The Big Picture: Worlds Within Worlds
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
That was weird and cool finding out all those shows link together. You'd think there would be all kinds of copyright bollocks stopping people from randomly putting a character from a completely unrelated show into their show.
I have to assume that all of that was some parallel to the way comic books try to maintain everything all at once and end up stepping on each other and then having to create alternate universes, which is something I'm really only familiar with though having watched other things by Movie Bob, not being big into to comics myself. That didn't get the time it should have in explanation, which makes this seem slightly disconnected and a thing I don't know why we should care about in this episode. Just saying - the 'degrees of separation' thing is old hat unless you're talking about something specific, which you didn't quite manage to do here because of the lack of link up dialog and the assumed knowledge. I'm guessing comic book fans get a lot more out of this episode simply because they already know that, but it's a video game fan site not a comic book fan site and while the two cultures enjoy considerable overlap... explanation still required for other viewers.
Meanwhile, I'm on the road to forgiving the ME3 ending attitude simply because enough time is passing that I'm back to being curious about what you're up to with these vids. Just saying.
Meanwhile, I'm on the road to forgiving the ME3 ending attitude simply because enough time is passing that I'm back to being curious about what you're up to with these vids. Just saying.
My thoughts are quite similar, plus the whole thing is just a "what if" hypothesis, to illustrate the point of continuity in comics being too rigid. So the whole theory may come off as interesting or mind-blowing to some people because of how many shows can be linked, although if we do take out the references/jokes just like Bindal mentioned it's not even that impressive. But even then, the whole idea that everything originates from the kids mind is kind of lame in my opinion.Bindal said:
When did the kind of cop-out things like: it was all imagined, or it was just a dream supposed to be good again?
Maybe I'm in the minority here, but this wasn't that mind-blowing.
Now the "purple carrot fact", mentioned at the end of a Big Picture episode, was more mind-blowing, maybe because it is actually a real thing, not many people may know about.
I knew as soon as I saw the title, somehow, that this was going to be about Tommy Westphall. And I never thought I'd see St. Elsewhere mentioned in TBP. But I'm pretty glad it did, because the whole idea (both the Mind Screw ending and the teasing-out of the suggestion) is just so much fun to mess with. Thanks for this one.
If there was a weakness in this video, honestly I'd have liked to hear more of Bob's conclusions at the end. The five-minute tracing of the Westphallverse was excellent, don't get me wrong, but the conclusion felt a bit rushed. I'd like to hear more of what Bob thinks about Westphall's effect on continuity philosophy. But still, great fun.
If there was a weakness in this video, honestly I'd have liked to hear more of Bob's conclusions at the end. The five-minute tracing of the Westphallverse was excellent, don't get me wrong, but the conclusion felt a bit rushed. I'd like to hear more of what Bob thinks about Westphall's effect on continuity philosophy. But still, great fun.
So basically any show that has ever had a crossover with another show or contained a reference implying a fictional person or company exists in both shows ultimately ties in with all the others, due to such crossovers and references being like potato chips: no show can have just one.
EDIT: Actually, come to think of it, even comic books aren't as rigid with their continuity as Moviebob was suggesting here. There have been plenty of crossovers with outside franchises that couldn't possibly all be part of the DC or Marvel universes. Atop the Fourth Wall jokes about this from time to time in reviews of crossover comics. Heck, there's probably been at least one property that's crossed over with both DC and Marvel at some point, and you know what that would have to mean...
EDIT: Actually, come to think of it, even comic books aren't as rigid with their continuity as Moviebob was suggesting here. There have been plenty of crossovers with outside franchises that couldn't possibly all be part of the DC or Marvel universes. Atop the Fourth Wall jokes about this from time to time in reviews of crossover comics. Heck, there's probably been at least one property that's crossed over with both DC and Marvel at some point, and you know what that would have to mean...
Of course, it's well worth pointing out that comics are perfectly capable of saying, particularly with regard to "WTF endings", "Y'know what? That s@#$ never happened. No one's ever going to bring it up again, okay?"
