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Showing posts with label Team Toobworld. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Team Toobworld. Show all posts
LEHMAN BROTHERS - A TELEVISION REVISION
Well, this is an interesting development.....
The concept of Toobworld is always in flux, constantly evolving, constantly being rewritten. For the most part, the blame (as such) falls on me - sometimes I'll make statements that have to be retracted because I wasn't so thorough in my research. Other times it's due to revisions or new additions to the established canon of a series. So in that way, the Toobworld Dynamic is like the medium it studies.
Two examples of both from the same show:
1) I claimed in a blog post that the new version of 'Human Target' could exist in the same TV dimension as the original, which starred Rick Springfield. (It's existenc as a comic book doesn't enter the equation.) I had the splainins and everything! But then they had to do an episode with a totally different Royal Family of Great Britain, which tossed them into an alternate TV dimension from Toobworld and the Trueniverse.
But as the Team Toobworld member pointed out, 'The West Wing' mentioned other members of the true Royal Family (either Prince Edward or Prince Andrew) who were specific to those found in Toobworld as well as the real world.
This is why I'm thankful that I have Team Toobworld - I really depend on them!
So that's all meandering blather to lead up to the latest revision......
In promoting the HBO movie about the 2008 financial collapse, I ran a series of As Seen On TV features for each of the main characters, all drawn from real life. And for all of them, I stated that they were to be found in Earth Prime-Time, the main Toobworld.
(With Timothy Geithner, I used him for the "Two For Tuesday" edition, as he had also been portrayed on 'Saturday Night Live', placing that portrayal in Skitlandia. And for Warren Buffett, who played himself in at least one other Earth Prime-Time series ['All My Children'], I claimed that the version played by Ed Asner was a quantum leaper.)
A basic tenet for Earth Prime-Time inclusion is that old "First Come, First Served" rule. Whichever version of a project is broadcast first, that has the right to remain in the main Toobworld. The next would go to the "Land of Remakes" then on to other dimensional choices like "the evil mirror universe", but falling short of the Tooniverse or Skitlandia (unless it's animated or a comedy sketch, respectively.)
There are exceptions to every rule, of course. The most famous one for this situation is that of Sherlock Holmes. There were two earlier TV series about the great detective that I know of - one with Ronald Howard, the other with Peter Cushing. But it's the series with Jeremy Brett as Holmes whom I've decided should be the permanent tenant of Earth Prime-Time, because his series had the most adaptations of the original stories written by Dr. Watson and edited by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Again I'm blathering.
So anyhoo, I was doing some research on James Bolam for a theory of relateeveety connected to the Friday Mug-Shot feature when I discovered that he had been in a TV movie about the 2008 financial collapse made by the BBC in 2009, well over a year before HBO's "Too Big To Fail".
"The Last Days Of Lehman Brothers" has most of the same real world players as "Too Big To Fail" (played by a few ex-pat Americans for the most part), but with some exceptions.
As for Jim Wilkinson, played by Topher Grace in "Too Big To Fail", he could have been changed to a character named Zack played by Michael Landes in the Brit version. I'd have to see it to be sure.
All this week, we'll be running a new batch of As Seen On TV showcases for the main players, starting with the man who started the ball rolling - James Bolam's portrayal of Ken Lewis.
BCnU! Read more...
MAYBERRY MUSINGS
Team Toobworld member Pat Coleman cobbled together this great movie poster:
And it reminded me of that classic (ain't they all?) episode of 'The Andy Griffith Show' in which Barney's disguise foiled the marital plans of Ernest T. Bass.
Not that Ernest T. Bass was a time traveler, mind......
A Facebook group dedicated to 'The Andy Griffith Show' posted this behind-the-scenes photo from that episode, showing Andy Griffith and Don Knotts between shots:
And "between shots" could be taken in a different way as well. They both look like this is a scene from the prequel to "The Hangover". (Tagline: "Now Mayberry's Got Them")
Thanks, Pat!
BCnU! Read more...
