Saturday, March 17, 2007

WHEN IRISH EYES ARE VIEWING

Picking one show to look at its connection to the heritage of the Irish today, I chose 'Maverick' for two of its episodes.

First up, a look at Irish history through the eyes of a Maverick:

"The Bold Fenian Man"
(Beau Maverick)
The Fenians, an Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, are trained soldiers sworn to free Ireland from British rule. The Fenians have gathered in Dakota City to plan a march into Canada where they want to take hold of a small part of British property hostage in exchange for Ireland's freedom. After England pressures the United States to intervene, Beau Maverick is blackmailed into infiltrating the Fenians ranks by a shrewd Army colonel.

And going for the theme of Irish legends....

"Mr. Muldoon's Partner"
(Bart Maverick)
An Irish-themed leprechaun comedy with Mickey Rooney's lookalike son, Tim Rooney. Mickey Shaughnessey played Mr. Muldoon, and it's never settled one way or the other as to Muldoon being a real leprechaun. (However, he does bear enough of a resemblance to the leprechaun in the Visa Check Card commercial to suggest he may be that leprechaun's father.)

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"RAINES" & "COLUMBO"

Everybody has a few skeletons in their past, things they may be embarrassed to admit later in life once they've reached a certain position and achieved a respectable reputation. I'm sure this has happened to people in positions of authority, like, let's say, police detectives who might be uncomfortable or unwilling to admit to the errors in judgment they made in their carefree youth.

Let's take LAPD Detective Michael Raines, for example.

He's got enough troubles to deal with now as it is, considering he "sees" the ghosts of murder victims. Unlike the main characters in 'Medium' and 'The Ghost Whisperer', Raines' spirits haunt him because in some ways he's mentally unbalanced since the shooting of his partner.

So I'm sure it will never come up that before he became a policeman, 'Raines' was a university student caught up in the political unrest of the mid-1970s as he joined in the protests against the Suarian government.

Proof of his involvement at rallies outside the Suarian consulate in Los Angeles can be found here.

But you really should check out the whole site. It's the best damn website for Columbo I've ever visited! (But for great 'Columbo' fanfic, visit "Just One More Paragraph". You'll find the link to the left......)

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

EXTERMINEZ! EXTERMINEZ!

My friends Mark and Michael have just returned from a trip to France. As a memento of their vacation as well as of their favorite TV show, here's a YouTube mashup entitled

"Doctor Who And The French Dalek"

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

Friday, March 16, 2007

"LOST" IN THOUGHT: DEAD POOLED

John Locke joined the majority of Oceanic 815's survivors this past Wednesday when he pushed Mikhail Bukanin to his death into that sonic fence that surrounds Othersville.

Well, a majority of those survivors we know well, that is.

What does he now have in common with them? He killed or caused/contributed to the death of another human being. (I'm leaning towards "killed". I think he was hoping on Bukanin to die so that his secret about once being paralyzed was kept safe.)

JACK - The doctor had to make a choice: Shannon Rutherford's Dad was left to die so that Jack might save the life of Sarah.

KATE - Where to begin? It's always best to begin at the beginning, so she blew up her abusive step-dad. Her boyfriend was shot dead while trying to help her escape. She was eager to see Marshall Mars put out of his misery. She shot one of the two Others who were tailing them at the end of Season Two.

SAWYER - He shot the other Other while on that trek with Kate, Jack, Hurley, and Michael. He also murdered a man whom he mistakenly believed to have been the real Sawyer, responsible for the deaths of his parents.

MICHAEL - In an attempt to get his son back, Michael shot Ana Lucia Cortez and Libby in cold blood.

HURLEY - He believes that 23 people died in a tragic sun deck collapse because he was on the deck as well. Then there's Tricia Tanaka and the camera man inside the Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack, his grandfather's heart attack....

CHARLIE - As revenge against the kidnapping of Claire, the former drug addict felt he had to step up to the plate and so he shot Ethan once they cornered him.

SAYID - Who knows how many people he killed or caused to be executed with his interrogation skills? But we do know he shot and killed his superior officer in order to protect Nadia.

MR. EKO - As with Sayid, we don't know how many people Eko killed, but he must have been knee-deep in the blood. His career of carnage began when he was about twelve and he killed an old man so that his younger brother would not be forced to do so. He killed many of his enemies while in Africa and several of the Others on the island.

