character. ("Nice going, Columbo!" - that sort of thing.) Most of these are evenly divided between treating Columbo as a real person and as a TV show.

For instance, while working under an assumed name at a car wash, Adrian Monk solved a crime; the local paper dubbed 'Monk as "The Car Wash Columbo".

No matter where they live in Toobworld, by now everybody should have heard of the LAPD detective.

How could they not? The Lieutenant must have received a lot of publicity after solving murders committed by such famous people as a symphony conductor, a wunderkind film director, the host for a cooking show and the host for a reality crime program, a nationally syndicated radio talk show host, the star of a TV detective series, a couple of fading queens of the silver screen, a world chess champion, and a senatorial candidate (who may have actually won the election just as he was being arrested.) Columbo was involved in at least three international incidents - at the Surian consulate in Los Angeles, across the border in Mexico, and one homicide investigation in London that may brought even more notice since it involved two luminaries of the British theatre.

All of which would have thrust Lt. Columbo into the spotlight, first as part of the news cycle and then into the TV show which apparently was made about him and which also starred the actor Peter Falk.

Perhaps his exploits as a homicide detective would have interested a book publisher (except for Riley Greenleaf, of course!) It's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that since the Lieutenant must surely have retired since we saw him last on the small screen, that his story has been published as a biography going into great detail about his most prominent cases. (And I think Martin Ross would agree with me that "Just One More Thing" would be a good title for this book!)

If so, I think Erica Flynn, who operated a very profitable match-making service with her husband, not only read such a book, but also used it as a "Blueprint For Murder" (Tee to the Hee!) in the slaying of her husband in that aforementioned episode of 'The Mentalist'.

(Sure, she could also have picked up the idea from the TV show that apparently was made in Toobworld about 'Columbo' - mentioned in such shows as 'NCIS', 'Sanford & Son' and 'Are You Being Served?' But I prefer the literary route.....)

She would have found her inspiration in the chapter about Dr. Bart Kepple. (Perhaps that chapter title might be the same as the TV series episode - "Double Exposure".) Kepple made motivational films, often using subliminal cuts, and sometimes he resorted to blackmailing his clients. When one of those clients balked and threatened to ruin him, Kepple murdered him. (And also murdered a poor schlub of a film projectionist who had figured it out and threatened to blackmail him.)

But Kepple made it look like he was onstage narrating the latest film when the client got shot. If she had read about this case, Erica Flynn may have adapted this idea for her own purposes: While a match-making client thought that Erica was in the engineer's sound booth asking her questions for a profile video, it was actually Erica's besotted assistant in the booth, using a recorder with her pre-taped questions. Meanwhile, Erica went to the marina and gunned down her husband.

She would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids - er, if it wasn't for 'The Mentalist', Patrick Jane. The CBI consultant knew just from watching the cool, self-satisfied way in which Erica applied her lipstick, after being questioned by CBI agent Kimball Cho, that she was guilty of killing her husband. But despite his track record in solving cases by how he could "read" the guilty parties, that was never going to be allowed in court as evidence against her. Jane was going to need proof.

Now, the thing about this alleged book about Lt. Columbo is that Erica Flynn wouldn't be the only person to have read it. And an investigator like Columbo would probably be of interest to someone like Patrick Jane, because of the way the Lieutenant could "read" his suspects and then play them, string them along until he nailed them for the murder.

Now, sometimes, Columbo had to wait until the evidence led him to his prime suspect. (Two of the best examples of this would be the murder investigations cod-named "Identity Crisis" and "Mind Over Mayhem".) But there were times when it could only be chalked up to an intuitive sense of reading a person that allowed Columbo to zero in on somebody right away without worrying about evidence. (It's the only way to excuse sloppy script-writing for an episode like "Murder With Too Many Notes".)

So a detective like that would be of interest to Jane and he might have read this biography of Columbo at some point off-screen, away from our prying eyes - either up in the loft or right there on the couch in the office.

So if this book about Columbo existed, and if Patrick Jane read it, he may have remembered that "Double Exposure" case from which Erica Flynn cribbed the method of murder. And having done so, it may have put him in mind to remember some of the ways Columbo had to resort to tricking his suspects into either confessing to the crime, or in some way proving their own guilt.

