TVXOHOF, FEBRUARY 2026 PART TWO - BUY GEORGE!

While I’m at it, the Hall has another induction tied into that of George Foreman’s...

The George Foreman Grill  

Along with the countless infomercials and commercials which eventually led to netting Foreman over 4 million a month rom the resulting sales, the Grill was either featured or mentioned in the following shows:

THE OFFICE
THE INJURY (2006)

Michael accidentally cooked his foot after stepping on his George Foreman Grill, which he used to cook bacon bedside. 

Michael Scott:

I enjoy having breakfast in bed. I like waking up to the smell of bacon. Sue me. And since I don't have a butler, I have to do it myself. So, most nights before I go to bed, I will lay six strips of bacon out on my George Foreman grill. Then I go to sleep. When I wake up, I plug in the grill. I go back to sleep again. Then I wake up to the smell of crackling bacon. It is delicious. It's good for me. It's a perfect way to start the day.

Jim Halpert:
I wanna clamp Michael's face in a George Foreman grill.

CHICAGO FIRE
TRY LIKE HELL (2019)

Joe Cruz: 
Are you moving?
Captain Casey:
No, Benny's house sold. Had to clear the place out.
Cruz:
Oh, um... well... I happened to notice a classic George Foreman Grill in there.
Casey:
All yours.
Cruz:
Thanks, Boss!

THE CARMICHAEL SHOW
LOW EXPECTATIONS (2017)

GRACE & FRANKIE
THE LABELS (2017)

THE BIG BANG THEORY
THE ROBOTIC MANIPULATION (2010)

Penny:
So, um, Amy, what about you? Do you date much?
Amy Farrah Fowler:
Once a year. It's a deal I made with my mother in exchange for her silence on the matter, as well as the occasional use of her George Foreman Grill that seals in the flavor without the fat.

KING OF THE HILL
BOXIN’ LUANNE

George Foreman:
Hey, Maybe there's something you can do for me. How would you feel about carrying my grill in your shop?
Hank Hill:
Oh, huh... sorry. We have a strict policy about that, no novelty grills.
George Foreman:
NOVELTY GRILL?
Hank Hill:
Yeah, you know, no offence, but your grill is kinda like an iron.
George Foreman:
YOU'RE CALLING MY GRILL AN IRON? I've been hit below the belt before, but nothing like this.
Hank Hill:
I think it's a great product for dieters and little girls who want to play barbeque, But you can't compare it to a propane powered grill.
George Foreman:
FIGHT'S ON!
Hank Hill:
WHAT? No.
George Foreman:
I said 'Fight's on!' What's the matter? SMELLING ALL THAT PROPANE CAUSED YOU BRAIN DAMAGE?  THAT'S WHAT IT DOES YOU KNOW!
Hank Hill:
NO, THAT IS NOT ACCURATE. Those studies were done on sick monkeys. And at least my grill isn't sold in... housewares.

The George Foreman Grill is not the first inanimate object to be inducted into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  But most of those were fictional - Playpen magazine, the LA Tribune, the NY Chronicle, Morley Cigarettes. 

As an actual item, the grill isn't alone in the Hall, however; there are also real movies and TV shows, like the 'Tonight' show, 'The View', 'Star Trek', "It's A Wonderful Life", and "Miracle On 34th Street".  Plus the Titanic, COVID 19, and locations like the White House, Las Vegas, and the Playboy Mansion.

So there we have it for this February - the George Foreman Grill joins George Foreman in the Class of 2026! 

ON THE PROFESSOR'S BIRTHDAY

Today, Toobworld Central is remembering
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
on the 134th anniversary of his birth.

In the greater TV Universe, J.R.R. Tolkien and his writings are represented in several alternate Toobworlds.  “The Hobbit” and “The Return Of The King” were both animated and are considered part of the Tooniverse.  Gollum and Frodo showed up in sketches on ‘Saturday Night Live’, thus placing them in Skitlandia.  