SUN - She shot the Other woman who had her trapped on board the sailboat. She later died in surgery back at the Hydra station.

JIN - He may have set up Sun's lover Jae Lee to be murdered or at the very least caused him to commit suicide once he beat the crap out of the guy for having an affair with his wife. Although he hesitated in actually killing a man on orders from Sun's father, we have yet to see whether or not he finally did so while in his employ.

DESMOND - Once he believed that Kelvin Inman had been lying to him for three years, Desmond lashed out and beat the man's head on the rocks by the water. He may also have served time in a military prison for a death-related offense.

ANA LUCIA - She gunned down the man who shot her and caused her to lose her baby. And she impaled Goodwin on a pike.

CLAIRE - In this past week's episode, we also learned that Claire claimed responsibility for the car crash that left her mother in a permanent vegetative coma. And if that's not a living "death", what is?

WALT - No deaths have been attributed to him.

BOONE & SHANNON - No deaths have been attributed to them.

BERNARD & ROSE - No deaths have been attributed to them.

CINDY - N deaths have been attributed to her.

VINCENT - No deaths have been attributed to him... yet. I'm hoping the dog will finally get a flashback episode of "his" own.

PAOLO & NIKKI - No deaths have been attributed to them. However, there are those who say that they've killed the audience's interest in the show.

Just sayin', is all. I'm willing to wait and see what their flashback episode brings.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

PRIMED TIME: MARS 2012?

'Veronica Mars' may end up having more in common with 'Star Trek' and '24' than with 'The O.C.' and 'Beverly Hills 90210' next fall if Rob Thomas' revamp is approved for the series' fourth season.

Thomas plans on jumping ahead a few years in Veronica's timeline so that she'll now be either at the FBI academy in Quantico, or an actual FBI agent (hopefully back in the Neptune, Ca., area so that we can keep at least the dynamic with her father if not the rest of her supporting cast of characters).

This shouldn't disqualify her from still living in the main Toobworld, but it will limit the number of topical pop culture references. Actually, it should limit most of those since you never know if the person you're referring to has died, or who's now in the White House, etc.

And limiting the pop culture references is a good thing for Toobworld, because that would cut down on the number of Zonks!

Now it's just a matter of getting the show picked up at all for that fourth season....


BCnU!
Tele-Toby

DUNDER-MIFFLIN CARBON COPY

Last night, NBC offered up its inaugural "newpeat" of 'The Office'. "Newpeat" is their coined word for a repeat that contains new footage (via deleted scenes) and which excised previously seen moments.

A lot of the "new" material was already available on the web at nbc.com, but it was new for people like me - dial-up dinosaurs.

The concept of "newpeats" isn't exactly original with NBC. FOX created an entire series based on the idea. 'Ally' was a half-hour dramady which took edited episodes of 'Ally McBeal', mixed in unused footage, and created this flub-a-dub of a show.

On the whole, this is a very exciting concept for Toobworld, and one that can go on to encompass all syndicated repeats of TV shows since the Dawn of Time, BC (Before Cable) which have had their souls ripped out through editing to make room for more commercials.

We were not watching the same two episodes of 'The Office' last night as were originally broadcast, thanks to the give-and-take of editing. Therefore, the rejiggered one hour episode was not showing us the events from Earth Prime-Time.

We were watching 'The Office' from an alternate TV dimension!

Here's a key difference between the two versions of last night's show. In the original, Jim clued Michael into the treachery of Andy. But he doesn't do so in the newpeat. So Michael comes off looking uncommonly insightful.

A perceptive Michael Scott is one that has the potential to be far more dangerous in the long run than the clueless doofus we're accustomed to week after week.

I wish I was the Master of the TV Universe, rather than just a Caretaker. I would have digitally inserted a goatee on Michael, just like Spock had in the 'Star Trek' episode "Mirror, Mirror". Then we'd know we were in the evil, dark version of Scranton.

Well, the evil part would be different.

Just sayin', is all.......

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"B&B" DOWN UNDER

It looks like Andy and Lou of 'Little Britain' are not the only TV characters from another country who'll be seen in Australia this year. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of 'The Bold & The Beautiful' on CBS, many in the cast will be seen heading off to Sydney. The scenes in "Oz" will begin on March 23rd, which was the date the show first began broadcasting back in 1987.

