Showing posts with label La Triviata. Show all posts
Showing posts with label La Triviata. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

"THE RIFLEMAN" - FAKER OATS

'THE RIFLEMAN'
"Home Ranch"
After two of Oat Jackford’s cowhands burn the McCain’s house, drag Lucas, and steal his rifle, Lucas goes to hunt Jackford and his men to inform them that he and his boy are there to stay.

"The Money Gun"
Bookkeeper Asa Manning hires a professional gunman to provoke his client, a bully rancher who suspects him of embezzlement, into a gunfight.

"Trail Of Hate"
Lucas goes on a hunt for bank robbers after Mark is badly hurt while being held hostage.

From "The Rifleman Episode Guide List"

 When Lucas McCain's ranch-house was burned down by some of Oat Jackford's men, McCain went hunting for his neighboring rancher to settle the score.

The only thing was, the man he found wasn't the real Oat Jackford, even though his own cowhands believed him to be.
He was Ben Stark, a criminal passing himself off as Oat Jackford, who must have been out of North Fork on business. As for the ranch hands, Stark probably hired them, telling them that he was Oat Jackford. He then kept them out on the plains to avoid meeting anybody else in Jackford's employ or family and thereby learning the truth.

I can't say why Ben Stark was pulling this scheme, but he must have been planning to steal something large from Jackford. Maybe it was statuary, something akin to the MacCready Bust (as seen in 'Alias Smith And Jones'.) Perhaps he was going to intercept a shipment coming in on the stage, maybe it was the payroll for the real ranch hands. (And if so, he probably created a ruse to get the real Oat Jackford out of town.)
So Ben Stark needed those itinerant ranch hands to help him get it loaded onto a wagon.

The altercation with Lucas McCain would have been a kink in the plan, but he turned it to his advantage. The real Oat Jackford might have killed Lucas McCain for his insolence and for the beating Luke gave to him. But instead, the fake Oat Jackford sent those new hired hands over to build a new house for Lucas and his son. (They used building supplies bought in town and most likely charged to Oat Jackford's account.)

Nearly two years later, Ben Stark returned to North Fork with his brother and another cowhand in order to rob the bank. Lucas McCain didn't recognize him, or so it looked, but Stark must have chose Lucas as his patsy because he remembered the earlier incident.
How the real Oat Jackford reacted once he returned to North Fork was never made available for viewing by the Trueniverse audience, of course. But it must have contributed to the surly, belligerent attitude displayed by Jackford when he came into town to face down a hired gun. More than likely, he decided to keep quiet about the theft and the expenses incurred to re-build the McCain ranch house rather than be seen as a fool by the rest of the town......
The REAL Oat Jackford

BCnU!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

"ALPHAS" BITS

The pilot for 'Alphas' provided several bits of trivia which could theoretically link the series about mutants (for lack of a more capsulated term) who work together in a secret government project.

1) 'CSI: NY'
This is the most blatant connection. At least one member of the NYC CSI team can be seen outside the Thompson Hotel after a man jumped to his death. It doesn't have to be any particular character from the CBS show; a lot more people would be working in that department besides the six or seven we'd see on a weekly basis.

2) The 'Law & Order' franchise
The New York Sentinel is a paper modeled on the New York Times style, a rival to the NY Ledger which is more of a tabloid paper. If I remember correctly, it shows up in the later years for the opening credits of 'Murder, She Wrote' once Jessica Fletcher moved to Manhattan, but I can't be sure on that.  However, it did appear in an episode of the series where it sported a tabloid style of its own.  (It must have been a temporary experiment to increase sales.)


3) Honda Civic commercial, "The Prize"

As far as I can tell, Crunchy-O's is a fictional cereal. (The more healthy-oriented Early Harvest may be a fiction cereal as well.) But it was used in a blipvert for the Honda Civic and the giant version of the cereal box doesn't give any indication of a manufacturer's name (Arnold's Acres?), which I think would have been verboten if there was a product placement crossover.