Among those ways - threatening to arrest the child of the killer ("Mind Over Mayhem", "An Old-Fashioned Murder"), goading them into showing off ("The Bye-Bye Sky-High IQ Murder Case" - one of the worst 'Columbo' episode titles ever!), goading them into revealing details only the killer would know or be responsible for ("Suitable For Framing", "A Deadly State Of Mind"), goading them into trying to kill him ("Murder Under Glass", "How To Dial A Murder"), and making the killer think he had found an important clue ("Short Fuse", "Double Exposure", "Requiem For A Falling Star", "Negative Reaction", "Death Lends A Hand", "Any Old Port In The Storm").

But it looks like Patrick Jane found his inspiration in what may have been the first case Columbo ever solved once he became a lieutenant - what came to be known as "Prescription: Murder".

(This case may have been fictionalized by the mystery writing team of Ken Franklin and Jim Ferris for their "Mrs. Melville" series of novels. As such, this could be the book in which Patrick Jane found his inspiration. Ironically, Columbo would come to have an even more personal connection to the writing team when Franklin murdered his partner Ferris.)

In the "Prescription: Murder" case, Dr. Ray Flemming murdered his wife and made it look like a burglary. His alibi was that he was on a trip to Mexico and it all hinged on a collaborator - a young actress who was not only his patient, but also his mistress.

This actress was fragile of mind and eventually Lt. Columbo had to break the news to Dr. Flemming that she had killed herself, probably because of the pressures brought on by the murder investigation. Feeling smug and secure by this unexpected turn of events, Dr. Flemming practically boasted that he never had feelings for her and that she was merely a useful tool.

And that's when this supposedly dead young woman stepped out from where she was hiding, now aware of the Truth and ready to testify against the good doctor.

So this is the trick that Jane pulled on Erica Flynn - making her think that her delusional assistant who was in love with her had taken his own life. And feeling superior to the CBI consultant, she also sneered that she never really loved the young man.

And abra cadabra, he's no longer a cadaver! (Paraphrasing a line from David Addison of the Moonlight Detective Agency.....)

There are no new plots in the world, just variations on what has come before. But if you're going to lift a plotline, make sure you take it from the very best. Levinson & Link, the creators of 'Columbo', knew this - so they stole from themselves! They took the best murder scenario ever on 'Burke's Law' (magician sealed in coffin at bottom of a pool is shot dead) and adapted it for 'Blacke's Magic' before it reappeared in an episode of the 'Burke's Law' sequel in the early 1990's. (The fact that he never remembered the original solution was the "proof" for my argument that Amos Burke was entering the early stages of Alzheimer's.)

So I tip my hat to the writer of this episode of 'The Mentalist' if he did knowingly lift those two plotlines from 'Columbo'. He O'Bviously appreciates the good stuff. And if it was just a coincidence, then great minds do think alike.

SHOWS CITED:

'The Mentalist'
'Columbo'
'Burke's Law'
'Monk'
'Blacke's Magic'
'Moonlighting'
'NCIS'
'Are You Being Served?'
'Sanford & Son'

 BCnU!

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TRIVIAL TV = TRIAL TV

One TV network in Toobworld that doesn't exist in the real world is Trial TV. We used to have Court TV, but now I think it's called Tru-TV.

Trial TV has been around since the late 1990's and it's still going strong. Recently, the consultant for the CBI by the name of Patrick Jane, who's sometimes called 'The Mentalist', was on a memorable episode of 'You've Been Served' starring Karen Cross, in which he revealed the true murderer of another killer (using candles held by the audience.)

Back in 1999, Trial TV reported on the upcoming trial of a mobster named Michael Sanricci, which was supposed to be presided over by Judge Harold Wabash. As it turns out, they were in cahoots together and thanks to the manipulations by a modern-day Paladin known only as Mr. Chapel, they both ended up dead.

Here are some frame grabs from both reports by Trial TV:

The network serves as a trivial link between 'The Mentalist' and 'Vengeance Unlimited'......


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WHITE DIAMONDS TELEFFLUVIA

Mark Evanier wrote a piece about the cruel jokes that were made about Elizabeth Taylor during her lifetime and it did give me pause, mainly because I'm featuring one of those videos next weekend. And I have to admit that my favorite Joan Rivers joke was about Ms. Taylor's problems with her weight back in the 1980's, and the 'SNL' Weekend News Update interview with "Ms. Taylor" after her choking scare is a show highlight.