Among those who'll be seen in Australia are Brooke Logan, Phoebe Forrester, Ridge Forrester, and Rick Forrester.

I wonder if they'll be flying Oceanic Airlines?

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

THE GAME OF THE NAME: WHO'S ENTITLED

The Eye of Horus website has posted the titles for the first twelve episodes of this upcoming new season for 'Doctor Who'. (Outpost Gallifrey last updated their information back on Feb. 27th, so I'm not sure this is verified yet.)

The only title missing now is the season finale which may give something away as to the storyline.

Here are the titles, according to the folks at The Eye of Horus:


01 - SMITH AND JONES

02 - THE SHAKESPEARE CODE

03 - FLESH AND BONE

04 - DALEKS IN MANHATTAN

05 - THE ONCOMING STORM

06 - THE LAZARUS EXPERIMENT

07 - 42

08 - HUMAN NATURE

09 - THE FAMILY OF BLOOD

10 - BLINK

11 - UTOPIA

12 - THE SOUND OF DRUMS

13 -

We shall see what we shall see.....

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

CINE-MAN'S TRICKS

Back in 1996, a movie written by Scott Rosenberg, called "Beautiful Girls", was set in the town of Knight's Ridge (Knights Ridge?), Massachusetts. Ten years later, that same fictional town pops up in the TV Universe and - guess what? The show, 'October Road', was written by Scott Rosenberg as well. So the Cineverse and Toobworld share another fictional location.

PLEASE let there be a need some day (and soon - this show may not have legs) for a character to mention St. Eligius Hospital in Boston!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

Thursday, March 15, 2007

TELE-GENEALOGY: MAITLANDS 3

Thanks to SleuthTV, I caught up with a sequel reunion movie from 1989, a year before I began dabbling in the Toobworld concept. "The Return Of Sam McCloud" had many of the old faces from the show - Joe Broadhurst was now Chief of Detectives, Peter B. Clifford was the NYC Police Commissioner, Chris Coughlin was living in London and working for the London Times, and Sam McCloud was now the junior senator from New Mexico.

Mention was also made of Sgt. Grover, who was living in Florida and fishing with his grandchildren. (Grover is the link between 'McCloud' and 'Galactica 1980'. The actor who played him, Ken Lynch, sadly passed away a few months after the TV movie aired, in February of 1990.)

The TV movie also gave me an interesting theory to link 'McCloud' to 'The Immortal' and to 'The Wild, Wild West' with the main villain of the piece, William Maitland.

Maitland was the elderly head of Chemtel, a grasping, vulture-like multi-millionaire who was not above murder in order to keep hold of his company's fortunes. And it didn't bother him at all that he was suppressing research that could save thousands of lives.

I think William Maitland was related to Arthur Maitland, the dying multi-millionaire from 'The Immortal'. Arthur Maitland wanted to make Ben Richards his prisoner so that he might have access to the unique properties in Richards' blood which basically made him immortal.

It could be that Arthur and William were brothers, and that they both made their fortunes with Chemtel. And their interests in scientific research that might extend the average life of a human could perhaps be traced back to an ancestor who was obsessed with finding a cure for the "Sedgewick Curse". "The Night Of The Sedgewick Curse" referred to a rapid-aging disease that afflicted the members of the Sedgewick family ('The Wild, Wild West').

There yuh go!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

PS:
There were many other Maitlands in Toobworld who could have been added to the family tree, but you should never push the connections too far, even in a world of identical twin cousins!

ELITE EIGHT OF ILLINOIS (ROUND 3)

The Chicago Tribune's Red Eye is down to the "Elite Eight" in their Current TV Character Battle, and there's been a stunning defeat!

Veronica Mars, who had a powerful fan base supporting her, was upset by a come from behind victory by Dr. Gregory House.

Sadly, for me anyway, Hiro Nakamura's powers were no match for the cunning guile of James "Sawyer" Ford. But as I expected, Lynette Scavo went down in flames to Homer Simpson. I really didn't think she should have made it this far anyway.

Tony Soprano was trounced by Dwight Schrute, whose fan base remained loyal and dedicated in seeing him defeat the mob boss. It makes me wonder how dedicated those fans are; will Dwight survive against such popular characters as Jack Bauer, Starbuck, or Homer?