4) 'Lost'
And finally, one of "The Numbers" from the sequence featured in 'Lost' was displayed in the interrogation room where a Federal witness was assassinated.......

BCnU!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

ON THE PHONE WITH BETTY FORD

With her appearance on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' as herself, the late First Lady Betty Ford engaged in one of the oldest TV and movie cliches ever.....

I don't know of anybody who's done this in real life. Well, I've done it on occasion - when somebody's told me something incredulous and it made me think of the cliche. But then I go and ruin the effect by telling the person on the other end of the call what I've just done.

It does seem like an outdated cliche now in the age of the cell phone......

BCnU!

Friday, July 8, 2011

FOUR COLOR WORLD

Here are the first three webisodes of the 'Warehouse 13' online adventure "Of Monsters And Men". The reason why the first chapter is so long is because half of it is a Prius blipvert... and clumsily handled, unfortunately......




That comic book rack may have been in the diner where the comic book universe adventures of the a-Ha video of 'Take On Me' took place........


BCnU!



Friday, July 1, 2011

DRESS-UP DOCTOR WHO: FEZZES & MOPS

In the season finale for Matt Smith's first year playing the Doctor, he was sporting not only a Fez and he popped up in the distant past, but also a mop.



The Doctor made the look rock. After all, fezzes - and probably mops as well - are cool.

But he apparently already knew that, as he tried them both out back in his seventh incarnation......


BCnU!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

HAIL RUKOVIA!

With its penultimate episode (of a much too short life of five episodes before cancellation), 'CHAOS' gave Toobworld a parting gift: the nation of Rukovia was added to the atlas.

Rukovia appears to be Eastern European, slowly and painfully throwing off the chains of tyranny with free elections. It may have once been under Soviet domination and can probably be counted among the satellite nations in the UCR.

It was never stated as to what "UCR" stood for in "The Play", an episode of 'Mission: Impossible', but it could have been "United Communist Republics", a small off-shoot of the USSR.

Here are a few other nations that could have been part of such a confederation:

Argonia ('The Adventures Of Superman')

Boldavia ('Night Court')

Boravia ('Danger Man')

Drublegratz ('The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.')

Povia ('Mission: Impossible')

Tavilia ('The Amazing Spiderman')

Zemenia ('Monk')

Adding Zemenia as one of the possibilities is like waving a red cape at a charging bull. I have a reader who is incensed by the whole idea of the fictional country of Zemenia as seen on TV. Somehow she (at least I think the commenter is female) sees that episode of 'Monk' as an insult to her own people.....
I'm glad I can keep Toobworld separate from the real world.

Well, I have to go now. I need to clean out the tray in my talking toaster-oven.....

BCnU!

QUANTUM WEEP

What keeps a televisiologist from getting a good night's sleep?

What would happen if a Weeping Angel touched Dr. Sam Beckett while he was living the life of a "leapee"? Would he be sent back further in Time or would that happen to the leapee? What if the Angel touched him as he was leaping out?
SHOWS CITED:
'Doctor Who'
'Quantum Leap'

BCnU!

"L&O: CI" FINALE SHOCKER - GOREN BREAKS THE LAW!

The series finale of 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent" ended on a nebulous note - would Detective Robert Goren be able to reconcile himself to a career which he loved but which was driving him crazy? Would he see his partner, Detective Alexandra Eames, as a romantic interest? (When he saw her on the street, he called her "Alex" for the first time in the show's history.)

I couldn't bring myself to think about that as I watched them drive away in the show's conclusion, however. I was too busy screaming at the screen: "Buckle up, you fools! It's the Law!"

BCnU!

Monday, June 20, 2011

"FRANKLIN & BASH": WELCOME TO THE CLUB!

From 'Guiding Light'
With their second episode out of the box, 'Franklin & Bash' made their Toobworld occupancy legit. (The Toobworld Dynamic believes just about every show belongs in Earth Prime-Time; it just might take some time to find the proof to make it official.)