But at the same time, these sketches do serve as part of her television legacy, portraying the cultural perception of her at the time - in much the same way political cartoons should be included in an examination of a President's standing during his lifetime, before History has a chance to air-brush the details.
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I always say television is a teaching tool and I learned something about Elizabeth Taylor on 'Good Morning, America' the day after she died: She did NOT like to be called "Liz". I've used that in the past here at Inner Toob, and also the nickname "La Liz" (which was used in her TVXOHOF post headline - see below). But from now on, it'll always be Elizabeth, no familiarity in addressing her story.
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I'm glad Ms. Taylor was inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame back in May of 2009, as one of the Queens of May for that year. (Being the tenth anniversary for the Hall, there was a special celebration by inducting four new members each month.)

Here's the blog post for the occasion.....
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She also appeared in a previous "As Seen On TV" showcase as the Wild West gambling queen Poker Alice.
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This week's episode of 'Castle' (cleverly titled "One Life To Lose") gave Toobworld two new additions to the retinue of TV shows on TV. One was an old telenovela called 'Chiquitas' and the other was the show where most of the suspects came from - 'Temptation Lane'.
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While watching my copy of the first year of 'N.Y.P.D.' episodes, the numbers from 'Lost' popped up with the ID number for one of the squad cars - #234. It's a combination of 23 and 4, in much the same way the Oceanic Airways flight number was #815 - 8 and 15.
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While watching those episodes of 'N.Y.P.D.', I kept an eye out for actors in small roles who would later hit it big, or at least become better known. Among them - Tony Musante, Roy Scheider, Vincent Gardenia, Charles Grodin.... But I never expected to see somebody I actually knew!
That's Frank Nastasi, whom some of you may remember as Soupy Sales' sidekick on his old show. I worked with him in two Off-Off-Broadway shows for the old Meat & Potatoes Theatre Company. We'd all sit around backstage and imitate his style of "speech" for White Fang and Black Tooth, but in iambic pentameter.....

Sadly, he passed away about six years ago....
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While watching a couple of episodes of 'Vengeance Unlimited' for a future story about James Coburn, I saw another guy I used to know: That's Fred Sanders, who's shown up in a couple of series and whose brother is Jay O. Sanders. Fred was the director of the shows we put on at the Thomaston Opera House back in the summer of 1977 - "A Little Night Music", "Company", "Little Mary Sunshine", and "Two Gentlemen Of Verona" (the musical).
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It was Nick Lowe's birthday on Thursday. You can see a performance of his on the TV show 'Countdown' here. (Embedding was disabled.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md7lfg181HI

Apparently, the Doctor wasn't the only one who plundered the Riddler's wardrobe. (Thanks to Dan Aloi for pointing that out!)
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FX has canceled 'Lights Out' after only one season. I'm not surprised. I think I'm in the majority of the viewing public who has no interest in anything connected to boxing, no matter how ancillary it was to the main storyline.
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But here's what I consider great news! 'Fringe' has been renewed for a fourth season. It's O'Bvious that my whining about it the other day paid off! LOL

BCnU

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REMEMBERING LA LIZ: HELENA CASSADINE

Elizabeth Taylor appeared in several episodes of 'General Hospital' back in the early 1980's as Helena Cassadine, the widow of billionaire madman Mikkos Cassadine. She was there in Port Charles just long enough to attend the wedding of the two people she held responsible for the death of her husband - Luke Spencer and Laura Webber Baldwin. While there, she put a curse on them during the ceremony.

Of course, in Earth Prime-Time, Helena Cassadine and Elizabeth Taylor are two separate people. But over in the TV dimension in which author Richard 'Castle' resides, he probably knew that La Liz played the role. Just this week, as he and Detective Kate Beckett were investigating a murder on the set of the soap opera 'Temptation Lane', Castle admitted that he knew all the details to the weather machine storyline on 'General Hospital' and he even mentioned Mikkos Cassadine by name. (Mikkos is pictured, right, in what could be one of the best death scenes in soap opera history - trapped in the freezing room of his own weather macine.)

