CROSSOVER OF THE WEEK!

This looks to be a good year for blipvert crossovers with Television shows. Just before the new year, we had Frank and Marian Barone of 'Everybody Loves Raymond' in a variation on an Alka Seltzer classic. (It is currently in heavy rotation on many networks.)

And there's a couple of despairing domestic engineers in a beverage blipvert that I'm holding in reserve for the dry spell I've been expecting since January. (As it turns out, I had another week with three contenders for top dawg crossover. This is all due to the disruption caused by that 900 lb. gorilla known as the Olympics.)

Anyway, the Crossover of the Week happened in a commercial that premiered during the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. It was for Debit MasterCard, and as the narration by Billy Crudup pointed out, having the ability to buy the everyday things that could help you get out of any kind of jam was priceless.

What kind of everyday things? A pine-tree air freshener to cut your restraints, tube socks to slide down a wire, and a ballpoint pen, rubber bands, paper clips, tweezers, nasal spray and a turkey baster to hot-wire an old truck.

And who would buy such things in case of such an emergency? None other than Angus 'MacGyver'!

THE CROSSOVER OF THE WEEK!
'DEBIT MASTERCARD' & 'MacGYVER'

(At the end of the blipvert, MacGyver is in a convenience store purchasing an array of off-the-cuff items, awkwardly avoiding the questioning looks of the cashier.)

Twelve years after he was last seen in Toobworld, - and almost a year after the death of his old friend Pete Thornton, - the action hero of the Phoenix Foundation proved that he still had what it takes to get out of a tight fix.

The blipvert also showed that should Richard Dean Anderson ever consider a return to the airwaves as 'MacGyver', a slot on the sked will be available for him.

And if not, we can probably squeeze him in using a clothespin, a shoelace, and no-fat butter substitute.

As Paul Alvarado-Dykstra of robogeek.com put it: "I really love this spot, which is a megadose of pure robogeek joy (though it falls just short of perfection due to the lack of a Dennis McCarthy score).

One can only hope that Paramount will wake up, smell the coffee, and make a smart, fun, suspenseful and action-packed MacGyver movie with Anderson - not to mention Teri Hatcher and Bruce McGill (reprising their recurring roles of Penny Parker and Jack Dalton)."

Richard Dean Anderson had no qualms and happily no apologies for using the blipvert forum to make MacGyver's return to Toobworld.

“While I've had offers to bring the MacGyver character back to life, MasterCard had the sense of humor I felt was needed to bring the character back,” he said. “The commercial really speaks to how oftentimes everyday items are truly 'priceless' and can serve as life savers.”

And if they were watching the Super Bowl in Springfield, Patty and Selma Bouvier exhaled their cigarette smoke with deep satisfaction.....

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"There's a time to be Daniel Boone,

And there's a time to be a plumber."
Angus MacGyver
'MacGYVER'