While doing a little research into their firm's latest murder case, Jared Franklin discovered that a large bet had been placed at an online betting parlor against a successful outcome.
To illustrate the case for bettors, the website used the cover of the National Inquisitor, which splashed lurid details about the case: "She Came Upstairs And Killed Me.")

In 2003, the National Inquisitor became a member of the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame for its use in episodes of 'The Naked Truth', 'Guiding Light', 'Wiseguy', 'Columbo', 'Alf', and 'The Bold & The Beautiful', among others.

And now we can add 'Franklin & Bash' to the mix!

BCnU!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

ECHOES: STAN LAUREL - THE LIVING WAXWORK

Stan Laurel was born 121 years ago today......

The Wax Stan Laurel with Rimmer
"Red Dwarf"
The Wax Stan Laurel (and Oliver Hardy) with Maxwell Smart
"Get Smart"
BCnU!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

NEW 2 VIEW @ TOOB HQ: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Sure, it's my birthday now, but I get myself presents all the time.

At any rate, here are the latest acquisitions for the Toobworld Central DVD Library:

1) BENNY HILL: THE LOST YEARS

2) THE BENNY HILL SHOW MEGA-SET

3) MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS - THE COMPLETE SERIES MEGA-SET

4) SHERLOCK HOLMES (with Peter Cushing & Nigel Stock)

5) JOHN ADAMS

6) TERRY PRATCHETT'S THE COLOUR OF MAGIC

7)  FLYING BLIND

8) STEPHEN SONDHEIM'S PUTTING IT TOGETHER

With that last item, there's a personal connection - my sister and I were at the recording of that show, so we got to see Carol Burnett's fashioin faux pas.  And with 'Flying Blind', I can get the screen grabs to illustrate a new theory of relateeveety that will connect the show to 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'......

Thursday, May 19, 2011

THE DREAM POLICE

It's not unusual for me to have television dreams, usually after watching something on the DVR just before I go to bed. In some of these dreams, I'm a participant, but in most of them I'm an observer - just not with the bald head and wearing a grey flannel suit and fedora.

It happened early this morning and unfortunately I woke up just as it was getting good......

Late last night, I listened to Episode 3 of the BBC Radio 4 presentation of "Cobwebs", a 'Doctor Who' audio play by Big Finish. In the first episode, the fifth incarnation of the Doctor and his companions Nyssa, Tegan, and Turlough discovered their own skeletal remains.

After Episode 3 ended, I popped in the Netflix disc of the first two episodes of 'Dalziel And Pascoe' so I could finish it off and get it into the mail today before pick-up.

With the second episode, Dalziel and Pascoe discovered the skeletal remains of a murder victim under the base of a statue that was being relocated.

Once I finished that second episode, I went to bed.

And this morning I had a dream in which Dalziel and Pascoe discovered two dead bodies in a cave and it didn't take long to realize that the bodies were their own.

Despite that puzzle, they got to work and quickly found enough evidence to point them to the guilty party. And that turned out to be more than they needed because the suspect screamed at the sight of them. (He was one of those little milquetoast kind of guys with thick glasses.)

As the murderer was led away Pascoe warned the lead investigator that they still had no clue as to how they could be still alive. Had the other Dalziel and Pascoe come from the Future? If so, there would be a paradox until they went back in Time to get killed.

Dalziel told him to bleep off - he didn't care so long as he got the killer. And besides, he wasn't planning on taking any trips into the Past any time soon.

Of course, that's when the roar of the parking brake announced the arrival of the TARDIS right in front of them.

And then I woke up.

I don't even know which incarnation of the Doctor would have been featured in my dream!

I'm down in the building's laundry room "now", and as I'm writing up this "dream journal" entry, I know how I would have finished that story.

The murdered Dalziel and Pascoe weren't from the Future. They were from "Over There", the alternate dimension as seen in 'Fringe'. (As well as in "Mirror Image" and several other episodes of 'The Twilight Zone'.)