(As it stands now, Jack is getting beat by Sawyer, and Starbuck is ahead of Homer. It's a statistical dead heat between Jack and Ari.)

So now it's on to choose the players for the Final Four. You have until Monday at 1 pm to make your picks known.

Here are the match-ups:

Elite Eight

1. Jack Bauer, “24” vs. Sawyer Ford, “Lost”

2. Jack Donaghy, “30 Rock” vs. Ari Gold, “Entourage”

3. Dwight Schrute, “The Office” vs. Dr. Gregory House, “House”

4. Capt. Kara Thrace, “Battlestar Galactica” vs. Homer Simpson, “The Simpsons”

Vote early and often. It's Chicago-style, after all!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

TELE-GENEALOGY: BASIC RATHBONE

Back in 1967, Lord Rathbone was one of several British millionaires who were victimized by a ruthless blackmailer named Nathaniel Needle. Needle would stage their "deaths" in order to give them a taste of what might happen should they fail to pay up.

Lord Rathbone survived the traumatic events thanks to John Steed, top professional, and Emma Peel, talented amateur. But it's apparent from watching 'The Avengers' episode "You Have Just Been Murdered" that Rathbone was weakened physically as well as mentally by the ordeal.

I wouldn't be surprised if he succumbed to a heart attack not long after.

If so, it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that "Twiggy" Rathbone, perhaps as a younger brother, came to inherit the title from his childless older brother. It was never stated exactly what the first Lord Rathbone did to become a millionaire. He could have been a newspaper baron of Fleet Street, and Twiggy Rathbone took over that livelihood as well.

And one of the papers in his publishing empire of Rathouse, Ltd. would have been the Crucible, as seen on 'Hot Metal'.

Just a thought.....

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

BRACKETSVILLE, FLA. (ROUND 2)

Today we enter Round Two of the Sitcom Star Wars competition being held by the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville. The initial group of 64 contenders have been halved and it appears that for the most part, the voters went with the great classic characters.

It was sad to see some of the greats fall by the wayside, like Dr. Bob Hartley (aka Dick Louden), as well as Schultz, Klinger, Fish, and Jethro. (Granny might have fared better as a rep for 'The Beverly Hillbillies.)

My personal heart-breaker was having to choose between Rob Petrie and Mary Richards, and I thought it looked for sure as if Mayr would lose. But she survived the challenge to throw her cap into the air for at least one more round.

The biggest upset to my mind was that of Ed Norton's loss to Jack Tripper. As Vizzini would say, that's inconceivable!

So here we are, round two, with a hardened crew of 32 playuhs ready to do battle. You have until Thursday at midnight to enter and play, with the results leading to Round Three to be announced on Sunday.

Round Two
BRACKET A
1) Choose 1
1. Barney Fife, The Andy Griffith Show
8. Mary Richards, Mary Tyler Moore

2) Choose 1
5. George Jefferson, The Jeffersons
4. Ted Baxter, Mary Tyler Moore

3) Choose 1
6. The Rev. Jim Ignatowski, Taxi
3. Phoebe Buffay, Friends

4) Choose 1
7. Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable, The Cosby Show
2. Louie DePalma, Taxi

BRACKET B
1) Choose 1
1. Archie Bunker, All in the Family
8. Edith Bunker, All in the Family

2) Choose 1
5. Cosmo Kramer, Seinfeld
13. Felix Unger, The Odd Couple

3) Choose 1
6. Arthur Fonzarelli, Happy Days
3. Fred Sanford, Sanford and Son

4) Choose 1
10. Jack McFarland, Will & Grace
2. George Costanza, Seinfeld

BRACKET C
1) Choose 1
1. Homer Simpson, The Simpsons
8. Alex P. Keaton, Family Ties

2) Choose 1
12. Eddie Haskell, Leave it to Beaver
4. Frasier Crane, Frasier

3) Choose 1
11. Jack Tripper, Three's Company
14. Gilligan, Gilligan's Island

4) Choose 1
10. Frank Barone, Everybody Loves Raymond
2. Ralph Kramden, The Honeymooners

BRACKET D
1) Choose 1
1. Lucy Ricardo, I Love Lucy
8. Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, M*A*S*H

2) Choose 1
5. Norm Peterson, Cheers
4. Al Bundy, Married With Children

3) Choose 1
10. Mork, Mork & Mindy
14. Maxwell Smart, Get Smart

4) Choose 1
7. Les Nessman, WKRP in Cincinnati
2. Cliff Claven, Cheers

I don't want to say who I voted for because I don't want to sway your vote. Shyeah! Like you'd care who I picked! (And I'm only voting once; I'm not one to go back and stuff the balloting!)

