AS SEEN ON TV: BLACK BART

To kick off our TV Western salute, we've got video of the legendary gunman Black Bart in "action"......

Last year we featured Black Bart, but he turned out to be an escape from a mental asylum in Colorado - as seen in 'Maverick'. The Black Bart seen in 'Stories Of The Century' (which was featured the year before) was more of a fabrication based on the stories dreamed up by a Texas Ranger who inserted himself into the legends of every outlaw in the Wild Wild West.


As for this guy? I'd say he's Black Bart... but the Black Bart from that same TV dimension that houses comical versions of real life Presidents - like those seen in 'That's My Bush!' and 'The Secret Files of Desmond Pfeiffer'.


Just an idea I'm throwin' out there......


A big thanks to Mick Clews and the British Phil Silvers Appreciation Society!

BCnU!

SKED ALERT - TONIGHT, ON "TRUE BLOOD"

I've been away on vacation the last couple of weeks, and will be leaving again shortly, so Toobworld Central is in a bit of a disarray. But the August TV Western salute is still on schedule, and hopefully so is the "As Seen On TV" showcase, although I may have to abandon the scheme to use all TV Western historical characters for it (since I've used so many of them over the last few years.)

In the meantime, I will try to maintain a business as usual approach, and that means posting a few preview clips from the 'True Blood' episode which will air tonight on HBO at 9 pm ET......

And here's a sneak peek at what's coming up later in this season of 'True Blood':

BCnU!

FELICITY KENDAL: TWO TRIBUTES

Princess Vicky was saved for last in this two-week tribute to historical figures in 'Edward The King' because Felicity Kendal, who played the Princess Royal, is one of my all-time favorite actresses.  She captures my heart with 'The Good Neighbours' and I've since looked for anything she might have appeared in.....

Here are two tribute videos to this lovely and gracious (yet mischievous) lady....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV ADDENDUM: LILLIE LANGTRY

We celebrated Lillie Langtry here at Inner Toob two years ago, but there's no harm in sharing a YouTube video about her in the midst of our salute to characters from 'Edward The King'.....
Here's a song about Lillie Langtry

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AS SEEN ON TV: CHARLES CARRINGTON

CHARLES CARRINGTON

AS SEEN IN:
'Edward The King'

AS PLAYED BY:
Guy Slater

From Wikipedia:
Charles Carrington (1857-1922) was a leading British publisher of erotica in late-19th and early 20th century Europe. Born Paul Harry Ferdinando in Bethnal Green, England on 11 November 1867, he moved in 1895 from London to Paris where he published and sold books in the rue Faubourg Montmartre and rue de Chateaudun; for a short period of time he moved his activities to Brussels.

Carrington also published works of classical literature, including the first English translation of Aristophanes' "Comedies," and books by famous authors such as Oscar Wilde and Anatole France, in order to hide his "undercover" erotica publications under a veil of legitimacy. His books featured the erotic art of Martin van Maële. He published a French series "La Flagellation a Travers le Monde" mainly on English flagellation, identifying it as an English predilection.

Carrington went blind as a result of syphilis and the last few years of his life were spent in poverty as his mistress stole his valuable collection of rare books. He was placed in a lunatic asylum and died in 1922 at Ivry-sur-Seine, France.

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'EDWARD THE KING": EPISODE 1, PART 1

'Edward The King' will be our theme these next two weeks. Why? Because I'll be on vacation!

If this mini-series from the early 1970's piques your interest, then you can find it on Netflix.  And the first few chapters (at least six I believe) are available in segments on YouTube.

Here's the first part of the first episode if you'd like the chance to sample it....

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SKED ALERT! "TRUE BLOOD" FOR SUNDAY, JULY 17

Regular features for Inner Toob will be whittled down to basically just the "As Seen On TV" showcase for the next two weeks.  You can probably figure out why.......

So here's the last preview clips I'll be able to supply for 'True Blood' until August:

'True Blood' airs on HBO Sundays at 9 pm EST and then throughout the week. Check your local listings.

BCnU!

VIDEO VIC

From Wikipedia:In the summers of 1962 and 1963 Damone hosted a television variety series on NBC called The Lively Ones, which showcased current jazz, pop and folk performers as well as comedians. His distinguished group of musical guests over two seasons included Count Basie, Louie Bellson, Dave Brubeck, Chris Connor, Matt Dennis, Frances Faye, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Greco, Woody Herman, Jack Jones, Stan Kenton, Gene Krupa, Peggy Lee, Nellie Lutcher, Shelly Manne, Anita O'Day, Ruth Olay, Oscar Peterson, Andre Previn, Della Reese, Shorty Rogers, Cal Tjader, and Joe Williams. In 1962 he made a guest appearance on The Dick Van Dyke Show playing a crooner named Rick Vallone in an episode entitled "Like A Sister".

Other notable television work during this time included Damone's three guest appearances on Judy Garland's CBS variety series 'The Judy Garland Show' (1963–64). In addition to his solo performances on these three episodes, Damone and Garland sang duet medleys of songs from "Porgy and Bess", "West Side Story", and "Kismet".

