Fantasy Guest Stars and What Could Have Been

[zimmerman]

For my 50th post, I thought it would be interesting if we could let our imagination run wild and figure out who would have been perfect for "our Favorite Program" had it aired longer. Hearing Allan Sherman doing a take off of "Fascination" on the radio made me think he would have been a great WWW Villian, and, either bad or good guy, Ed Ames would have also been a good guest star on our show, considering he just left "Daniel Boone" at the time WWW was canceled.

Also good potential guest stars would have been "Laredo" cast members William Smith and Phillip Carey, with Peter Brown as a guest agent (he is too nice to play a bad guy, but he could play snarkey very well, as evidenced by his guest appearance in the "Simon and Simon" episode "The Dillenger Print", which I watched last year. Also Micky Dolenz of the Monkees would have been an interesting guest.

Also, how many seasons do you think the show still had in it had the anti-violence laws not been in place? For sure it had the goods to still have one more good season in it, surpassing the low points of Season 4, but had Ross not had his heart attack, could the show have gone seven or eight years? I for one wished we had at least two more good encounters with Dr. Loveless to make up for the disappointing swansong he had with "Miguelitos Revenge."

Plus, could additonal cast members would have been a help or a hinderance?
Just curious as to your thoughts about this.

You folks can work away on this, while I head back home from the library today. I will return here at 7:00 my time Thursday evening. God bless all of you, and have a wonderful Wednesday.

[zimmerman]

The title of this thread should have said "Fantasy Guest Stars and What Could Have Been" instead of what I posted. See you gals on Thursday night. I had a great time hanging out with you today.

[artiesniecewannabe]

And perhaps the men could work on this as well, if they want!

If you look at the end of the fanfic I posted this weekend, TNOT Kiss of Death, you'll see that I added something of a wish-list of guest stars to play the parts in my story. I couldn't decide between three fine actresses, all of whom were about the right age in the mid-60's to play the roles of the nineteen year old twins in the story, so I listed them all.

I wasn't going to do a cast list on Kiss of Death, but as I was writing the end of the story, one of the characters had the line 'Hey, Professor!' And I heard Peter Falk's voice saying that line in The Great Race, so I rewrote the character slightly to make him Peter Falk. And that led to casting the rest...

;D

[artiesniecewannabe]

Zimmerman, I think you can edit the title from the Reply page.






Edited my subject line to match the thread's subject line.

[California gal]

To change the title of a topic, which I do in the Frivolous thread often, go to your original post and click modify. It will show you the title and you can correct it. Only the original author of a thread can do this of course.

[rielle]

okay, all y'all know this is the kind of post I LOVE to answer:

hmmm... my dream villains for W3:

[and I'm not going to quibble about those who were working on other shows at the time, cause ... hey, this is fantasy.
Raymond Burr, Lorne Greene, James Coburn, Joseph Cotten, Susan Hayward, France Nuyen, Vincent Price... yeah, you know which for ep, too... Christopher Lee --- why not, they had Karloff and wanted to cast Price... Anne Bancroft, Andrew Duggan, James Stacy, Tony Perkins, Anna Marie Duke, Dana Wynters- again, John McIntire, John Smith of Cimarron City and Laramie, Robert Horton, David Selby, and William Shatner

good guys and femmes not fatale:
Diane Baker, Rhonda Fleming, Suzanne Pleschette [again], Stockard Channing, Tuesday Weld, Yvette Mimieux, Connie Stevens [for peets sake she and RC have been buds for ever, or so I've read!]
Robert Fuller, Lee J Cobb, James Drury, Doug McClure, Gary Clarke, Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, David McCallum, Robert Vaughan, Joanne Woodward, yes agree about Peter Brown, also William Smith,
they should also have had return appearances by Karen Jensen, Sharon Acker, Leslie Charleson, and the young actress who played Gina Carlotta [the real one] in Dancing Death.

[rielle]

May 22, 2012 16:58:21 GMT -8 @artiesniecewannabe said:

And perhaps the men could work on this as well, if they want!

If you look at the end of the fanfic I posted this weekend, TNOT Kiss of Death, you'll see that I added something of a wish-list of guest stars to play the parts in my story. I couldn't decide between three fine actresses, all of whom were about the right age in the mid-60's to play the roles of the nineteen year old twins in the story, so I listed them all.