Here are the sitcom characters who didn't survive Round One:

Miss Piggy, The Muppet Show
Rob Petrie, The Dick Van Dyke Show
Roseanne Conner, Roseanne
Dan Fielding, Night Court
Dwight Schrute, The Office
Benson DuBois, Soap/Benson
Dr. Perry Cox, Scrubs
Steve Urkel, Family Matters
Maude Findlay, Maude
Dr. Robert Hartley/Dick Louden, The Bob Newhart Show/Newhart
Arnold Jackson, Diff'rent Strokes
Murphy Brown, Murphy Brown
Mimi Bobeck, The Drew Carey Show
Flo Castleberry, Alice/Flo
Suzanne Sugarbaker, Designing Women
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Stewie Griffin, The Family Guy
Lowell Mather, Wings
Eric Cartman, South Park
Niles Crane, Frasier
Ed Norton, The Honeymooners
Will Smith, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Sophia Petrillo, The Golden Girls
Fez, That '70s Show
Samuel "Screech" Powers, Saved by the Bell
Cpl. Maxwell Klinger, M*A*S*H
Sgt. Hans Georg Schultz, Hogan's Heroes
Det. Phil Fish, Barney Miller
JJ Evans, Good Times
Jethro Bodine, The Beverly Hillbillies
Bill McNeal, NewsRadio
Bernie Mac MacCullough, The Bernie Mac Show

Good men and women all, stout of heart. But somebody had to drink the Brefnish.....

Here's the link so that you may begin voting. Remember, the deadline is midnight on Thursday!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby


PS:
And don't forget to vote in Round Two for the Current TV Character competition. You have until Thursday to make your voice heard in Chicago for that one as well..... (The link can be found in the previous post.)

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

BRACKETSVILLE, ILL. (ROUND 2)

Round Two for the Chicago TV Character Wars is underway. Here's how the first round match-ups fared:

First-round results

1. Jack Bauer, “24” def. Darnell “Crabman” Turner, “My Name is Earl”

2. Adrian Monk, “Monk” def. Denny Crane, “Boston Legal”

3. Sawyer Ford, “Lost” def. Barney Stinson, “How I Met Your Mother”

4. Hiro Nakamura, “Heroes” def. Dr. Miranda Bailey, “Grey’s Anatomy”

5. Jack Donaghy, “30 Rock” def. Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell, “Prison Break”

6. Glenn Quagmire, “Family Guy” def. Wilhelmina Slater, “Ugly Betty”

7. Ari Gold, “Entourage” def. Joy Turner, “My Name is Earl”

8. Darren Lamb, “Extras” def. Lt. Horatio Crane, “CSI:Miami”

9. Tony Soprano, “The Sopranos” def. Shawn Spencer, “Psych”

10. Dwight Schrute, “The Office” def. Celia Hodes, “Weeds”

11. Veronica Mars, “Veronica Mars” def. Stewie Griffin, “Family Guy”

12. Dr. Gregory House, “House” def. Dr. J.D. Dorian, “Scrubs”

13. Capt. Kara Thrace, “Battlestar Galactica” def. Michael Scott, “The Office”

14. Betty Suarez, “Ugly Betty” def. Tracy Jordan, “30 Rock”

15. Lynette Scavo, “Desperate Housewives” def. Smash Williams, “Friday Night Lights”

16. Homer Simpson, “The Simpsons” def. Dr. Christian Troy, “Nip/Tuck”

This being an election based in Chicago, the adage "Vote Early, Vote Often" certainly applied in some of the challenges. The folks at the Chicago Tribune's "Red Eye" know that there are support factions for certain characters out there, specifically for Veronica Mars.

Apparently there was momentum behind Dwight Schrute as well, since he wiped the floor with Celia Hodes. But those fans of 'The Office' couldn't help Michael Scott in his battle against the late Starbuck.