And a TV movie based on his early adult life could be considered part of the man Toobworld – Earth Prime-Time – but it’s definitely part of the TV dimensions which is comprised of made-for-TV movies.

He also exists in the alternate dimension of Toobworld DC (‘Legends of Tomorrow’ and in an as-yet-unnamed TV dimension in which Tolkien’s faith was examined (‘A Question of God’).    

'Legends of Tomorrow'

O’Bservation: During RTD’s first tenure as the showrunner of ‘Doctor Who’, the Time Lord met a series of writers – Christie, Shakespeare, Dickens, Mary Shelley, King James 1, HG Wells, and Bracebridge Hemyng.  (Look him up!)

Tolkien as seen in
"CS Lewis: Beyond Narnia"

(My fanfic fantasy involved the Doctor and Tolkien in an adventure, with Tolkien inspired to create the Ents after meeting the humanoid trees from the Forest of Cheem.)

I’ve only seen one episode of “The Rings of Power” so I can’t make a qualified assessment as to whether or not it belongs in Earth Prime-Time.  I’m tempted to add yet another TV dimension called “Middle-Earth Prime-Time”.  (O’Bservation: I didn’t care for that first episode; I found it boring.)

As far as references to his world of Middle-Earth go, I think it’s a safe bet that most of the mentions by TV characters deal with the Peter Jackson movies.

The Tolkien Televersion ('Columbo')
&
The Professor His Own Self

O’Bservation: I even posited a theory that Tolkien was actually seen in the main Toobworld, and Lt. Columbo sat right next to him!

In the latest episode of ‘Harry Wild’ (a special movie entitled “You Are Cordially Invited To An Assassination”), the topic of the movie adaptations versus the original books comes up near the beginning….

I accept that ‘Harry Wild’ is part of Earth Prime-Time.  So if “Rings of Power” does get absorbed into the main Toobworld, there will have to be a splainin to do to reconcile the books and the adaptation (plus the references to the movies) all being in the same TV dimension.

And I think I have one….

The televersion of J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the novels, but they were actually based on the historical record set down in the Red Book of Westmarch.  And so if ‘Rings Of Power’ is accepted as part of the main Toobworld, the adaptations of his account, which was already diluted by his use of more common names and other words instead of the original Shire-speak, should be considered TV adaptations within the TV Universe and not as the actual, factual, historical depictions.  

If there be scenes which were created specifically for the series, then we could assume the Red Book of Westmarch, as well as “The Lord Of The Rings,’ is different from the books we know here in the Trueniverse, Earth Prime.  They include chapters which don’t exist in our world, making the trilogy even heftier!

Well, that’s my splainin to do, anyway.

Here’s to you, Professor…. 

THE INCARNATIONS Q&A - "ARE YOU A WOKE WARRIOR?"

 

AGE OF THE DOCTOR

 

Here's a theory from Facebook (February, 2025):

Simple - pre-Time war the doctor uses Gallifreyan years.

Post-Time War it's Earth years.
- Sean Mills

RACY LINE OF THOUGHT....

 

A TWO-BEATER TOOBIT

From "DOCTOR WHO FANS UNITE":

At the time of filming her regeneration scene, Jodie Whittaker was pregnant.

This makes her the first actor playing the Doctor to officially have two hearts in her body.

FANFIC, FIT TO A TEE

This was posted on the Classic Television Shows FB page back in January:

I happened to notice this anachronism on ‘Have Gun Will Travel’ this morning. The episode is “The Kid” (Seaon 5 Episode 15.)

Paladin is wearing a V-neck T-shirt, which did not exist in the 1870s and 1880s. During that time, men typically wore full undershirts made of wool or cotton, often with high, round necklines or buttons at the chest. The V-neck T-shirt as we know it today was not introduced until the mid-20th century, as a variation of the basic crewneck T-shirt.
[Alan DeCampli]

I think we know, as Whovians, the Time Lord responsible for this pollution of the timeline….

