Wednesday, May 29, 2013

THEORY OF "RELATEEVEETY" - "ROUTE 66" & "DEFIANCE"


Just because a show has to be relegated to an alternate dimension because it conflicts with the tele-mosaic of Toobworld, that doesn't mean we wouldn't find the characters of Earth Prime-Time in that world as well.
 
For instance, we know the Muppets lived in the 'West Wing' dimension as well.  But even though we never saw them on the show, Felix Unger and Oscar Madison lived there as well.  The same goes for Sgt. Joe Friday, Ben Matlock, and Mary Richards.  There just wasn't any reason why they would have shown up in the context of the Jed Bartlet presidency.
 
'Defiance' is one of those shows that had to be automatically tossed into its own TV Universe.  Had it begun in 2046 (the year currently played out on the show), maybe I wouldn't have cared as much.  After all, I won't be around by then!  But the invasion by the Votans will take place at some point this year and I think I can safely predict we're not going to see it happen.
 
But just because it's in its own world, that doesn't mean we can't assume that TV characters from the past in Earth Prime-Time didn't have doppelgangers in that world as well.
 
And because most of them would now be dead, because of the massive terra-forming that occurred during the Pale Wars, - as well as because of the passage of Time - who's to say they weren't part of this world's history?
 
I'm going to make the case for one in particular as part of a theory of relateeveety - Tod Stiles.
 
From Wikipedia:
Tod Stiles is a fictional character portrayed by actor Martin Milner on the 1960s American prime-time dramatic television series 'Route 66'. Tod was one of three main regular characters on the program, and the only one to appear in all 116 episodes of the show's four seasons.
 
In 1964, Tod married Margo Tiffin, per the dictates of her father's will (not that he would have said no otherwise!)  And that was the last we saw of Tod in the main Toobworld.  In 1993, the Corvette was now in the possession of Buzz Murdoch's nephew, so we can assume Tod's former road partner was dead, but how did he come to own the car? 
 
As both Martin Milner, who played Tod, and Barbara Eden (Margo) are both thankfully still alive.  The chance may be slim, but it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that they might return one day to our TV screens. 
 
It's not unheard of - after more than thirty years, Alan Brady finally came back on 'Mad About You'.  So why couldn't we see Tod Stiles again?  Because of that, I'm not going to make any declarations about his fate in Earth Prime-Time.
 
Over in the 'Defiance' dimension, however, we have no such compunction.  We can create an entire history for him from 1964 onwards, including a family tree.
 
I'll bet most of you have forgotten about Margo Tiffin, if you even knew she existed. 
 
But I wouldn't be surprised if you knew at least one other, very magical, citizen of Toobworld whom she resembles......
 
So a beautiful woman like Margo, let's face it - Tod would be all over that, to put it bluntly.  And I'm sure children would have resulted.  And quickly!
 
It's my contention that in 2003, one of his grandchildren, now bearing the last name of Nolan, had a son named Joshua.  And they lived in the St. Louis area (where Tod and Buzz worked for a time, as seen in the episode "Hey, Moth, Come Eat The Flame"). 
 
When Josh was ten years old - this year! - he was witness to the arrival of the Votani ships.  And with the debut of the show, we've been following his life since his return to St. Louis - now known as Defiance - with his Irathient step-daughter Irisa, including his career as the Lawkeeper in town.
 
 

Take a look at both Tod Stiles and Josh Nolan together.  Don't you think there's enough of a resemblance that they could be related, separated by a few generations?
 
Since it's all conjecture in a different TV dimension anyway, I'll just claim that any argument you have against the idea is invalid and save us both the hassle....
 
BCnU!

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