This would be more of a Zonk if 'Castle' took place on the main Toobworld, but so long as they have a NYC mayor inconsistent with that of both Earth Prime (our world) and Earth Prime-Time, then it has to remain in some alternate TV dimension. (I'd like to think it would be the 'West Wing' dimension.) But once that's no longer an issue (once the show is canceled, but hopefully not too soon!), then we can push the 'Primeval' reset button and bring the series back into alignment with the main Toobworld.

So, that world has a soap opera called 'General Hospital' but may not have had the actual events from that show taking place there. Over in the main Toobworld, however, the stories seen on 'General Hospital' actually took place, but as with so many other soap operas, there is also a show by that same name. It could be a "reality" series or a fictionalized retelling of actual events, but I'd have to check the various references to it for a future blog post.

Meanwhile, back in Toobworld proper, Helena Cassadine eventually returned to Port Charles, NY, but was now played by Constance Towers (a fact Castle probably knew as well.) For whatever reason, she must have needed plastic surgery. It must have been a desperate measure - because after all, what woman would willingly alter their face when they look like Elizabeth Taylor?

BCnU!

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RAISING CAINE

'The Mentalist'
When Patrick Jane harangued Foley, the beleaguered forensics technician, down in his cramped basement "lab" for quick results on a fingerprint check, the nervous schlub griped: "I'm not David Caruso!"

This was, in a Toobworldly way, pretty ballsy on the part of the production team for 'The Mentalist'. After all, the day may come when the Eye Suits will ask for a crossover between 'The Mentalist' and 'CSI'; and 'CSI: Miami', on which David Caruso stars, is a spin-off from the original 'CSI'. So how does it look if 'The Mentalist' is referring to 'CSI: Miami' as a fictional program and yet might be one day interacting with the show that spawned it?
Now THAT is what I call a Zonk!

Granted, Foley only mentioned Caruso, not the show or even his character of Horatio Caine. In any other circumstance, I'd just fudge it and say it could have been a reference to some other project in which the televersion of David Caruso is involved.

But what stymies that suggestion is that this isn't the first time for a mention of David Caruso on a TV series to Zonk 'CSI: Miami'. Recently on 'Hot In Cleveland', both Valerie Bertinelli and Betty White did their impersonations of Caruso as Caine. AND specifically mentioned the show.

And that was a good example why 'CSI: Miami', out of all three 'CSI' shows, is singled out for mention by other TV shows - it's that schtick Caruso has with his sunglasses and a quip......

(Other shows to have Zonked it: 'House', 'Psych', 'Castle', 'Reba', 'Californication', 'Gilmore Girls', 'Burn Notice', 'Cougar Town' and 'How I Met Your Mother'. 'Reno 911' even had one of its characters wearing the show's logo on a T-shirt!) So we'll just have to claim that a TV show was made about the forensics team down in Miami, and that David Caruso was hired to play Horatio Caine. (How many pasty red-headed actors could there be in Toobworld? Does Damian Lewis even have a televersion?)

And with all the attention and interference being brought to Horatio Caine's team at the "actual" crime lab while this show is being filmed, it's no wonder they haven't yet caught on to the fact that a serial killer is right there in their midst, working alongside them! BCnU!

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TELEFFLUVIA: NOW WITH ULTRA-SHEEN!

I posted this to Alan Sepinwall's column about the "Net Work" episode of 'The Good Wife', which had a Zuckerberg vs. Sorkin court case where it was the Sorkin clone who came out as the bad guy......

This has been the second episode of a TV show that has created its own version of Zuckerberg. 'Lie To Me' had a Zuckerberg clone in a recent murder mystery episode. For a while there it seemed like everybody had their own versions of Nancy Grace and Blackwater Security. I wonder how many more Zuckerbergs we're likely to see in other shows, and if there have been any others already? It seems like he's a character that could provide more plot possibilities than just his own.....