Whatever crime he may have committed over there, "Milquetoast" was able to escape through the dimensional veil to the main Toobworld. The Alt-Dalziel and Parallel Pascoe followed him through (further weakening the walls between worlds) but "Milquetoast" was able to get the drop on them.

So it's come to this.... I'm dreaming fanfic......

BCnU!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

EASTER EGG HUNT UPDATE

I got a response to my post about NBC's Easter Egg promotion for the movie "Hop":

I realize that it's been a while, but I just watched 'Perfect Couples' on DVR and found the egg. I had to watch twice, too. It's near the end of the episode, when Vance goes to get a cowboy hat. It is yellow and is on the right side of the screen, on a shelf of hats, and appears to be propping a hat up.

And sure enough, Anonymous was right:

I realize now why I didn't find it even after watching it twice.

I watched the wrong episode.

I didn't bother recording the episode that night; I had given up on the series after two viewings. And I didn't get around to checking it out on Hulu for a week.

Therefore, instead of watching "Perfect Lies", I watched "Perfect Exes" from March 31.

D'Ohhhhh!

BCnU!

Monday, May 9, 2011

THE PETERSON-DELAWARE FEUD

There have been a lot of inspirations for the Toobworld concept: "The Incompleat Enchanter" by Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague deCamp, "The Magic Umbrella" by Marvin Kaye, and the "Cineverse" trilogy by Craig Shaw Gardner. And there was also the research done by the Mythopoeic Society and the Baker Street Irregulars into the minutiae of Tolkien's and Conan Doyle's work, respectively.

As an example, the birthday for Sherlock Holmes was never stated by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but Christopher Morley was able to extrapolate that it was January 6.

Here's how the City Room blog of the New York Times described the process in 2009:

Another argument for Jan. 6 was made by William S. Baring-Gould, who produced the first annotated Sherlock Holmes collection. He and others have argued that “The Valley of Fear,” the final Sherlock Holmes novel, starts on Jan. 7.

Mr. Holmes seems to be a little cranky at the beginning of the story and snaps at Dr. John H. Watson. But why would he be in a bad mood? Because of a hangover. Why would he have a hangover? He must have been celebrating the night before. What could he have been celebrating? Certainly it was his birthday.

So I try to do the same thing with the trivial nuggets I pick up along my own path of Toobworld research.

My latest theory concerns the reason for the antagonism between Secret Service agent Peterson and former FBI agent Canton Everett Delaware III in the season premiere of 'Doctor Who'. (That's right! Despite that mini-marathon of blog posts last week, I'm still not done with the two-parter of "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day Of The Moon".)

To me, it looked as though there was bad blood between "Three-Part Canton" and Peterson even before the security breach caused by the Doctor's arrival in the Oval Office. And since the Time Lord was able to slip the police box right past Peterson, that only put him deeper into the defensive.
But I think their antagonism, based on their remarks (especially Canton's), showed that there already was no love lost between them.

And I also think "love" is the operative word.

First, based on what has been shown during the first season of 'Covert Affairs', there are certain bars favored by members of the intelligence community in the nation's capital. Some would be frequented by the CIA only, others by the FBI. There may be others which cater to both the Secret Service as well as the FBI.

And it's not like agents go to these bars only to hobnob with each other; if you're working with someone for a full 8 hour plus shift, do you really want to extend that relationship into your downtime?

So it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that some agents might meet in these common bars with friends of theirs from outside of work, perhaps even with family members.

What if Secret Service agent Peterson had a brother, who came into town to visit his older sibling? Wouldn't it be likely Peterson would take that brother out once he was off-duty, perhaps start off at the bar he liked to frequent as a way of showing the brother what he did in his off-hours?

Now, let's go back to one of the last scenes in "Day Of The Moon", after the Doctor and his Companions departed the Oval Office, leaving former agent Canton Everett Delaware III alone with President Richard Nixon.

As he left, the Doctor urged the President to allow Canton the chance to get married, which was the reason why he had left the FBI. At the time, his desire to marry was at odds with the Agency's policy and with the Law.
Nixon assumed the most likely obstacle - "This person you want to marry... black?"

