THE LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES (9/25-10/8/05)

The League Of Themselves is one of the components which separates Toobworld from other sites that explore TV crossovers. The members of the League are those people, usually famous, who appear as themselves in episodes of fictional TV shows.

Other sites reject their inclusion as possible links because they exist in the Real World unlike the other characters. But it's my contention that we ALL exist in Toobworld; some of us just haven't seen our tele-versions pop up on TV yet. But thanks to the widespread use of amateur video in and to shows like 'America's Funniest Home Videos', more and more of us are becoming members of the League Of Themselves.

As a matter of fact, I expect to see one of my brothers on 'Cops' every week......

I don't see why Real People appearing as themselves on dramas and sitcoms should be excluded from consideration. They're in fictional settings, doing fictional things, saying fictional dialogue. These aren't the same people as they are in the real world, so why can't we consider Pauly Shore in episodes of 'Entourage' be just as much of a TV character as Paulie Walnuts on 'The Sopranos'?

For the first two weeks of the new Fall TV season, there was quite a burst of activity for the League Of Themselves as each show (mostly the returning series) made a bid to gain attention. And two of those series, both on HBO, deal in the world of show business, so they an always be counted on to provide new members to the roster. (HBO had two other series doing the same thing over the summer - 'The Comeback' and the aforementioned 'Entourage'.)

So here's a quick rundown of the latest membership rolls and wherever possible we'll include a few of the other links created by these appearances. (The fictional ones only.)

MY NAME IS EARL
Carson Daly
'Undergrads' (the Tooniverse)
'Movie Stars'
'Sabrina The Teenage Witch'
Trace Adkins

BERNIE MAC
Charles Barkley
'Arli$$'
'Martin'
'V.I.P.'
'Hangin' With Mr. Cooper'
Adam Carolla
'Fired Up'
'Son Of The Beach'
'Dawson's Creek'
'Two Guys, A Girl, And A Pizza Place'

EXTRAS
Kate Winslet
Ben Stiller
'The Larry Sanders Show'
'Curb Your Enthusiasm'

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
Richard Lewis
'The Larry Sanders Show'
'Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist' (Tooniverse)
Ted Danson
'Diagnosis Murder'
'Ellen'
Rosie O'Donnell
'The Nanny'
'Spin City'
'Suddenly, Susan'
'Beverly Hills, 90210'
Wanda Sykes
'Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist' (Tooniverse)

GEORGE LOPEZ
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

CUTS
The Ying Yang Twins

ACCORDING TO JIM
Hugh Hefner
'Entourage'
'Just Shoot Me!'
'Roseanne'
'Sex And The City'
'Buddy Faro'
'Blossom'
'V.I.P.'
'The Fresh Prince Of Bel Aire'
'The Larry Sanders Show'
'The Simpsons' (Tooniverse)
'Laverne And Shirley'
'The Odd Couple'
'Burke's Law'

Whew!

And those were just the guests from the first two weeks! I think we'll see quite an expansion of the TV Universe over the coming season....

BCnU!
Tele-Toby