The Meddling Monk, of course.

I have no idea why he felt it was an important anachronism, however.

That is the stuff fanfic is for.

Care to give it a whirl? 

BENOIT BLANC & TOOBWORLD'S MANIFEST DESTINY

At some point in the timeline for the "Knives Out" movie franchise, Benoit Blanc - that master detective with the Southern drawl - officially became a resident of Earth Prime-Time, the main Toobworld.

We don't know when it happened at any point in Blanc's unseen life between the three movies ("Knives Out", "Glass Onion", and the current entry, "Wake Up, Dead Man.")  Benoit Blanc appeared as a guest on the fictional televersion of 'The View'.

'The View' is a member of the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.

In fact, it may have happened even before that first movie, because Blanc was already a celebrated private detective with enough notoriety to make him recognizable to the average viewer of the talk show.

The following shows are all part of Earth Prime-Time and their characters have acknowledged the existence of ‘The View’ as being a TV series in their lives:

‘The Mountain’, ‘‘The Nanny’, ‘Gilmore Girls’, ‘Third Rock From The Sun’, ‘Just Shoot Me’, ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’, ‘Will & Grace’, ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’, ‘Scrubs’, ‘Reba’, ‘Veronica Mars’, ‘Bones’, ‘Entourage’, ‘Law & Order: SVU’, ’10 Things I Hate About You’, ‘Greek’, ‘Community’, ‘Cougar Town’, ‘Modern Family’, ‘Psych’, ‘Chuck’, ‘The Office’, ‘Drop Dead Diva’, ‘Hot In Cleveland’, ‘Happy Endings’, ‘90210’, ‘Workaholics’, ‘Us & Them’, ‘The Neighbors’, ‘Looking’, ‘Melissa & Joey’, ‘Faking It’, ‘Last Man Standing’, ‘Revenge’, ‘2 Broke Girls’, ‘Justified’, ‘The Jack and Triumph Show’, ‘The Big Bang Theory’, ‘Orange Is The New Black’, ‘’Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’, ‘The Muppets’, ‘Fuller House’, ‘Loosely Exactly Nicole’, ‘NCIS’, ‘The Goldbergs’.

O'Bservation - Since I posted that in 2021, other TV series may have acknowledged its existence in Toobworld.

THE 2025 ROSTER

‘The View’ also gets mentioned/watched in shows which take place in other Toobworlds – ‘The West Wing’, ‘Doom Patrol’, and a couple of shows in the horror world known as “Nosferatoob” – ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and ‘iZombie’.  Plus it has become a cottage industry to be spoofed in Skitlandia (thanks to ‘SNL’ and ‘MAD-TV’) and in the Tooniverse.  (‘Family Guy’ and ‘The Simpsons’ for example.)

Plus, there are several series in which ‘The View’ is not only mentioned, but characters from those shows appear on the talk show and interact with the televersions of the real-life hosts – Jenna Maroney of ’30 Rock’, Casey McCall of ‘SportsNight’, and a fictionalized ‘Bette’ Midler whose life in the eponymous sitcom is very different from that of Trueniverse Bette.  

Surprisingly, Daniel Craig has never appeared on 'The View'.  It would have been fun to include a screen grab from an appearance and claim it was Benoit Blanc.

TVXOHOF, NOVEMBER 2025 - AMERICA'S PARADE!

As it is usually the month for elections, the November inductions into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame normally focus on newsmakers like politicians, as well as those who report the news.  Sorry, not sorry, but this year I just couldn’t taint the Hall with the state of the political scene.  (However, twice – so far – I did make allowances for the memorial tributes; it was the right thing to do.  And do NOT read anything into the use of the elephants as seen above!)

So instead, I chose an off-beat candidate which has a longstanding connection to November and I think everybody can support the choice….