Originally, the ASOTV showcase for Vic Damone was going to run on July 23. That was the day when 'The Lively Ones' debuted in 1962. But Inner Toob is running a special theme for the next two weeks (Can you guess why?), and I didn't want to interrupt it.

Since Vic Damone is now part of this Video Weekend, we might as well delve into some of his TV work; some of which was mentioned above.....

BCnU!

"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.......

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FORD FIESTA

In remembrance of the late Betty Ford (as well as for just the pure enjoyment of seeing these classic scenes), here are Mrs. Ford's two forays into Toobworld as herself.

First up, the first and the best -

Lou Grant and Mary Richards have gone to Washington, D.C., on a press junket for the weekend. And after two days of waiting for Lou's old contacts to reach out and invite them to parties, Mary finally bails on him to have dinner with a Congressman (played by Dabney Coleman). This is what happens when she gets back from her evening out.....

About six years later, Mrs. Ford is in Denver with her husband, former President Gerald Ford, to attend the famous Carousel Ball (which actually does exist, so it has its own televersion too!) And there they run into oil tycoon Blake Carrington.....

So her presence is what ties 'Dynasty' to 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', and the two of them serve as the linking steps between 'Batman' and 'Phyllis', 'Rhoda', and 'Lou Grant'. (Later, nearly all of the Carringtons are wounded at the Royal wedding in Moldavia, the homeland of some antique stamps which were stolen by the Riddler. And of course, Phyllis, Rhoda, and Lou are all friends of Mayr's.)

Because it turned out that Betty Ford really had visited Lou in his hotel room, then it stands to reason that all of his visitors were actually there. Even though we didn't see them, their life during prime time must be accepted just as would be the case for whatever happened during commercial breaks, between episodes, and after cancellation.

So these are the other people who attended, and what TV shows they can link to 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show':

John Glenn - 'Frasier', and yes, even 'Name That Tune'!

Eric Sevareid - 'Taxi' and 'Call To Glory', which has a Toobworld tweak: Sevareid somehow looked the same in 1963 as he did twenty years later....

Ethel Kennedy - 'Cheers'

Hubert Humphrey - His links are all to variety shows (hosted by Dean Martin, Red Skelton, and Pat Paulsen.) But those hosts can make connections to other shows in which they appeared as themselves. For example, Dean Martin guest starred in 'Half Nelson', 'Vega$', 'The Lucy Show', and 'Make Room For Daddy', and all of them could now be added to this link.

As for 'Dynasty'? There's always 'The Colbys'.......

If only Betty Ford appeared on 'The Hollywood Squares', sitting in the seat that used to belong to Paul Lynde and Whoopi Goldberg.

Then we would have had the Betty Ford Center Square.....

BCnU!

"TRUE BLOOD" - 39TH UNPARALLELED

The 39th episode of 'True Blood' ("If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin'?") airs tonight, 7/10 at 9pm on HBO.

Here are three clips to slake your thirst......

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: GEORGE MICHAEL

GEORGE MICHAEL

AS SEEN IN:
'Star Stories'

AS PLAYED BY:
Kevin Bishop

From Wikipedia:
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on 25 June 1963) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! along with his school friend Andrew Ridgeley. His first solo single, "Careless Whisper" was released when he was still in the duo and sold about six million copies worldwide.

As one of the world's best-selling music artists, Michael has sold over 100 million albums worldwide as of 2010. His 1987 debut solo album, Faith, has sold over 25 million copies worldwide and made several records and achievements in the United States. Michael has garnered seven number one singles in the UK, and eight number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked Michael the 40th most successful artist on the "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists".

On 26 February 2006, Michael was arrested for possession of Class C drugs, an incident that he described as "my own stupid fault, as usual." He was cautioned by the police and released.

Michael was arrested in Cricklewood, North-West London, after motorists reported a car obstructing the road at traffic lights. He pleaded guilty on 8 May 2007 to driving while unfit through drugs. He was banned from driving for two years, and sentenced to community service. During September 2007, on Desert Island Discs, he said that his cannabis use was a problem; he wished he could smoke less of it and was constantly trying to do so.

On 19 September 2008, Michael was arrested in a public toilet in the Hampstead Heath area of London for possession of Class A and C drugs. He was taken to the police station and cautioned for controlled substance possession.

On 5 December 2009, in an interview with The Guardian, Michael explains he had cut back on cannabis and now smokes only 'seven or eight' spliffs per day instead of the 25 he used to smoke.

In the early hours of Sunday 4 July 2010 he was returning from the Gay Pride parade. The singer was spotted on CCTV driving into the front of a Snappy Snaps store in Hampstead, North London and was arrested on suspicion of being unfit to drive after reports that a car had crashed into a building. On 12 August, London's Metropolitan Police said he was "charged with possession of cannabis and with driving while unfit through drink or drugs". Michael had also been taking the prescription medication Amitriptyline.

On 24 August 2010 the singer pleaded guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in London after admitting driving under the influence of drugs and on 14 September 2010 at the same court, was sentenced to eight weeks in prison, a fine, and a five year ban from driving. Michael was released from Highpoint Prison in Suffolk on 11 October 2010, after serving four weeks.

As usual with these 'Star Stories', enabling for this episode has been disabled on YouTube. But you can see Part One by clicking here.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JENNIFER ANISTON

AS SEEN IN:
'Star Stories'

AS PLAYED BY:
Laura Patch

From Wikipedia:
In May 1998, [Jennifer Aniston began dating actor Brad Pitt. They married on July 29, 2000, in a private wedding ceremony in Malibu. For a few years, their marriage was considered the rare Hollywood success. However, the couple announced their separation on January 6, 2005. Pitt and Aniston were seen together publicly after announcing their separation, even at a dinner party for Aniston's 36th birthday, and friends of the couple had declared they were reconciling. Aniston, however, filed for divorce on March 25, 2005. It was finalized on October 2, 2005. During this period there was intense speculation in the media that Pitt had been unfaithful to Aniston with his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star, Angelina Jolie.

In the following months, the public's reaction towards the divorce was reported in the press. The story became the headline news of media shows such as Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood, and made the front-pages of tabloid magazines for years, continuing till this day. 'Team Aniston' and 'Team Jolie' T-shirts appeared, with 'Team Aniston' shirts out-selling the 'Team Jolie' shirts 4:1. Aniston revealed that her divorce prompted her to reach out to her mother, Nancy, from whom she was estranged for nearly a decade. They initially became estranged when Nancy spoke about her daughter on a television show and later wrote a book entitled, From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir (1999). Aniston has also stated she was devastated by the death of her longtime therapist, whose work helped make her separation from Pitt easier. Aniston said her relationship with Pitt, which she does not regret, was "seven very intense years together" and that "it was a beautiful, complicated relationship."

The video at YouTube had the embedding option disabled, but you can see it here.

 
BCnU!

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!

A LEVERAGED FATHER'S DAY.....

I think this will remain my favorite in-joke for the entire year. It's definitely the sweetest.....

In "The 10 Li'l Grifters Job", the 'Leverage' episode that aired over the Fourth of July weekend, everybody had to dress up as a "fictional" detective.

Sophie was Irene Adler from "A Scandal In Bohemia", a Sherlock Holmes story.

Parker was Nancy Drew.

Harrison was one of the Hardy Boys.  (Update: Originally I had him listed as Encyclopedia Brown, because that's who he thought he was.  But I've just watched that scene again and Sophie corrects him over the comm-link: he's one of the Hardy Boys.  The big "H" on his sweater should have been a give-away.)

Elliott was real-life Pinkerton agent Charlie Siringo.

But best of all?

Nate Ford (played by Timothy Hutton) was Ellery Queen.....

Timothy Hutton's father, the late Jim Hutton, played Ellery Queen in a 1970's series by the creators of 'Columbo' and 'Murder, She Wrote'.

And seeing Nate Ford in that floppy hat, the tweedy jacket, and the red sweater, it was like seeing Jim Hutton in the role once more.

So when Nate declared Ellery Queen as the greatest detective ever, I think there was more than one voice speaking......

I'll have more on these disguises later in the week....

BCnU!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

It's a day to celebrate, but also to mourn the loss of Clarence Clemons last month.....

SKED ALERT: SCENES FROM TONIGHT'S "TRUE BLOOD"!

'Game Of Thrones' is over, but HBO doesn't let you take a break from great TV. The following week after the fantasy series ended its first season, their horror block-buster 'True Blood' returned for a fourth season.

Here are three scenes from the second episode, which debuts tonight at 9 pm ET on HBO. (Check your times and listings.....)

BCnU!

"TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY" - COMING SOON!

Now that we're in July, it's time to start hyping the new 'Torchwood' mini-series, "Miracle Day". I was a little worried about the project at first, especially coming off the great "Children Of Earth" from two years ago. And because they changed it up with American production values (courtesy of Starz!) and a ton of American actors.

But I'm reassured by the fact that Entertainment Weekly gave it an A-.

Here's the simple premise: what if suddenly no one on Earth died?

BCnU!

COLLECTEEVEE SOUL

The Sunday commercial break......

While watching the AMC marathon of 'The Rifleman' off my DVR yesterday, I saw this commercial:

That song in the background was bothering me; that I knew it and remembered hearing it often, but I just couldn't place it.

Took me five minutes to find the answer online, and that was mostly taken up with just logging in!

Long ago I lost any sense of amazement at what I could find on the internet. That's been replaced by the shock at the things I can't find. (Like a picture of Joel Grey in the NBC production of "George M.!" back in the early 70's......)

BCnU!

TRASHIN' "TODDLERS & TIARAS"

I wonder if there's such a thing as Video Voodoo..... You alter a video like this and it damns the subject to turn out that way.......

Hopefully, there'll be more opportunities from 'Toddlers & Tiaras' to make videos like this!

BCnU!