See a lot of references to the "Amalgam" universe lately?
See a lot of references to the "Amalgam" universe lately?
In all seriousness, the point Bob was trying to make (I believe) simply was that McDuffy had a relevant viewpoint on fiction. Hence, the parallel with "St.Elsewhere".
Look what's happening with, I dunno, BATMAN... I've read only a few Batman stories, and while it's nice to connect the dots once in a while, you lose track of continuity fast enough.
I now think more in "story arcs" and "character". You can quote -or not- other stories; however if it becomes absolutely necessary to check out the facts and whether or not they turn out... I think it stops being fun/meaningful.
When a story becomes impossible to track -however well recorded it is- you end up with a "what if?" or a "Crisis" or whatever reboot/alternate unisverse somebody comes up with in a desperate attempt to tie loose ends. It's not necessary. We're dealing with archetypes now.
Look what's happening with, I dunno, BATMAN... I've read only a few Batman stories, and while it's nice to connect the dots once in a while, you lose track of continuity fast enough.
I now think more in "story arcs" and "character". You can quote -or not- other stories; however if it becomes absolutely necessary to check out the facts and whether or not they turn out... I think it stops being fun/meaningful.
When a story becomes impossible to track -however well recorded it is- you end up with a "what if?" or a "Crisis" or whatever reboot/alternate unisverse somebody comes up with in a desperate attempt to tie loose ends. It's not necessary. We're dealing with archetypes now.
To be fair, once you put The Simpsons in the Tommy Westfall universe isn't it kind of game over? The Simpsons have done just about everything that ever was or will be by now.
wow that was insane....so wheres the No Prize for piecing THIS continuity monstrosity together lol?
Daaang... although I'm sure there are still some shows untouched by this revelation, it's still interesting to see just how many referances and small interlinkings there are in mainstream TV.
Suddenly that Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover makes a lot more sense (as do all crossovers everywhere)
On the subject of Star Trek crossovers, didn't they once meet up with the X-Men? Which means the Marvel universe is within the Westphall universe, as is DC through Amalgam linking them to Marvel
On the subject of Star Trek crossovers, didn't they once meet up with the X-Men? Which means the Marvel universe is within the Westphall universe, as is DC through Amalgam linking them to Marvel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gutCFMc5khY
seriously what does this have to do with anything? it's not like any tv show is going to do anything with all this information and "linked universes" i bet they just figured nobody would give a damn and re-used a few actors here and there or used these references just for easter eggs.
seriously what does this have to do with anything? it's not like any tv show is going to do anything with all this information and "linked universes" i bet they just figured nobody would give a damn and re-used a few actors here and there or used these references just for easter eggs.
Too bad there is a fatal flaw in the concept, namely that the end of St Elsewhere is subject to interpretation. Just because the events and characters involved with St Elsewhere "appear" to take place inside the mind of an autistic child, this may not be the case. Since Tommy's father appears both in Tommy's reality and his imagination, this indicates that Tommy is capable of imagining characters and events based on real world persons and situations.
In this case, Tommy is drawing real world persons into his imagination and assigning them roles. This is equally as likely a case for crossover characters pulled into the "imaginary" St Elsewhere space.
Additionally, it is never explicit that St Elsewhere isn't a real space location (in relation to Tommy). This could very well be the hospital Tommy is treated at with him projecting subtle alterations over it in his imagination.
Since there isn't enough observable information available about Tommy's real space we can't infer that St Elsewhere or the rest of the TV continuities are solely a product of Tommy's imagination.
In this case, Tommy is drawing real world persons into his imagination and assigning them roles. This is equally as likely a case for crossover characters pulled into the "imaginary" St Elsewhere space.
Additionally, it is never explicit that St Elsewhere isn't a real space location (in relation to Tommy). This could very well be the hospital Tommy is treated at with him projecting subtle alterations over it in his imagination.
Since there isn't enough observable information available about Tommy's real space we can't infer that St Elsewhere or the rest of the TV continuities are solely a product of Tommy's imagination.