DISPATCHES FROM A BLOGMATE
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| THE MEMORIAL TO THE LATE IANTO JONES (WHO NEVER EXISTED IN THE REAL WORLD!) |
First up, somebody out there in the world of the Net used a Toobworld sensibility in this photo M*A*S*H-up. But I suppose it could also be seen as a blend of the fictional universes for comic books and literature (or some sub-dimension if the idea of the "Twilight" books as literature makes you gag.)
And then, while on a short holiday trip to Wales, MediumRob and the Missus discovered that Cardiff and Barry Island are enjoying their connections to Toobworld......
It's been thirty years, so with my "Swiss Cheese memory", I can't remember who was the betrothed couple, but it reminds me of when two fictional characters got engaged.....
The parent company (I think it was Marvel Comics) received a toaster as a wedding gift from some fan!
BCnU! Read more...
A WINTERS' TALE
I'm not sure if King Kong actually exists in Toobworld or not; I'll have to check with Team Toobworld member Robert Wronski, Jr. on that one. But I know he can be found in variations of the Wold Newton Universe.
At any rate, here's the story of King Kong, as told - with some restraint, surprisingly - by one of my idols, Jonathan Winters.
BCnU! Read more...
SPOTLIGHT ON: THE CLEARY THEORY
Michael Cleary is one of the uncles to my god-daughter Rhiannon, and one of my best friends as well. He offered to write up a post for Inner Toob that would connect three classic Britcoms to the greatest science fiction series of all time. And I, lazy bastid that I am, greedily accepted.
And so, without further ado......
First off, I write this as an homage to Toby O'B's wonderful "Toobworld", and also to the man himself. He actually has made me "perk up" and watch credits and really think about the smaller roles people play, and how they are NOT unimportant! As they say, we have no small roles, only small actors. So thank you, Toby!
Ok, here I go!
'Are You Being Served?' was a British sitcom broadcast from 1972-1985. It was set in the fictional Grace Brother department store. The idea for the series came from Jeremy Lloyd working at Simpson's of Piccadilly, a clothing store which operated for 60 years until 1999. Two other stores that inspired the series were Rossiters of Paignton and Clements of Watford.
I'm going to run with the idea that Grace Brothers was set in almost the place as Simpson's of Piccadilly, due to the fact that throughout the series, many characters dealt with transit strikes and bus trips, and also going out to major attractions in central London, while lamenting about the long trips home, or also, how close they are to the store. (Piccadily is a major center area of London).
Along the run of the original series, I was amazed that we might have connections to two other BBC series, via characters on both of them who might also be on 'Are Your Being Served?' The important thing I learned is that all these people showed up at one time or another on the series (mostly within 3-4 years) and were never named, which I will assume means they were the same characters from the other shows.
First up is 'Fawlty Towers'. 'Fawlty Towers' is set in Torquay, which is in the south east of England, putting it around 3 hours from London, depending how you travel. It is the 45th largest city in the country and during the peak summer season they recieve over 200,000 tourists. Torquay was also the home of Agatha Christie who lived most of her life there. But most importantly, it also contained Basil Fawlty.
Basil's hotel also served as a sort of a "old peoples home" for wealthy people. This included Major Gowen, whom my friend Toby already did a piece on, and I absolutely agree with it. Why wouldn't any of the guests staying in the hotel get away to London once in a while?
Which brings me to another famous guest from the episode "The Kipper and the Corpse" named Mrs. Chase.
She shows up with a little dog that tends to bite people, yet she pampers it, no matter what it does. Major Gowen shows some interest in it, but then loses his mind again worrying about dead bodies and Germans. Mrs. Chase was played by the late, great Mavis Pugh and here is a shot with herself, the Major, and the dog:
Now, at the same time the Major went to Grace Brothers, we have to assume so did Mrs. Chase, since she showed up the same season. She visited Grace Brothers with a dog to buy him some clothes. (Yes it is a different breed, but it would seem that since she loves them so much, she must have more than one.*)
At around the same time I come to another BBC show, 'Absolutely Fabulous', which has the ex-model, current Fashion Executive (depending on who you ask in the series) and major drug addict and drunk, Patsy Stone, played by Joanna Lumley. Based on the facts of her past history in the series, she seemed to have worked early on at Grace Brothers*, as well as a His and Hers perfume model... as seen in these pictures:
"You've certainly caused a stir in the trouser department."