That's another great election story - losing to a dead TV character!

But the folks at "Red Eye" support such tactics and hope to see it lead to an even bigger response as they move on to the next round.

Here's another great election result that came out this - Sawyer beat Barney by one vote! So your vote really does make a difference!

Here are the match-ups for Round Two:

Sweet Sixteen match-ups

1. Jack Bauer, “24” vs. Adrian Monk, “Monk”

2. Sawyer Ford, “Lost” vs. Hiro Nakamura, “Heroes”

3. Jack Donaghy, “30 Rock” vs. Glenn Quagmire, “Family Guy”

4. Ari Gold, “Entourage” vs. Darren Lamb, “Extras”

5. Tony Soprano, “The Sopranos” vs. Dwight Schrute, “The Office”

6. Veronica Mars, “Veronica Mars” vs. Dr. Gregory House, "House"

7. Capt. Kara Thrace, “Battlestar Galactica” vs. Betty Suarez, "Ugly Betty"

8. Lynette Scavo, “Desperate Housewives” vs. Homer Simpson, “The Simpsons”

The voting for Round Two is open until 10 am on Thursday, so click here to make your vote count!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

Monday, March 12, 2007

LINKIN' CASE: A FLAG ON THE TELE-PLAY

While writing about the televersion of 'Captain America' last week, I noticed that in his origin story, the "super-soldier serum" was identified as the FLAG Formula. This could mean that the serum was developed by the Foundation for Law And Government, an organization started by Wilton Knight.

FLAG is better known for the R&D that led to the creation of KITT, the Knight Industries Two Thousand car seen in 'Knight Rider'. And it could be that this same FLAG Formula was used to revive and rejuvenate Michael Knight when he was near death after being shot.

As Mushrat would say, it's pozz'ble, it's poss'ble.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

BRACKETSVILLE, ILLINOIS

I only just discovered a few minutes ago that the Chicago Tribune is also running its own TV character March Madness "Bracketsville" competition. The first round is open until 4 pm Chicago time today, so there's really very little time to get your vote in!

REDEYE'S CHARACTER WARS
Greetings, fellow TV addicts. After laboring to compile a list of TV's best characters, we narrowed our list to the 32 bizarre, funny, neurotic and brilliant creations you see below. You have until 4 p.m. on March 12 to vote in this round before we declare winners and move on to the Sweet Sixteen. We've posted YouTube videos of all of them so start watching, start voting and may the best character win.

Here are the pairings for the first face-off:

1. Jack Bauer, “24” vs. Darnell “Crabman” Turner, “My Name is Earl”

2. Denny Crane, “Boston Legal” vs. Adrian Monk, “Monk”

3. Barney Stinson, “How I Met Your Mother,” vs. Sawyer Ford, “Lost”

4. Hiro Nakamura, “Heroes” vs. Dr. Miranda Bailey, “Grey’s Anatomy”

5. Jack Donaghy, “30 Rock” vs. Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell, “Prison Break”

6. Glenn Quagmire, “Family Guy” vs. Wilhelmina Slater, “Ugly Betty”

7. Ari Gold, “Entourage” vs. Joy Turner, “My Name is Earl”

8. Lt. Horatio Crane, “CSI:Miami” vs. Darren Lamb, “Extras”

9. Tony Soprano, “The Sopranos” vs. Shawn Spencer, “Psych”

10. Dwight Schrute, “The Office” vs. Celia Hodes, “Weeds”

11. Stewie Griffin, “Family Guy” vs. Veronica Mars, “Veronica Mars”

12. Dr. Gregory House, “House” vs. Dr. J.D. Dorian, “Scrubs”

13. Michael Scott, “The Office” vs. Capt. Kara Thrace, “Battlestar Galactica”

14. Betty Suarez, “Ugly Betty” vs. Tracy Jordan, “30 Rock”

15. Lynette Scavo, “Desperate Housewives” vs. Smash Williams, “Friday Night Lights”

16. Homer Simpson, “The Simpsons” vs. Dr. Christian Troy, “Nip/Tuck”

Several surprises for me as I voted. Hiro is trailing the Nazi, for starters! I voted for Veronica and Darren, thinking them both to be sacrifical lambs (literally a Lamb in Darren's case), but they're actually beating their competitors. The biggest upset looks to be Dwight over Celia.