And now I'll bet you we're going to see plenty of Charlie Sheen clones hit the airwaves, especially on "Ripped From The Headlines" shows like those in the 'Law & Order' franchise (what's left of them......)
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Is there anybody out there in my readership who has the first season of 'I Dream Of Jeannie' on an officially released DVD set? There was an episode called "This Is Murder", which had a Princess Tarji visting Cocoa Beach on a state visit. I'd like to know what the captioning says is the name of her home country. It sounded like Paquait (or was it Parquait), but I'd like to be sure. If you can get back to me, I'd appreciate it...
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One thing I enjoy about treating all of TV as one big fantasy world is finding new names of characters that feel like they stepped out of a fantasy trilogy. My latest find - Hobey Jabko, a soldier played by Howard Duff in an episode of 'Combat!'.....
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This occurred to me at work one night - in "A Christmas Carol", the latest 'Doctor Who' Christmas special, if the Doctor went back in Time and altered the life of Kazran Sardick, then why didn't that trigger an attack by the Reapers from "Father's Day"?

From Wikipedia:
Although never named in the programme, the creatures were called the Reapers in publicity material. They bear a strong resemblance to the Chronovores (first featured in "The Time Monster") as portrayed in Paul Cornell's Doctor Who New Adventures novel "No Future", the Vortisaurs in the Eighth Doctor's first series of audio adventures for Big Finish Productions, and the Hunters in the New Adventures novel "The Pit" by Neil Penswick.
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It's always fun to find TV characters with the same names as friends and family members. The latest one is an "Amy Booth" from an episode of 'Burke's Law'. Amy was the first "Iddiot" from the Idiot's Delight Digest group to visit the Lake.

I've got a name doppelganger in Toobworld as well. There was an L.A. cop named Toby O'Brien in an episode of 'Police Story' from the early 1970's.
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As my DVR capacity reached 50% capacity, I noticed that I had two episodes of 'Harry's Law' on deck, but no real compulsion to watch them. I enjoyed the show, but it really wasn't must-see TV for me. I'm a big fan of David E. Kelley, but this just doesn't have the spark to keep me coming back to that law firm/shoe store in Cincinnatti.

For me, the DEK high point was 'Picket Fences', with his 'Boston Legal' and his work on 'L.A. Law' following close behind.

I wish 'Harry's Law' all the best, especially for Kathy Bates, and if I read of something truly off-the-wall happening in an upcoming episode - or a really special guest star - I'll pop in again.

And if you're still watching the show, let me know if there's ever any mention of the radio station WKRP.....
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I could have been a "high priest Vatican assassin warlock" like Charlie Sheen, but I didn't keep up on my union dues. And I only have tiger moth's blood.....
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Here's my prediction: The 'Two And A Half Men' backstage craziness will be the next behind the scenes TV movie in the style of those made about 'Dynasty', 'Three's Company', 'Gilligan's Island', and 'Mork & Mindy'.
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If any TV show should have a movie made about its production, it should be 'Doctor Who'.
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If Charlie Sheen is looking for a new role to play, how about Itchy in a remake of "Dick Tracy"?

~ BCnU!

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MALICK IN WONDERLAND

In order to deflate a lot of Zonks, Toobworld Central had to concede that a lot of TV shows that we watch in the Trueniverse are also TV shows in Toobworld. Most of the time they are adaptations or re-enactments of the "real life" events depicted in the actual TV shows. 'The Brady Bunch', 'Gilligan's Island', 'Happy Days', and even 'Star Trek' are examples of this.

Some TV shows have their titles invoked in other TV series, but those shows have such generic titles they could be about anything (so long as no other details are revealed. 'Cold Case', 'Law & Order', 'General Hospital', 'CSI' - these are good examples of that. (Although it seems like they can't just mention 'CSI: Miami' without throwing in mentions - and even parodies! - of David Caruso.)

We've even seen clips from these TV shows within TV shows, the classic being a scene from the televersion of 'Murphy Brown'. As seen on 'Seinfeld', that also starred Candice Bergen as the reporter, just like in the real world, with Cosmo Kramer as her latest secretary.

Most recently, I wrote about the excerpt from 'Burke's Law' starring Gene Barry as seen in an episode of 'Burke's Law' starring Gene Barry!

Those and others like them were all quick clips, mostly serving as punchlines. But now, this may be the second biggest example ever, one that ran for several scenes throughout an hour-long soap opera. This is about the crossover between the sitcom 'Hot In Cleveland' and 'All My Children'.....