Canton replied, "Yes."

Nixon: "I know what people think of me, but perhaps I'm a little more liberal than—"

But Canton cut him off: "He is."

That revelation was something Nixon wasn't ready to deal with.......
So that got me thinking - who was it that Canton wanted to marry?

What if Canton was in that same bar on the night when Peterson brought his brother in for a drink? Having a professional acquaintance, perhaps Peterson saw Canton barside and brought over his brother to introduce him to the FBI agent. Maybe he thought it might impress his brother.

Imagine his shock when it became obvious that his brother was more than impressed!

The anger that he felt toward Canton because of the relationship that developed between him and Peterson's brother may have been rerouted from how he felt towards his own flesh and blood. Instead of accepting the fact that his brother was a homosexual, he instead blamed Canton for leading the brother down a path he must have seen as aberrant - as if his brother had a choice in his sexual orientation, and despite the fact that the brother was just as much into Canton.

And Canton was not the type of man to be lenient towards Peterson because his thinking was fast becoming outdated. (The Stonewall riots had just happened that previous month.)  I'm sure he would have reveled in the opportunity to show Peterson up.
And that would be why Canton and Peterson were already at odds with each other, before the Doctor even showed up.

This is all predicated on the suggestion that Agent Peterson had a brother, of course.....

BCnU!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

AS SEEN ON TV: JANE DEACY


JANE DEACY


AS SEEN IN:
"James Dean: Race With Destiny"

AS PLAYED BY:
Connie Stevens

MGM wanted James Dean to come to Hollywood for a screen test in 1953, but he turned down the offer on the advice of his manager/agent, Jane Deacy. Ms. Deacy didn't think Dean was ready for the big screen, and with his TV career doing pretty well, he was in a position to hold out for a better time - as well as for a better offer. Being his mother figure, Jane Deacy kept tight control over James Dean's finances since he had no knack for such things. The rebel icon had to live off an allowance doled out by Ms. Deacy.

BCnU!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

TWIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES: "CHUCK" & OSAMA


'Chuck' - "Chuck vs. Agent X"

What should have been a throw-away gag poking fun at Colonel John Casey's take-no-prisoners approach to a "good time", Casey was planning on spending his time in Las Vegas for Chuck Bartowski's bachelor party at various gun ranges. And he brought along some of his favorite targets:

The episode aired Monday night. The bachelor party was to begin on Friday night for the whole weekend. Nobody said anything about Osama bin Laden having been killed already in Abbottabad, Pakistan*. And the episode should hew closely to the time it was broadcast.

Therefore, the Toobworld timeline for this episode begins on Friday, April 29th of this year, with Osama dead by Sunday night, the First of May.

BCnU!

* Yes, I know the episode was filmed weeks in advance. However, we deal with the "inner reality" of Toobworld here......

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

EASTER EGG HUNT

I realize Easter was over a week ago - shut up.

Anyhoo......

NBC ran a promotional tie-in to not only Easter (which doesn't pay the bills) but also to the new movie "Hop" (which does). Over the course of the Thursday night comedies, on the eve before the movie's premiere, each sitcom had an Easter Egg "hidden" in the episode. Apparently there were prizes if you could find them all......

Out of the six episodes, I only found four of them. I watched 'Perfect Couples' and 'Outsourced' twice and never found their Easter Eggs.

But here are the four that I found.....

'COMMUNITY'
It was behind the "Pulp Fiction" briefcase on the table, glowing with the same golden light that emanated from inside the case in the movie.

'PARKS & RECREATION'
It's there on the bureau at the bed&breakfast, given its own spotlight from the lamp to make sure we saw it. But not all the shows made it that easy to find.

'THE OFFICE'
The Easter Egg was on the far end of Oscar's table (stage right, audience left), a dull purple dye job that made it harder to spot.

'30 ROCK'
This time it was placed in the background, on Jonathan's desk in the outer office.......