THE MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE

From Wikipedia:
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the American-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit (with both parades being four years younger than Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Day Parade). The three-hour parade is held in Manhattan, ending outside Macy's Herald Square, and takes place from 8:30 a.m. to noon Eastern Standard Time on Thanksgiving Day, and has been televised nationally on NBC since 1953.

The parade became known nationwide, having been prominently featured in the 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street”*, which included footage of the 1946 festivities. The event had its first broadcast on network television in 1948.

The majority of the parade’s depictions in several TV dimensions involve unexpected calamities.  Macy’s probably doesn't appreciate that being played up, but there was precedent for such problems here on Earth Prime.

More from Wikipedia:
During the 1993 parade, strong gusts of wind pushed the Sonic the Hedgehog balloon into a lamppost at Columbus Circle. The lamp post damaged the balloon and the top of the post broke off while inside the balloon, dragging it down, injuring a child and an off-duty police officer in the process.

During the 1997 parade, very high winds pushed the Cat in the Hat balloon into a lamppost. The falling debris struck a parade-goer, fracturing her skull and leaving her in a coma for 24 days. The winds also caused trouble for the other balloons.  The Barney the Dinosaur balloon veered out of control and was eventually stomped and stabbed by the NYPD. The Pink Panther balloon collapsed onto the ground and was stabbed by an NYPD inspector. Mayor Rudy Giuliani formed a task force in response, and numerous safety regulations were implemented the next year, including size restrictions that eliminated larger balloons such as the Cat in the Hat and the Pink Panther, the removal of lamppost arms on the parade route, and both physical training and lessons in balloon physics for handlers.

During the 2005 parade, the M&M's balloon collided with a streetlight in Times Square; parts of the light fell on two sisters, who suffered minor injuries.

Regarding the telecast of the parade, here’s another selection from Wikipedia….

The NBC broadcast of the 2022 parade marked the first time that the broadcast was hosted entirely by women, as Al Roker was unable to host that year due to blood clots in his legs and lungs.

More than 44 million people typically watch the parade on television on an annual basis; in 2024, it was the most-watched television special of the year, outdrawing all of the major awards ceremonies, New Year events and Christmas specials. It was first televised locally in New York City in 1939 as an experimental broadcast on NBC's W2XBS (now WNBC). No television stations broadcast the parade in 1940 or 1941, but local broadcasts resumed when the parade returned in 1945 after the wartime suspension.
     
The parade began its network television appearances on CBS in 1948, the year that major, regular television network programming began. NBC has been the official broadcaster of the event since 1953. As of 2024, NBC pays Macy's $20 million per year for the license to be the parade's official broadcaster; the parade earns a substantial profit for the network, with ad buys averaging $900,000 per 30-second commercial in 2023—a fee comparable to NBC Sunday Night Football—bringing in a gross revenue of $52 million.

In November 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that during negotiations to extend their broadcast contract for the parade and the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks for ten additional years, NBC offered to pay Macy's an increased license fee of $60 million to continue carrying the parade telecast. The renewal was officially announced on February 25, 2025, extending NBC's rights through 2035. The renewal will also include rights to a third Macy's-sponsored special to be held in the future.
   
At first, the telecasts were only an hour long. The telecast then expanded to two hours in 1961, reduced to 90 minutes in 1962, reverted to two hours in 1965, and expanded to all three hours of the parade in 1969. The event began to be broadcast in color in 1960. NBC airs the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade live in the Eastern Time Zone as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as the network uses broadcast feeds from that time zone (which due to time differences starts at 10:00 a.m. AST), but tape delays the telecast elsewhere in the continental U.S. and territories from the Central Time Zone westward to allow the program to air in the same 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. timeslot across its owned-and-operated and affiliated stations (except for Guam, which airs it the day after Thanksgiving at 8:30 a.m. local time, as the territory is located west of the International Date Line and therefore a day ahead from the rest of the United States).

