PLAYING POLITICS

I mentioned in the earlier post about Larry King that 'Spin City' had to be sent packing to another TV dimension because they had Randall Winston as mayor of NYC. The rest of Toobworld acknowledged the real mayor, Rudy Giuliani, as the man holding the second toughest job in America. This is the reason why a show situated in Earth Prime-Time must accept that the current President of the United States is the POTUS of their world as well. Too many other shows will be doing so, and to go against the grain leaves them outside the party tent. And that's why shows like '24', 'The West Wing', 'Commander In Chief' etc. have to go their own way in the wilderness of alternate dimensions.

I used to take a pretty hard line with the portrayal of political leaders up and down the line when it came to Toobworld. I remember I wanted to shunt an episode of 'Law & Order' over to the mirror universe just because they created a fictional governor of Connecticut. The plotline was a "ripped from the headlines" murder case that combined the sexual revelations of the New Jersey governor with the criminal malfeasance of the Connecticut governor. I didn't think this was right, as Jim McGreevey and John Rowland were all over the news each night, so they had Toobworld presence.

But maybe I should just ignore the news of the Real World unless it actually comes into play in the fictional realm of Toobworld? Because two political positions have had me wondering how to play them out for Toobworld.....

The first one happened last season, and will continue to make an impact this season, on 'Brothers & Sisters'. Rob Lowe was introduced as California Senator Robert McCallister. The senator hired Kitty Walker to work on his campaign team as he sought the Republican nomination for the Presidency. Eventually he became involved with Kitty and Rob Lowe became a regular on the show.

In an alternate dimension, we know he did occupy the Oval Office, but that's many decades from now as McCallister is still just a kid in 2007 there (as was seen in 'Jack & Bobby'). The problem here is not that he'd win the election - he probably won't even get close to the nomination by the end of this coming season. If he did, it would screw up the thrust of the storyline for the other characters on 'Brothers & Sisters'. The problem is that if Toobworld is supposed to be like the Real World (aside from the androids, talking animals, and alien invasions etc), then wouldn't the senators from California be Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein?

Barbara Boxer has already established a tele-version for herself in Toobworld, with enough appearances in fictional plotlines to even qualify for membership in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, League of Themselves Wing:

"K Street"
- Week 3 (2003) TV Episode (as Sen. Barbara Boxer)

"Gilmore Girls"
- Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days (2002) TV Episode (as Senator Barbara Boxer)

"Murphy Brown"
- Brown vs. the Board of Education (1994) TV Episode

But Senator Feinstein only has appearances on talk shows to her credit, as far as I can tell from the IMDb.com. She hasn't been fully embraced into the Toobworld mythology.
So, as it stands right now, we can probably make the assumption that the two senators from TV-California are Barbara Boxer and Robert McCallister. If some other show comes along with MORE California senators, they'll probably have to be dumped into the worlds of 'The West Wing' or '24' (unless enough time has passed that one or the other could have been voted out of office).

The other show that might give me some trouble hasn't yet premiered, but I got to see a sneak peek of its pilot: 'Dirty, Sexy Money'. The oldest son of the family is Patrick Darling IV, and he's apparently the District Attorney for New York running for the Senate.

This is a problem. And I'm not even considering the fact that Robert Morgenthau - Pruneface's brother from 'Dick Tracy' - is the real District Attorney for New York. Toobworld already has a District Attorney, thanks to the 'Law & Order' empire. Currently we're between seasons of the show and when it returns, Arthur Branch will no longer hold the position. Instead, longtime ADA Jack McCoy will be stepping into the job.

I can't even say that the references to "District Attorney of New York" meant the state level; that's the state, not a district. Forget the fact that Andrew Cuomo holds the office; the official title of the position is "Attorney General of New York". So there's one option blown out of the water.

As it stands now, unless there are serious changes to Patrick Darling's character during these rewrites/retoolings I'm hearing about, 'Dirty Sexy Money' would have to be shunted over to the world of 'The West Wing'.

However, there is one possible splainin that might save the situation. The one scene where it really comes up occurs between Patrick and new family lawyer, Nick George. Nick refers to Patrick as the District Attorney of New York, and that one day he'll be the Senator from New York. (Possibly replacing Hillary should she be elected President?) As such, it's about time he stood up and found the courage to fix his own mistakes.

Here's wha' hoppint, as Ricky Ricardo would say. Nick simply mis-spoke. He said "District Attorney" when he meant "Attorney General". And Patrick didn't correct him. Not because he was being polite - I don't think the Darling Family has it in them to be polite to others. But it was because Patrick's mind was too focused on the tranny hooker mistress who was waiting for him at some dive hotel.

Oh wait. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called her a tranny hooker mistress. She's not a hooker.

Once/if Patrick Darling IV is elected to the Senate, maybe then we can re-examine the situation and find a better splainin to cover it all up.

Because that's what you do with the Darling Family, right? Cover it all up......

BCnU!
Toby OB