As with the Sitcom Star Wars from the Florida Times-Union, I'll keep you up to date right down to the final battle.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

Sunday, March 11, 2007

MISSING LINKS: "SPACED" & "THE X-FILES"

Over at the LiveJournal for "Tommy Westphall's Mind" (link to the left), RAF posted this comment:

This is kind of strange but it might count

Apparently a BBC sitcom called Spaced filmed a scene were one of the main characters met Dana Scully from the X-Files, however the scene was cut before the episode aired.

I know this is a long shot and I have never even seen Spaced so I have no idea what the context of the conversation would have been, but from what I have read the show sounds interesting.

I looked into this and found the following information at the IMDb.com:

The opening of episode 1.7 was originally intended to feature Tim having a conversation with a fictional character. Originally, this was intended to be Lara Croft, the heroine of the 'Tomb Raider' video game series, but the writers were not granted clearance to use the character. The scene was reworked to feature FBI agent Dana Scully of the TV show "The X Files" (1993) and the producers had even considered approaching Gillian Anderson, (Dana Scully), to fill the role, but the scene was eventually filmed with a lookalike. Writer and star 'Jessica Stevenson' was going to dub the voice of Scully, but the scene was cut and never completed.

Most other websites repeat that same information, so I don't think it even shows up as an extra or hidden feature on the DVD compilation. So as intriguing as it sounds, the crossover possibility fails to meet even the lax standards of Toobworld, let alone those of my Westphallian compadres who are strict disciplinarians. (But then they have to be, considering the premise that they're following.)

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

SITCOM BRACKETSVILLE

March Madness Time!

Thanks to my fellow "Iddiot", the turba-charged Dr. Bobt, I learned about the Sitcom Star Wars event being held by the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville. It's a classic case of "Bracketsville", with 64 sitcom characters vying against each other to see who will emerge as Top Dawg over the next three weeks.

The competition began today and you can find out how you can participate by clicking here. (Their criteria was pretty simple: only characters from American sitcoms - Sorry, Basil. Better luck next time, Patsy! And by "sitcom", they mean shows of 30 minutes in length that were intentionally funny. No 'Desperate Housewives', 'Ally McBeal', 'Northern Exposure', or - forgive me, Jack Webb's ghost! - 'Dragnet'.)

Right now, there are four brackets, each with 8 face-offs of two characters each. I've already taken part in Round One and it appears that I'm voting with the majority so far.

The Majority. The Majority. Let's hear from the Majority.....

They've even provided a PDF of the brackets so you can print it out and play along at home.

Here are the competitors:

Bracket A
1) Choose one
1. Barney Fife, The Andy Griffith Show
16. Miss Piggy, The Muppet Show

2) Choose one
8. Mary Richards, The Mary Tyler Moore Show
9. Rob Petrie, The Dick Van Dyke Show

3) Choose one
5. George Jefferson, The Jeffersons
12. Roseanne Conner, Roseanne

4) Choose one
4. Ted Baxter, The Mary Tyler Moore Show
13. Dan Fielding, Night Court

5) Choose one
6. The Rev. Jim Ignatowski, Taxi
11. Dwight Schrute, The Office

6) Choose one
3. Phoebe Buffay, Friends
14. Benson DuBois, Soap/Benson

7) Choose one
7. Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable, The Cosby Show
10. Dr. Perry Cox, Scrubs

8) Choose one
2. Louie DePalma, Taxi
15. Steve Urkel, Family Matters


Bracket B
1) Choose one
1. Archie Bunker, All in the Family
16. Maude Findlay, Maude

2) Choose one
8. Edith Bunker, All in the Family
9. Dr. Robert Hartley/Dick Loudon, The Bob Newhart Show/Newhart

3) Choose one
5. Cosmo Kramer, Seinfeld
12. Arnold Jackson, Diff'rent Strokes

4) Choose one
4. Murphy Brown, Murphy Brown
13. Felix Unger, The Odd Couple

5) Choose one
6. Arthur Fonzarelli, Happy Days
11. Mimi Bobeck, The Drew Carey Show

6) Choose one
3. Fred Sanford, Sanford and Son
14. Flo Castleberry, Alice/Flo

7) Choose one
7. Suzanne Sugarbaker, Designing Women
10. Jack McFarland, Will & Grace