But there may have been a ringer egg earlier at Devon Banks' apartment.  That looks like an egg to me on the coffee table in the background.....

If you actually watched the NBC Thursday night line-up that week in order to find the Easter Eggs, please get in touch with me and let me know where they were in 'Outsourced' and 'Perfect Couples'. Thanks!

By the way, just in case you were wondering, I don't consider these to be links between the four series.  I realize I play fast and loose with Toobworld connections, so many of them theoretical, but this is too weak a reason to connect four.......

BCnU!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

ECHOES: PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ

Prepping for the Royal Wedding......
Will Ferrell
"The Late Show with David Letterman"

Matt Lauer
"Late Night with Jimmy Fallon"
 BCnU!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

1969 v. 1482




THE KNOWN WORLD - 1482
In the season premiere of 'Doctor Who' ("The Impossible Astronaut"), the Doctor mentioned that 1969 would be a fun time to visit, but that was not always the case with other years. For example, 1482 was full of glitches.

Being the good little (okay, not so little) televisiologist that I am, I checked out the Wikipedia entry for the year 1482. And not very much happened during those particular 365 days: 
  • The Portuguese erect the Fort Elmina near the mouth of the River Benya on the Gold Coast.

  • Tizoc rules the Aztecs.

  • Diogo Cão, a Portuguese navigator, becomes the first European to sail up the Congo.

  • Ivan III renounces the Mongol Khanate rule over Russia.

  • The Kingdom of England captures Berwick from the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in the only permanent change to the Anglo-Scottish border from the signing of the Treaty of York in 1237 to the present day.

Maybe it was one of those glitches that caused other major events to disappear, only to re-occur at some later date?

But getting back to 1969, the Doctor and his Companions weren't the only ones to travel there via time travel - Dr. Sam Beckett quantum leaped back to the Gulf of Mexico in time to help out during the devastation of Hurricane Camille.
The Stargate team did it as well, going back to Woodstock to bring about a required historical change for one of their team.

Also at Woodstock was an "extension" of the Q Continuum, who saved the festival by getting the sound system fixed.

A G.I. was murdered at the Woodstock festival, but it would be just over forty years before a Philadelphia-based team of "cold case" investigators were able to solve the crime.

As sort of a cosmic balance, a WGEO-FM radio technician named Daryl was conceived at Woodstock.
  
David Fischer and his sister-in-law Brenda Chenowith were both born in 1969, as was Blair Sandburg and police detective Sam Tyler. Carl Winslow graduated from high school, and two hippy chicks were butchered by vampires John Mitchell and his mentor William Herrick.

So it's understandable that the Doctor would love to visit the Nixon White House in that year - if it hadn't been for the fact he had no clue as to Who was behind the summons to visit.....

SHOWS CITED:
'Doctor Who'
'Quantum Leap'
'Stargate SG-1'
'Star Trek: Voyager'
'Cold Case'
'FM'
'Six Feet Under'
'Family Matters'
'Life On Mars'
'The Sentinel'
'Being Human'

BCnU!

STAN & OLLIE MEET THE DOCTOR

In 'The Impossible Astronaut', the Doctor got himself inserted into the Laurel and Hardy movie "Flying Deuces" in order to attract the attention of his Companions Amy and Rory.

This must have been a special print of the film, because he doesn't show up in actual copies of the movie; and the director and editor of "Flying Deuces" would never have allowed that footage into the final print as it ruins the storyline and detracts from the two main stars.

I'm guessing that the Doctor sought the help of Billy Shipton sometime after Billy's arrival in 1969, once he had established himself as a video/DVD publisher. So not only did he insert those Easter Eggs into the disks meant for Sally Sparrow, he also put together this rarest of Laurel and Hardy movies.

Over at LaurelandHardy.org, they quickly took notice of the intrusion of the Doctor into the world of the Sons of the Desert and they also offered up a picture of what might have happened when Stan and Ollie did meet the Doctor.....
BCnU!