Captain Peacock
She seems to have angered the staff and also showed a touch of early Patsy Stone with John Inman:
In the series of 'Ab-Fab', her mother (who never wanted her) was played by the great Eleanor Bron. Patsy's mother lived in Paris as a hippie and art lover, yet hated her daughter as seen in this flashback scene in 'Ab-Fab':
This leads me to wonder about the scene in 'Doctor Who': "City of Death" (Episode 4). Did Basil Fawlty show up in Paris, because he got away from his wife for just a day to visit a museum? (Sybil always went away for a day, or even an overnight, with her best friend. Why not Basil?) And at the same time did he run into Patsy's art-loving mother?
Maybe two of the most horrid people in the comedy world got to share a great moment together*...... You decide!
Thanks, Michael!
As you may have noticed, there are a couple of asterisks to be found throughout MIchael's piece. I have some notes of my own about what he had to say at those points, but I didn't want to detract from the excellent research into this four-way Missing Link. I agree with everything he's claiming here, but there are some details that need to be covered. So I'll have those up in a separate post later today......
I'm hoping that somewhere out there amongst Team Toobworld, or anybody else who happens upon this post, someone will feel inspired to send along their own version of Toobworld televisiology which I can showcase here at Inner Toob. (Sean, you still owe me that 'Enterprise' piece!) Give it some thought and write it up. If you can't find the appropriate pictures, don't worry - I probably already have it in the Toobworld database.
Once again, a very big thanks to Michael Cleary for all the research. (And for doing all of the work! As I'm slowly getting used to this new format on Blogger, I could use a bit of a break in the writing department.....)
BCnU!
Read more...
LOCATION SHOTS: ON 12th & HUDSON.....
Continuing with the contributions made by members of Team Toobworld, Vincent Audette sent along these two locations that link a lot of shows set in New York City:
I'm watching 'Blue Bloods' - "Hall of Mirrors" on CBS who try to stop a terrorist attack in NYC. The Reagans are family of cops, Tom Selleck plays the police commish and his sons (Will Estes and Donnie Wahlberg) both work in the 12th Precinct. First, This precinct is the home of TV's 'McCloud', 'Barney Miller', 'The Unusuals', 'Can't Hurry Love', 'Castle' and 'The Beat'.
Secondly, in tonight's episode the suspect is an engineering student at Hudson University. A fictional college used in all of the 'Law & Order' franchise and was mentioned in 'Without A Trace' and 'Tru Calling'.
With Hudson University, we can add 'The Cosby Show' and 'DeGrassi: The Next Generation' as two more shows with connections to that seat of learning. And those four shows, along with all of the 'Law & Order' dramas, share the same TV dimension: Earth Prime-Time, the main Toobworld.
It gets trickier with the 12th Precinct. Of the shows mentioned by Vince, these are the ones that exist in the main Toobworld:
'McCloud'
'Barney Miller'
'The Unusuals'
'Can't Hurry Love'
'The Beat'
'The Beat', although it only lasted a few episodes is a key addition to the Toobworld Dynamic, as it's one of the shows in which Detective John Munch appeared over the years. And it was on UPN, so it adds to his list of many networks as well.
With the end of 'Barney Miller', the original station house was closed down to become a museum dedicated to former police commissioner Teddy Roosevelt. So a new location was chosen which is what we saw each week in 'The Unusuals'. (I wish that show was still on the air.) 
But with 'Castle' and 'Blue Bloods', each of them had to be relegated to other TV dimensions. And they couldn't share one either. This is because both shows have different mayors for New York City who have appeared in episodes. 
I've stated in the past that the main Toobworld shares the same mayor as the NYC to be found in the Trueniverse. Currently, that's Mike Bloomberg. He's portrayed himself in episodes of '30 Rock', 'Law & Order', and in a Christmas TV movie with the Muppets. 