I wasn't going to do a cast list on Kiss of Death, but as I was writing the end of the story, one of the characters had the line 'Hey, Professor!' And I heard Peter Falk's voice saying that line in The Great Race, so I rewrote the character slightly to make him Peter Falk. And that led to casting the rest...

;D

Niecie I've been meaning to say I really enjoyed reading your new story... it was lively and well paced and you absolutely had our agents dead to rights... as it were For myself I usually do cast my stories, at least in my own mind, it makes the whole thing all the more visual to me. And it lets me bring actors and actresses 'onto' W3 who I think would have done well in the midst of Jim and Artie's adventures.

[zimmerman]

Thanks for the heads up on this!! I am still a newbie at this kind of Internet writing and interaction.

[zimmerman]

Did you know that Connie Stevens and Robert Conrad were labelmates? They were both signed to Warner Bros. Records at the time.

Real Gone Music just released Connie's Complete Warner Bros. Singles, wherein you can listen to a few of them on this YouTube site:

www.youtube.com/user/reichardtaj

Also, it would have been tough for Lorne Greene to guest on "Our Favorite Programme" considering that "Bonanza" was still a big hit for NBC at the time. Be grateful that we did get a guest shot from Pernell Roberts in the third season.

[zimmerman]

Also, it is kind of surprising that you listed both Doug McClure and Willam Shatner on your guest wish list, considering they did their best to play their own version of Jim and Artie on "Barbary Coast" on ABC in 1975. Mr. McClure could have done a guest shot if our show was still on in 1972-73, Since "Virginian" or "Men From Shiloh" as it was named, went off the air in 1971.

[zimmerman]

Just a quick note to let you know that I will be back at 4:00 Saturday afternoon. I had a great time as always hanging out with you. God bless all of you until then.

[zimmerman]

Well gang, I thought of a couple more actors who would have been perfect for our show had it been on longer, and they are both named Robert. Both Robert Culp and singer Robert Goulet would have been great guest stars on WWW, especially Mr. Culp. He could play villanous murderes very good, as evidenced by his many guest shots on "Columbo" in the early '70's.

Oh, and Lorne Greene could have done a shot in our show in 1973 if it was still on the air. He was so upset about the cancellation of "Bonanza" in November of 1972 that he refused to show up on the last day of taping for the program. Playing a villan on WWW would have been a great outlet to release some of the hostility against NBC out of his system.

You can read about the final days of "Bonanza" in the syndication history and Season 14 episode guide of my favorite "Bonanza" fansite, ponderosascenery.homestead.com.

[zimmerman]

Well gang, it's time for me to move on with my Memorial Day weekend. I will be back here on Tuesday for more expanded, in-depth reviews and comments with you wonderful people. As always, I have a great time hanging out with you.

One thing I will be doing is staying cool. Mid-90's predicted for North Central Illinois for this weekend! Enjoy your holiday, and I will be back on Tuesday. God bless all of you.

[Paradox Eyes]

I've often thought a guest appearance by Peter Graves would have been pretty cool. He always had a calm deliberate way about him. He could have been a good guy or a villain. His role in Fury certainly gave him "Western" flavored experience.

[Nydiva]

So many interesting guests have been suggested, but I'd like to add Ernest Borgnine to the list. Always liked him.

And - especially - Don Murray.

He could give Robert Conrad a run for his money in the looks department. No mean feat, as I think there are very, VERY few men to match Mr. Conrad in sheer male beauty. Then or now. (Of course I still [and always] prefer Ross! )

And wouldn't Shirley Booth have made a very offbeat and interesting villianess?

There are a bunch of theatrical types I could think of as well, but most of you will never have heard of them anyway!

[zimmerman]

OOOOHHH Girls! You're coming up with ones I never could have thought of! Shirley Booth as a WWW villian!! Now THAT would have been interesting!

Over the weekend, as I continue to add to my fantasy guest list, I thought of another great lady who would have been perfect for WWW: Julie London. The sultry, smoky torch singer and Nurse Dixie McCall on "Emergency!" would have been a great fit for our show. I watched her "Big Valley" episode on the now suspended "CarrieOK4059" YouTube account last year, and she was good being a female Bendict Arnold and former love interset for Jarrod Barkley.