With the launch of Peacock in 2020 and branded extensions such as a virtual reality broadcast sponsored by Verizon however, it is now possible to watch the parade live across the United States without any tape delay through Peacock, or another international streaming provider with rights to NBC's programming.

Here are the TV shows which prove there is a televersion of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Toobworld….

WHAT’S MY LINE?
JACK PALANCE (1955)
Afterwards, the broadcast ends with an elderly woman who makes Santa Clause beards and mustaches.

O'Bservation:
I'm assuming she made them for use by Macy's, which would be why this episode got mentioned in a search of the IMDb.

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
THE JINGLE BELLS AFFAIR (1966)
The leader of a country (who appears to be modeled on Nikita Kruschev) is visiting New York City. Solo and Kuryakin must protect him from assassination attempts.

O’Bservation:
They are stymied in smuggling Premier Koz across Manhattan by the parade.

SEINFELD
THE MOM AND POP STORE (1994)
Elaine wins a spot on the parade route for her boss, Mr. Pitt, to hold the Woody Woodpecker balloon.

FRIENDS
THE ONE WHERE UNDERDOG GETS AWAY (1994)
In 1994 the first Thanksgiving-themed episode centered on the accidental release of the "Underdog" balloon.

O’Bservation:
At that time, the Underdog balloon was not used, so it’s a good example of Earth Prime-Time not being the same as Earth Prime.

CAROLINE IN THE CITY
CAROLINE AND THE BALLOON (1995)
All the gang get together to walk a 'Caroline in the City' balloon in the Thanksgiving Day parade. Unfortunately, Shelly's actions result in the balloon being released and subsequently causing havoc.

Caroline has a large 'Caroline in the City' balloon in the Thanksgiving Day parade and needs some people to hold the rope and pull the balloon along. Richard is a reluctant starter but it was either the balloon or Shelly. Then Shelly takes an anti-fur stance that eventually results in the balloon being released. This causes a number of problems that included injuring Florence Henderson. Caroline is very upset when the balloon is eventually destroyed.

“The Brady Bunch” (1969–1974) is mentioned by Annie, Caroline and Del as Caroline's balloon goes right behind Florence Henderson in the Thanksgiving parade. Annie also wears a "Brady Bunch" t-shirt to the parade.

O'Bservation:
This is not a Zonk.  "The Brady Bunch" situation in the inner reality of Toobworld would be a natural for a TV series in that dimension as it was here in the Trueniverse.

LAW & ORDER
ENDURANCE (2000)
A frustrated, over-stressed mother is charged with murder after starting a fire that killed her disabled son, but the case weighs heavy on Jack McCoy's conscience.

JACK
I don't think she's lying. Assume she's not. That's manslaughter. Given her state of mind and the extenuating circumstances, I don't think what she did warrants a conviction for manslaughter.
UNKNOWN
Well, what do you think? Marshal of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?
JACK
I don't think we should be sending her to prison.

CSI: NY
CONSEQUENCES (2006)
The investigation of the death of a professional paintball player is complicated by the discovery of drugs supposedly confiscated in a drug bust conducted by detective Flack years earlier.    

CSI Detective Mac Taylor: 
A little early for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Don Flack:
Well, according to Miss Lorraine Hanaford, a century-old tradition doesn't just "happen".  There's months of prep.  Organizers inflate balloons, check for leaks, let their volunteers get a trial run at steering these things.  This big fellow was scheduled for a test run tomorrow morning. 
Taylor:
Looks like our only witness is full of hot air.

Dr. Sheldon Hawkes: [about to perform an "autopsy" on a giant, inflated Nutcracker balloon]
This job is never boring.

COCA-COLA COMMERCIAL (2008)
In 2008, a Coca-Cola CGI ad aired in the United States during Super Bowl XLII. The commercial's plot centered around Underdog and fictional Stewie Griffin balloons chasing a Coke bottle-shaped balloon through New York City. The spot ended with a Charlie Brown balloon holding the Coke balloon.

CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA
CHAPTER SEVEN: FEAST OF FEASTS (2018)
The coven prepares for an annual ritual as Harvey takes part in a Kinkle family tradition. Sabrina grows suspicious of Lady Blackwood.

JESSICA JONES
A.K.A. HERO PANTS (2019)
Jessica wrestles with her emotions as she tries to untangle herself from a murder investigation.

SUPERSTORE
DEEP CLEANING (2021)
On the day of Store 1217's first deep cleaning since the pandemic began, Glenn ropes Garrett into throwing a party to cheer up the employees; Dina needs Cheyenne's guidance when her ability to run the store is compromised.

TOON IN WITH ME
SOCKEYE IN NYC (2022)
Sockeye takes a trip to New York City.

O'Bservation:
I assumed he saw the parade while there.  If so, it probably looked something like this....

But as it turned out, the parade was only mentioned by Toony at the end of the episode as he imagined what it would be like if he was a giant specter like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in "Ghostbusters".  [Seen on the TV screen below.]

When Bill asked where he would encounter Noo Yawkers to have his imagined conversations with them, Toony figured it would have to be at the Thanksgiving parade.

ALTERNATE TOOBWORLDS

THREE CINEVERSE BORDERLANDS
O’Bservation:
While “Miracle on 34th St.” is treated as a movie in Earth Prime-Time*, it actually played out in the timelines for three different Toobworlds.

MIRACLE ON 34th St. (1955)

MIRACLE ON 34th St. (1959)
[Watching the parade without showing the parade]

MIRACLE ON 34th St. (1973)

And so their presentations of the parade also contribute to making it multi-dimensional.

SKITLANDIA

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

THE TOONIVERSE

FAMILY GUY
THANKSGIVING (2011)

The 2008 Coca-Cola commercial was also referenced in a 2011 episode of "Family Guy". Stewie, one of its main characters, is seen watching the parade only to see the balloon of himself in the parade.

O’Bservation:
That makes the events depicted in the commercial multidimensional.

EARTH PRIME-TIME (WELDONIAN TOOBWORLD)

CASTLE
THE TIME OF OUR LIVES (2014)
When Castle gets knocked out while tracking some criminals with Beckett, he wakes up to a world in which he and Kate have never met.

[reading from his file, trying to prove to alternate universe Ryan and Esposito something doesn't make sense]
Richard Castle: Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey. It says here I jumped on a Macy's Parade float and sang "Let it Go" with Idina Menzel, and then landed a hot air balloon naked in Central Park. I didn't do these things, guys. Come on. I would never sing "Let it Go" as a duet.

O’Bservation:
Because the Mayor of New York City of Earth Prime has appeared in Earth Prime-Time over several administrations, any TV show episode featuring a fictional mayor should be considered an Alt-Toobworld.  This doesn’t mean the whole series should be shipped out of the main Toobworld, unless it’s central to the show’s plotline.  

In the case of ‘Castle,’ in which the mystery writer was a friend of Mayor Robert Weldon, the entire show is in an alternate TV dimension because Weldon was mayor through several seasons.  (This is also true for ‘Spin City’ and ‘Blue Bloods’.)

For the record, Bill De Blasio was the Earth Prime mayor in 2014, the year in which he appeared in an episode of ‘The Good Wife’.

Finally... here's a touch of Earth Prime Reali-TV:

LATE NIGHT with SETH MEYERS (2014 - maybe)

By the time this is uploaded to the blog, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be a few hours away from beginning the route down to Herald Square.

All the best for a disaster-free parade this year and welcome to the Television Crossover Hall of Fame!

The parade always ends with the arrival of Santa Claus, so this TVXOHOF post will do the same.  This is the float which carried Kris Kringle from 1948 (the year of the first telecast to 1952....

* Make sure you come back on December 1st for more about the 1947 original movie of "Miracle On 34th St." as seen on Earth Prime-Time!