It's been a running gag on 'Hot In Cleveland' that fading soap opera queen Victoria Chase is bitter rivals with Susan Lucci of 'All My Children'. 'AMC' and its plots have been mentioned in other TV shows in the past, so we can't dismiss it as a generic TV show title, like it was a reality TV series or something. Toobworld Central had to accept that the televersion of 'All My Children' was a dramatization of the "real-life" events in Pine Valley. (When the show stars a soap opera diva who went for so long without Emmy award recognition, it was bound to be a magnet for pop culture references. Hey, had she won early and often for playing Erica Kane, Lucci might never have been asked to host 'Saturday Night Live'!)

Two episodes of 'Hot In Cleveland' were focused on the behind-the-scenes activities at a taping of "All My Children' with appearances by Darnell Williams, Michael E. Knight (more on him in a later post), and of course, Susan Lucci. Lucci played up her role beautifully, not afraid to show that she was different (maybe) from her true persona - as Victoria called her, "a conniving tea-cup poodle". I always enjoy seeing celebrities not afraid to portray themselves in a bad light on TV. Kevin Bacon on an episode last year of 'Bored To Death' comes to mind, but the all-time best was the late great Lloyd Bridges on 'Ned & Stacy", where he played himself as a kleptomaniac neo-Nazi cross-dresser!

Victoria Chase had gone back to Los Angeles to film a guest appearance on 'All My Children', and we got to see the blocking of that scene and its catastrophic consequences. When all was said and done, however, that hospital bed scene was scrapped and we learned that a new scene was written for her. That's proof right there that even though the Toobworld 'All My Children' was based on the "real life" events depicted in the actual show, sometimes characters and scenes are created with no basis in "fact".

And then, with the sitcom's two-parter over, the next day had the crossover's finale on the soap opera itself.....

Do you remember how I've stated in the past that the credits have no bearing on what we actually see in the TV Universe?

This is the exception: With that opening credit letting us know that Victoria Chase was the special guest star, the show was also announcing that we weren't watching the Trueniverse 'All My Children'. The following hour was probably a one-time only broadcast of a fictional episode from within the TV Universe.

And since several citizens of the Pine Valley population were depicted in other scenes, O'Bviously this show within a show went to great lengths to find actors who looked exactly like the people they were playing....... (Leave me my delusions, please.)

This wasn't the first time in Toobworld history in which the actual show was abandoned for the show within a show. The best example is that of the interregnum between Clayton Moore's appearances as 'The Lone Ranger'. Those episodes which starred John Hart are actually the Toobworld episodes of the show which everybody refers to when the the classic Western is mentioned in other shows, like 'Happy Days' and 'The Fall Guy'. (John Hart appeared as himself in episodes from both shows.) John Hart was the TV Lone Ranger; the real Lone Ranger looked like the actor Clayton Moore. (Hart must have made such an impression as the televersion of the Lone Ranger that hundreds of years in the future, a Time Agent would be named after him - Jon Hart, as seen in 'Torchwood'.)

So Wendie Malick played Victoria Chase playing Gertie Stein, who was supposed to work for Erica Kane as a maid and then served her as a bartender in the bar owned by Erica's daugher. And in both cases, Erica got her fired. This was probably due to Susan Lucci's influence over the writers, giving her this on-air opportunity to humiliate Victoria (knowing that many in the audience would confuse the actress with the character and thus Victoria came off as a loser.) Lucci was probably also responsible for Victoria being saddled with a name like Gertie Stein. She probably wanted to equate Victoria in the minds of viewers with the unattractive looks of the famous writer Gertrude Stein. By Friday, everything was back to normal for the Trueniverse audience. The last episode of that week's 'All My Children' strip was the one that showed the "real" people of Pine Valley. If you wanted to see any more of the fictional version of the show, you'll probably have to keep watching shows like 'Hot In Cleveland' which might refer back to it. (But then, at best you may get just audio from the show.)

So thanks just to that one little screen credit for Victoria Chase, this was an actual crossover and not just actresses appearing on each other's show. And more than likely it was audacious enough to best any other candidates to be the Crossover of the Year at the 2011 Toobits Awards (to be held in January.)

Thanks to my friends Mark & Michael for making sure I saw that episode of 'All My Children'.....

BCnU!

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