[Nydiva]

I was sort of thinking of Shirley Booth as a sort of comic Ma Barker type, leading a gang of not-so-bright thugs and constantly getting frustrated with them.

She could end up being relieved to go to jail just to get shed of them. (Hmmmm, maybe there's a fanfic coming on - eventually.)

[artiesniecewannabe]

Hmm... how about Eartha Kitt?

[zimmerman]

Niece, you are setting up my feature review for this week very nicely! I was watching "Double-Edged Knife" last night, and saw Susan Silo in the silly torture scene, and, as I watched it again, I thought that Eartha Kitt could have done a much better job.

Besides, I really enjoyed her as Catwoman in the "Batman" reruns I watched in the '80's and '90's on such cable channels as Family and FX (back in the days when it was more family-friendly than it is now).

[Nydiva]

Zimmerman - two dear friends of mine worked with Ms. Kitt. I met her (briefly) during the course of the (very short) run they all were in. I hadn't known she was undergoing treatment for cancer at the time, and the audience didn't have a clue either. She was absolutely amazing!

BTW, I had a bday card all made up for you last week, but Photobucket wasn't cooperating. It is now, so happy belated:

[artiesniecewannabe]

How about Hal Smith? He's probably best remembered as Otis on The Andy Griffith Show.

He also played the mayor of Borracho in The Great Race.

[zimmerman]

Diva, thanks for the belated birthday card! It is very nice.

I did get a WWW-related birthday present, but I need to find the links to show you what I received.

I always liked Eartha Kitt. I like "C'est Si Bon" a little bit more than her Christmas classic "Santa Baby." The former was played a lot on the traditional pop oldies station out of Chicago when I was growing up in the late-1980's and early-'90's.

[zimmerman]

By the way, great shot of Jim and Artie!! You sure did good picking out the picture.

[Nydiva]

Speaking of Eartha Kitt, here a pic of her from her last theatrical appearance (stage, that is; I believe she did a night club engagement or two afterwards).

The gentleman she's pictured with was my good friend, Tom Aldredge. Sadly, he's gone now too.



And did you know she had a WWW connection? She did a Broadway show ("Shinbone Alley") with Ross in 1957. I even have the (rare and now pricey) CD!

[zimmerman]

If you read the "Who's Who In TV" bio about Ross that I uploaded here awhile back, you may have noticed that it mentioned "Shinbone Alley."

[Nydiva]

But I don't think it mentioned who his co-stars (actually, Ross had a smallish role) were.

Aside from Eartha Kitt, the show also starred Eddie Bracken and featured a darling old (he'll be 90 this year!) gent by the name of George S. Irving. I last spoke to George in early 2011 and he clearly remembered working with Ross.

To quote: "He was totally crazy, a great guy, but totally crazy." George went on to praise Ross's energy and sense of fun. Then he went on to do his bit for the evening - a song nearly 5 minutes long and in French - from memory!!!

[zimmerman]

The other interesting thing about Eartha Kitt is that on Memorial Day, I got on DVD the movie "New Faces" for a dollar at my last-ever trip to my local Kmart, which closes its doors for good this Sunday.

Keep working on those guest stars and comments on future seasons! You folks are coming up with some really good ones that even I would never even think of.

[zimmerman]

BTW, I still remember the Christmas Day that Eartha Kitt passed away, 2008. I had to spend part of the holiday visiting my late Grandfather in the hospital.

Ironically, the following day, I purchased my own copy of Season 4 with my Christmas money.

[zimmerman]

Albert Salmi would have made for an intersting guest.

[zimmerman]

I am still looking for your opinions and your take on any additional seasons had the show not had the violence restrictions and Ross not have his heart attack. I am very interested to see how many more years of potential WWW had in it before it was abruptly canceled.

Also keep coming up with those fantasy guest stars! At the rate we are going, we should have enough for at least one more season!! Possibly even two!!

On that note, It is almost time for me to go home today after a long day here at the library. I will return to hang with you happy people (and fellow fans of "Our Favorite Programme") at 4:00 ProBoards time (7:00 Central Time) on Thursday night. I always enjoy hanging out with all of you, and have a wondeful time.

Take care, and God bless.