8) Choose one
2. George Costanza, Seinfeld
15. Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm


Bracket C
1) Choose one
1. Homer Simpson, The Simpsons
16. Stewie Griffin, The Family Guy

2) Choose one
8. Alex P. Keaton, Family Ties
9. Lowell Mather, Wings

3) Choose one
5. Eric Cartman, South Park
12. Eddie Haskell, Leave it to Beaver

4) Choose one
4. Frasier Crane, Frasier
13. Niles Crane, Frasier

5) Choose one
6. Ed Norton, The Honeymooners
11. Jack Tripper, Three's Company

6) Choose one
3. Will Smith, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
14. Gilligan, Gilligan's Island

7) Choose one
7. Sophia Petrillo, The Golden Girls
10. Frank Barone, Everybody Loves Raymond

8) Choose one
2. Ralph Kramden, The Honeymooners
15. Fez, That '70s Show


Bracket D
1) Choose one
1. Lucy McGillicuddy Ricardo, I Love Lucy
16. Samuel "Screech" Powers, Saved by the Bell

2) Choose one
8. Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, M*A*S*H
9. Cpl. Maxwell Klinger, M*A*S*H

3) Choose one
5. Norm Peterson, Cheers
12. Sgt. Hans Georg Schultz, Hogan's Heroes

4) Choose one
4. Al Bundy, Married With Children
13. Det. Phil Fish, Barney Miller

5) Choose one
7. JJ Evans, Good Times
10. Mork, Mork & Mindy

6) Choose one
3. Jethro Bodine, The Beverly Hillbillies
14. Maxwell Smart, Get Smart

7) Choose one
7. Les Nessman, WKRP in Cincinnati
10. Bill McNeal, NewsRadio

8) Choose one
2. Cliff Claven, Cheers
15. Bernie "Mac" McCullough, The Bernie Mac Show


In case you don't know who some of those characters are (But then, what are you doing here???), the paper has provided their profiles which might help sway your vote one way or the other.

There seem to be a lot of choices that are wildly uneven, in a David vs. Goliath sort of way - but which David doesn't have a slingshot in hell of winning: Lucy vs. Screech? Fonzie vs. Mimi?

And there was one category, almost right off the bat, which broke my heart when I had to make the choice between them: Mary Richards vs. Rob Petrie. Maybe at the end of the road I could have more easily have decided between them, but in Round One? It's hard to believe one or the other will not be getting any further than that.

Sorry, Mayr. I love you, but......

At least she made it to Round One. The creators of this Sitcom Bracketsville had 300 original choices which they whittled down to the 64. (This is what the movie "300" must be about. LOL!)

Among those who didn't get this far:

Dr. Johnny Fever, WKRP in Cincinnati
Ellen Morgan, Ellen
Fred Mertz, I Love Lucy
Granny Clampett, The Beverly Hillbillies
Larry, Daryll and Daryll, Newhart
Montgomery Burns, The Simpsons
Rudy Huxtable, The Cosby Show
Karen Walker, Will & Grace
Chandler Bing, Friends
Sue Ann Nivens, Mary Tyler Moore
Miles Silverberg, Murphy Brown
Darlene Connor, Roseanne
Oscar Madison, The Odd Couple
Mr. Furley, Three's Company
Earl Hickey, My Name is Earl
Balki Bartokomous, Perfect Strangers
Jeannie, I Dream of Jeannie
Elliot Carlin, The Bob Newhart Show
Fred Flintstone, The Flintstones
Barney Rubble, The Flintstones
Red Forman, That '70s Show
Bender, Futurama
Dennis Finch, Just Shoot Me
Peter Griffin, The Family Guy
Rose Nylund, The Golden Girls
Luther Van Dam, Coach

I don't understand how characters like Darlene, Rudy, Miles, or Red could be considered, but at least I can thank the Powers That Be that Karen Walker didn't make the cut. Bleep, how I hated her!!!

I guess there was only room for one pig in the top 64, but I would have chosen Arnold Ziffel as a contender. Come to think of it, I think 'The Muppet Show' only just barely fits the criteria for a sitcom.

So visit the site and make your choices; and keep checking back to vote until the ultimate winner is announced.

Maybe there will be a Thunderdome caged death-match for the finals.

Two go in; one comes out!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby