INNER TOOB

AS SEEN ON TV: WE FIVE KINGS

2009-11-04T00:45:00.000-05:00

LARRY KING

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
[top row]
Kevin Nealon
Will Ferrell
Norm McDonald
[bottom row]
Jimmy Fallon
Fred Armisen

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JULIA CHILD x 2

2009-11-03T00:07:00.001-05:00

The 'Today' show has been doing Halloween costumes for years, but they didn't make the "As Seen On TV" gallery this year because all of their characters were fictional - from 'Star Wars'. (Is NBC in some kind of deal with LucasFilms? Lutz appeared as Boba Fett in last week's episode of '30 Rock'.)

The CBS 'Early Show' had another costume of a real person, but I decided to hold off on it for the "Two For Tuesday" feature. That way I could include a classic impression of the same person.....

JULIA CHILD
"THE FRENCH CHEF"

AS SEEN ON:
'The Early Show'

AS PLAYED BY:
Harry Smith

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Dan Aykroyd
And, of course, Harry Smith dressed up as the French Chef because Meryl Streep played the role in the movie "Julie and Julia" over this past summer.....

BCnU!

MAILING TOOB: WNKW

2009-11-02T03:14:00.000-05:00

Vincent has joined Team Toobworld with this observant missive:

Hey Toby,

A while back you had an article about WNKW the fictional tv station seen in "Jack & Jill" and recently on "Fringe" and "Heroes". So far I've spotted in the fifth ep. of The Vampire Diaries set in Mystic Falls and on the pilot for CBS' The Good Wife. Check it out and see if there are even more of this tv station that seems to act as a local station and a national network. I guess it's like a fictional version of WTBS/TBS Superstation or WGN9 in Chicago/WGN America. Just thought you'd like to know.

Fantastic! Not only did he let us know about more appearances by WNKW, but he also supplied a great splainin for its presence in Virginia and Chicago!

Thanks, Vincent!

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: PAUL WATSON

2009-11-02T00:04:00.000-05:00

PAUL WATSON

AS SEEN IN:

'South Park'

AS PLAYED BY:

Matt Stone or Trey Parker, beats me......

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's Paul Watson talked to Jennifer Vogel of Mother Jones magazine about taking a bullet from the Japanese, and 'Whale Wars', his new series on Animal Planet.

MJ: Are you willing to sacrifice your life to save a single whale?

PW: We do that all the time. The one thing we won't do is injure anybody or take their life. Despite that, we're still called terrorists. But we aren't even a protest organization. We're intervening against illegal activities.

MJ: Is it true that during the filming of 'Whale Wars' you were shot by someone on a Japanese whaling ship?

PW: They did fire shots. And they actually informed the Australian government that they had fired shots. Until they heard that I was hit. Then they called the Australian government and said that wasn't true, in fact they didn't fire any shots. But the cameras, the audio equipment picked up the sound of the shots and the bullet was lodged in my Kevlar vest. Then of course the Japanese said we'd fabricated the whole thing. I'd shot myself or it was done before. But I was doing an interview with the Animal Planet people just prior to that confrontation where you can plainly see there is no bullet hole there. And in the middle of the conversation suddenly there is a bullet hole there. So, how that happened without them actually shooting me, they can't really explain.

This was depicted in the 'South Park' episode "Whale Whores". But Parker & Stone took it a wee bit further.......

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: HALLOWEEN - THE AFTERMATH

2009-11-01T00:03:00.001-04:00

Here are a few of the morning talk show personalities, in the costumes they wore on Friday to celebrate Halloween:

CBS' THE EARLY SHOW MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ
"ADAM LAMBERT"
RUSS MITCHELL
"HUGH JACKMAN as WOLVERINE"

LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY

REGIS PHILBIN
"CAROLINE MANZO"
"SUSAN BOYLE"

KELLY RIPA
"DANIELLE STAUB"
"LADY GAGA"

REEGE & KELLY
"JON & KATE GOSSELIN"

BCnU!

A HALLOWEEN MESSAGE FROM THE CAST OF "BEING HUMAN"

2009-10-31T00:29:00.001-04:00

AS SEEN ON TV: THE 1959 VINCENT PRICE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

2009-10-31T00:09:00.000-04:00

Vincent Price:
"All Hallow's Eve. When the minions of Samhain come back..."

VINCENT PRICE

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Bill Hader

Vincent Price:
"Thank you, and welcome to my Halloween special! Tonight, prepare yourself for a night of spooks and scares, as we have invited over some of our most famous friends for some tricks...and also some treats!" VINCENT'S GUESTS:
Gloria Swanson
James Mason
Liberace

AS PLAYED BY:
Kristen Wiig
Jon Hamm
Fred Armisen

Arooooooo! Real scary, kids!

SKED ALERT! THE "CSI" TRILOGY CROSSOVER!

2009-10-30T08:30:00.002-04:00

Mark your calendars, crossover fans! November 9th, it begins!

Ecce Promo!

AS SEEN ON TV: JOHN JAMESON

2009-10-30T00:04:00.002-04:00

JOHN JAMESON

AS SEEN IN:
"Legend" - Jameson Whiskey commercial

AS PLAYED BY:
Lenny Hayden

From Wikipedia:
Jameson is a single-distillery Irish whiskey. The company was established in 1780 when [Scottish businessman] John Jameson established the Bow Street Distillery in Dublin. Originally one of the six main Dublin Whiskeys, Jameson is now distilled in Cork, although vatting still takes place in Dublin. With annual sales of over 31 million bottles, Jameson is by far the best selling Irish whiskey in the world, as it has been internationally since the early 1800s when John Jameson along with his son (also named John) was producing over a million gallons annually.

For a look behind the scenes in creating this Toobworld only version of Jameson's life, click here.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: REAGAN & CHERNENKO

2009-10-29T00:03:00.000-04:00

And now for something completely different.....

RONALD REAGAN
KONSTANTIN CHERNENKO

AS SEEN IN:
"Two Tribes"

AS PLAYED BY:
n/a

BCnU!

TVXOHOF, 10/2009-D: 1313 MOCKINGBIRD LANE

2009-10-28T14:26:00.002-04:00

For the final entry into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame for October - the month of Halloween, Samhain, monsters of all varieties and some sadly too human, we must showcase a location - as has been the tradition this year of the Hall's tenth anniversary.

Last year at this time, the TV Crossover Hall of Fame saluted to classic residents of Toobworld whose portrayers had earlier passed away. And yet although the actors may have been dead in the real world, the characters still existed in Toobworld. And they'll never die because they're already members of the undead.

I'm speaking of Lily Munster and her father Grampa, as played by Yvonne DeCarlo and Al Lewis.

So I figured - why not pay tribute to the home in which they lived, at 1313 Mockinbird Lane in Mockingbird Heights?

The residence can be seen in the TV show 'The Munsters' and in the theatrical movie "Munsters Go Home" and in the TV movie "Munsters' Revenge". And thus it qualifies for inclusion in the Hall. (Earth Prime-Time often absorbs theatrically released movies.)
Here's mud in your third eye.....

BCnU!

"THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER": DEGAULLE

2009-10-28T00:07:00.001-04:00

For the final entry in our thirteen day remembrance of the Cuban Missile Crisis, we have French President Charles DeGaulle.... AS PLAYED BY:
Ron Feinberg

DeGaulle was kept mostly in shadow and only his right profile was seen. This was most likely due to Feinberg not resembling the Frenchman that closely. Here DeGaulle is seen with Dean Acheson, who was sent as an emissary to the leaders of America's European allies to rally their support against the Russian deployment of missiles. I best remember Feinberg from his stint near the beginning of 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman' as Detective Mike Johnson, who was assigned to protect Heather Hartman from the mass murderer..... BCnU!

"THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER": BREZHNEV? BREZHNEV! BREZHNEV!

2009-10-27T00:02:00.002-04:00

It's Two For Tuesday!

In "The Missiles Of October", character actor Bern Hoffman appeared as a member of the Soviet Presidium, and he only had one line. His character is given no name in the credits, never addressed by name in the production. But just look at him! Surely, there can be only one logical choice for which historical figure he could be. Leonid Brezhnev, future Premier of the U.S.S.R.

Brezhnev has appeared in two other productions, however; both foreign-made:

LEONID BREZHNEV

AS SEEN IN:
"Brezhnev"

AS PLAYED BY:
Sergey Shakurov

AS SEEN IN:
"Galina" AS PLAYED BY:
Sergei Bezdushny

Na zdorovie!

"THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER": FOMIN

2009-10-26T00:05:00.002-04:00

Out of all the events (I hate to call them sub-plots, considering....) that happened during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the meetings between ABC correspondent John Scali and the KGB head in Washington, Aleksander Fomin, stand the test of time as being my favorites. There was just that aura of true undercover work about those meetings, as though they were the inspiration for the countless spy encounters to come from spy thrillers written by John Le Carre and the like.

From Wikipedia:
Aleksandr Semyonovich Feklisov (March 9, 1914 – October 26, 2007) was the NKGB Case Officer who received information from Julius Rosenberg and Klaus Fuchs, among others.

Feklisov was transferred back to the United States and became the Washington, D.C. Rezident, or KGB Station Chief, from 1960 to 1964. His cover name at that time was Aleksandr Fomin. As KGB Rezident, Feklisov (Fomin) proposed what became the basis for resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis: removing missiles from Cuba in exchange for a promise that the United States would not invade the island nation.

Alexandre Feklisov died on October 26, 2007 in Russia at the age of 93.

AS SEEN IN:
"The Missiles Of October'

AS PLAYED BY:
Harris Yulin

The head of KGB intelligence operations in the US, Aleksander Fomin, proposed a deal to the state department in which the missiles would be dismantled by UN inspectors, Fidel would pledge not to receive offensive weapons in the future, and the US would pledge not to invade Cuba. The state department replied that it was interested.

Here are Scali's notes from that first meeting:Washington, November 20, 1962, 1:15-2:30 p.m.

In long give and take, mainly on Cuba, Fomin made these main points:

1. Soviets are willing to allow the same kind of verification for exit of bombers as they allow for home shipment of missiles. [The following handwritten sentence appears in parentheses at this point. "Check by US planes of Soviet ships taking bombers home."]

2. Further on-the-spot inspection depends on U.S. negotiations with Cubans, not with negotiations with Soviets, because Cuban "sovereignty" is involved now.

3. Soviets are willing to send technicians connected with IL-28s home. He claimed all technicians connected with missiles already have gone home. He professed to be ignorant of continuing stay of any missile technicians, particularly those whose past role has been to guard missile installations.

4. Kennedy, he said, will lift the blockade today (Tuesday) and is now drafting text of non-aggression pledge he promised to make. "This will solve the Cuban problem."

5. Khrushchev has carried out all his undertakings with the President and is anxious for further progress in detente. He repeatedly asked what was next in President's priority, specifically returning to nuclear test agreement and non-aggression pact between Warsaw and Atlantic pact powers.

6. He implied repeatedly "progress could be made" in nuclear test agreement with compromise between number of on-site inspections suggested by West, which he put at 12, and number proposed by Soviets which he said was 3.

7. Nothing now seems to stand in way, he said, of Warsaw pact-Atlantic pact non-aggression treaty. Russia's ready, if only Kennedy is.

9. [sic] He brought up what he said was Russia's 1956 proposal for creating 800 mile aerial surveillance zone on both sides as step toward disarmament. Would U.S. be interested in this now, he asked, even though idea was rejected by "Dulles administration." I replied that if I remembered correctly zone proposed at that time was pretty lopsided in favor of Soviet Union. He replied this whole area could be discussed again, perhaps with better results.

10. Russia wants to concentrate on building up its economy and thus is in great need for prolonged period of peace. But there must be reasonable concessions on both sides, not on just Soviet side.

11. Soviets are being "neutral" in Chinese-Indian war. Russia is unhappy about this but at the present time can't do anything to stop it because the Chinese are being difficult. They don't approve of Soviet agreement with Kennedy because Chinese have been observers at all Soviet nuclear tests and they know power Soviets have. Therefore Chinese are asking, "why do you give in?"

12. Soviets realize Kennedy administration is much more reasonable, flexible and imaginative than Eisenhower administration was. Thus, Soviets realize there is now opportunity for reasonable agreements. But President mustn't push what he believes to be his present advantage too far, lest it encourage "hard-line" group in Moscow.

(I made points: Russia has to agree to effective on site inspection in Cuba; must also agree to pull all technicians out connected with missiles and bombers, and give satisfactory pledge not to reintroduce weapons or technicians. Kennedy considered follow-through on Cuba matter of first priority. Only after this settled would there be any reasonable prospects for successful negotiations on testing, disarmament, and Warsaw-Atlantic pact agreements. I also said it wasn't true that Kennedy had agreed to Adenauer's alleged suggestion that all negotiations with Soviets over Berlin be broken off. On contrary, I said, President believed close brush with war over Cuba made it incumbent on both Soviets and Americans to seize opportunity for at least limited start toward responsible east-west agreements.)

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Cuba, General, 11/16/62-11/20/62. Confidential. Drafted and typed by Scali at 3:40 p.m., November 20. According to a typed note on this memorandum, Fomin requested this meeting on November 16. The two men met at Aldo's Restaurant in Washington.

BCnU!

"THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER": GROMYKO

2009-10-25T00:05:00.000-04:00

ANDREI GROMYKO

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
FOR THE SOVIET UNION

AS PLAYED BY:

Nehemiah Persoff

BCnU!

TVXOHOF, 10/2009-C: SCOOBY DOO

2009-10-24T15:43:00.001-04:00

Still playing catch-up on the inductions into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame......

If there's one cartoon character who's been especially connected to all things spooky in the Tooniverse, it has to be Scooby Doo! That's why we're inducting him this week as the newest Tooniverse member in the TV Crossover Hall of Fame as part of our October/Halloween theme. 'Robot Chicken'
'Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law'
"Night Of The Living Doo"
"The Scooby Doo Project"
'Johnny Bravo'
'A Pup Named Scooby-Doo'
'Dynomutt Dog Wonder'
'Scooby Doo, Where Are You?'
'Scooby's All Star Laff-A-Lympics'
'Scooby's Mystery Funhouse'
'Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo'
'The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo'
'The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show'
'The New Scooby Doo Movies'
"Scooby Doo Goes Hollywood"
"Scooby Doo Meets The Boo Brothers"
"Scooby Doo And The Ghoul School"
"Scooby Doo And The Reluctant Werewolf"
"Scooby Doo In Arabian Nights"
'Grim & Evil'
'Shaggy & Scooby Doo: Get A Clue!'
'What's New, Scooby Doo?'
"A Scooby Doo Christmas"
"Scooby Doo! The Mystery Begins"

And that doesn't even count the new media like direct-to-video releases and video games! It isn't just that Scoob has had so many TV shows of his own over the years, but it's also because of the many other Tooniverse characters he's met during that time. A quick look through that list above provides a few - Harvey Birdman, Johnny Bravo, Dynomutt, Grim, Billy and Maddy plus Batman and Robin! And then there are all the celebrities whose tooniversions have met the Scooby Gang, like Dick Van Dyke, Jonathan Winters, Mama Cass Elliott, and even Laurel and Hardy.

Here's the intro to the 'Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law' episode in which his clients were Shaggy and Scooby:

Last week, an Iddiot friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook of a crossover mash-up that even I - not your biggest Scooby Doo fan - would love to see actually happen: Indeed.

So, even though it is with some reluctance (I missed that whole original Scooby boom back in the day while growing up), I'd like to welcome Scooby Doo into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame!

BCnU!

TVXOHOF, 10/2009-B: CHARLES MANSON

2009-10-24T14:34:00.002-04:00

Traditionally October has been reserved for inductions into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame that have some sort of Halloween vibe to them - Lily Munster and Grampa, Frankenstein's Monsters, Sweet the Demon, and Orson Welles (for his Halloween broadcast of "War of the Worlds", which played a part in Toobworld more than three times).

But a lot of real word figures as seen on TV have been inducted during October over the years, and some of those have been monsters as well. And real life monsters are the most horrible of all - like Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack the Ripper, those already inducted, as well as Hitler and Stalin, who'll probably be inducted someday. Since this year also marks the 40th anniversary for the horrors known as the Tate-LoBianco murders, we've chosen to induct a monster who still exists - mastermind of that murder spree, Charles Manson.

Here are some of the portrayals of Manson that have appeared over the years: Jeremy Davies
. . . Helter Skelter (2004)

James DeAngelo
. . . "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992) {(1996-02-22)}

Michael Reid MacKay
. . . Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys (1990)

Erik Passoja
. . . The Beach Boys: An American Family (2000)

Steve Railsback
. . . Helter Skelter (1976)

Adam Wilson
. . . Manson (2009) (TV)

The one pictured here is of Jeremy Davies as Manson. And finally, from the TV dimension of Skitlandia, here's Charles Manson as seen on Ben Stiller's show:

Maybe that should have been Schizlandia....

No welcome forthcoming from the Hall this time around!

BCnU!

FROM THE TOOBWORLD CENTRAL FRONT OFFICE:

2009-10-24T14:09:00.000-04:00

I've been so caught up in work on my Toobworld novel that I have been remiss in my curator duties at the TV Crossover Hall of Fame. I'm two weeks behind now in the inductions ceremonies, which is not good in this celebration of our tenth anniversary when we're supposed to be inducting a new member each week rather than every month.

So I will be playing catch-up today.....

"THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER": W.E. KNOX

2009-10-24T00:23:00.000-04:00

W.E. KNOX

WESTINGHOUSE INTERNATIONAL CHAIRMAN

AS PLAYED BY:
Stacy Keach, Sr.

This is the lone American in this year's theme, but at the same time he was a foreigner. (He was in Moscow at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.) Not wanting to deal with the American Ambassador, Kruschev summoned Knox to reassure him that the missiles were meant to be only defensive......

BCnU!

THE HAT SQUAD: SOUPY SALES, PIE-O-NEER

2009-10-23T16:09:00.001-04:00

When I was a kid, I saw only one episode of Soupy Sales' kid show... and it scared the bleep out of me.

The only thing I remember from it was that there was a Franklin stove in the middle of the room. When you opened the top door, there was a face in there; when you opened the bottom one, where you'd sweep out the ashes, there was the guy's feet.

We had a Franklin stove in our living room when I was growing up. I knew how hot those things could be. So if anybody could survive in Soupy's, he had to be a devil.

I didn't want to see it again.

I came into my appreciation for Classic Soup once I was an adult and could check out the various compilations of his routines and songs. And I did two off-off-Broadway shows with his sidekick Frank Nastasi. We had a lot of fun backstage as we all tried to recite Shakespeare in the voice of White Fang.

I also remember Soupy was on an episode of 'Wings' and his character suffered a very Toobish demise: he was a cruise ship social director who specialized in playing "Simon Says". But when he suffered a heart attack, nobody would go get him any help when he begged for it because he didn't say "Simon Says".....

My Toobworld novel - the perpetual work-in-progress has little tips of the hat throughout for hundreds of shows. And there's one for Soupy Sales as well - actually two! - in the final chapter. (I suppose the zebra puppet in the window at the Cooper house could be a tribute as well.....)

A Soupy Celebration

Pookie does Motown

Come Pie With Me

Rest in pies, Soupy........

BCnU!

"THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER": ORGANOV

2009-10-23T03:07:00.001-04:00

NIKOLAY ORGANOV

CHAIRMAN OF THE PRESIDIUM

AS PLAYED BY:

Richard Karlan

As was the case with the Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations, this character was only identified as the Chief of the Presidium. A little research singled out Organov as holding that position during the Crisis.

BCnU!

"THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER": INCHAUSTEGUI

2009-10-22T00:01:00.001-04:00

MARIO GARCIA INCHAUSTEGUI

CUBAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS

AS PLAYED BY:
Jay Vallera

The character is only identified as the Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations. But a quick Google search supplied the identity of the one serving at that time in history.

BCnU!

"THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER": YEFTESHANKO

2009-10-21T00:52:00.002-04:00

YEFGANI YEFTESHANKO

AS PLAYED BY:

John McMurtry

This character may be fictional. He is seen only once, speaking directly to the camera, delivering anti-America propanda as though he was being broadcast to the Cubans and to the Americans in Florida (at least). The speech could have been a recitation of a newspaper column, perhaps.

There is no mention of him in Google searches save as a character in the tele-play....

BCnU!

"THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER": ZORIN

2009-10-20T00:05:00.000-04:00

VALERIAN ZORIN

RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS

AS PLAYED BY:

Will Kuluva

Ambassador Zorin was also seen in the mini-series "Kennedy"....

AS PLAYED BY:
Merwyn Goldsmith

2 для вторник!

BCnU!

"THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER": ORMSBY-GORE

2009-10-19T00:01:00.001-04:00

SIR DAVID ORMSBY-GORE
BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES

AS PLAYED BY:

Peter Donat

BCnU!