But for 'Blue Bloods', the mayor is named Russo and he's played by Bruce Altman as something of a thorn in the side of Commissioner Reagan. On 'Castle', he's a black man named Bill. Had Bill Thompson won the election vs. Bloomberg in 2009, we could have said that the series was set in the very near future and was not synchronous with the timeline of the real world. ('Castle' debuted in March of 2009.)
Mayor Bill has not been seen since the one episode in which he appeared, but we have to assume he is still the mayor. It's through his friendship that mystery novelist Richard Castle is allowed to tag along with Detective Kate Beckett and her team. Once Bill is no longer the mayor, Castle will probably be outtadere. 
If the 'Primeval' temporal reboot also takes place in these two TV dimensions, we could consider them brought back into line with the timeline of Earth Prime-Time. But we'd only do that once the series have been cancelled. (That way, no more pesky fictional mayors can show up to ruin it all.) As is the case with a series like 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea' with its fictional president, we in the Trueniverse audience will only be able to see the original timeline when watching reruns. But everything in those affected episodes will have been re-adjusted, so that Rick Castle had been friends with Mike Bloomberg, whose police commissioner would then be Frank Reagan.
Sorry, Ray Kelly - you don't have any presence in the main Toobworld.....
One last point - Hudson University also showed up in an episode of 'Castle' - That's where the frame grab came from! - as did the New York Ledger newspaper. So once we can realign the world of 'Castle' with that of Toobworld, it will fit in nicely in a world populated by so many 'Law & Order' spin-offs.
Thank you, Vince, for getting the ball rolling, which allowed me to be so long-winded on the topic. Others may not be so appreciative because of that......
BCnU!
CHARLIE'S BEAVER
I'm getting a lot of help in the last few days from members of Team Toobworld with suggestions for connections between various TV shows. Here's one from "Arclight":
I hope it's okay to respond to an old post like this but it reminded me of something very cool I caught on TV a long time ago. I was at my mom's and "Leave It To Beaver" was on. Specifically this episode:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0630337/
Note the dream girl's name: Ginny Townsend. That's not why I'm writing. I'm writing because in the episode when June calls up information, she asks for the number of a Mrs. Charles Townsend.
(It's nice to see that serendipiteevee works for other people as well. Either that, or my own powers in that regard are far-reaching, making sure that others stumble upon these discoveries by "chance" to pass along to me.)
Arclight's message was in response to the blog post "A Townsend Family Reunion", specifically to this line, quoted from a 'Charlie's Angels' website:
"He was once married but confessed to not be the monogamous type, and it is never indicated whether or not he has any legitimate children."
So it could be that instead of making paternity guesses for any of those other TV characters I listed, we may actually narrow it down to being Ginny in Mayfield - with the added bonus of learning who his previous wife was.
This could be Charlie Townsend and his wife with their daughter Ginny... and a son as well!
Charlie lived in California, with his detective agency in the Los Angeles area. But the Cleavers and all the people they knew are located in the town of Mayfield. The location for Mayfield was never nailed down in the series, but a blog dedicated to 'Leave It To Beaver' made a convincing suggestion that it should be in Ohio:
I have often thought that Ohio makes the most sense for the location of Mayfield, although the show was not very consistent in giving hints as to where Mayfield is located. However, in "Beaver Makes a Loan" from Season 3, the drug store is hanging Kent State banners! That seems rather strange for a drug store not in Ohio! 
I'm willing to accept Ohio as the location for Mayfield. (The picture above is from that episode, "Beaver Makes A Loan".....)
The distance between both states can be reconciled. Mrs. Townsend probably met Charlie while they were in college in California. But when the marriage went bust (as might be depicted below), she moved back home to her native Ohio, taking Ginny with her. 
Thank you, Arclight, for that theory of relateeveety discovery!
BCnU!
Toobworld note: The pictures of John Forsythe, allegedly as Charlie and his "family", come from the movie "The Glass Web". O'Bviously, they're looking at somebody else..... Here's who got cropped out: 
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