We’ve all got them, those weird little theories about our favorite (or, why not, least favorite) shows and movies. Like the Death Star starting out as a giant space shopping mall before Peter Cushing came along, or whatever. Some are big efforts to explain away plot holes and other weirdness, while some are, well, pointless bits of fun.
I’ve got two to start with.
In an early episode of Columbo we meet Goldie, the ex-wife of a disappeared rich guy. She’s swimming in personality and seems to get along well with our shabby detective. Over the years we also hear a lot about Mrs. Columbo and get some hints that she likes to go out and enjoy herself. My wife and I came to the conclusion that at some point after solving her case, Goldie invited the Columbos for dinner in thanks and really hit it off with the missus. So when we hear about Mrs. Columbo, say, partying it up on a cruise ship, she’s actually hanging out with her BFF Goldie.
And another cruise ship link, there’s a Murder, She Wrote set on one with guest star Leslie Nielsen. This isn’t about him, but Jessica Fletcher’s steward, who is so stereotypically Italian (we guess? ) that you expect him to suddenly say “It’sa me, Mario!” He’s so ridiculously over-the-top that we’re convinced he’s on the run and this is the super-clever disguise he came up with when he smuggled himself aboard the cruise ship to escape. It’s a game now that every time we see this one we come up with more stories about this guy’s past.
How about you, what are your silliest, but ultimately pointless, bits of fanon?
I’m sure it’s not original with me, but it seems logical that “James Bond” is as much a fictional code name as “007.” That explains why “Bond” looks and acts so different in different incarnations.
I also postulate that both Lt. Columbo and Carl Kolchak have psychic powers that allow them to 1. immediately zero in on the killer, no matter how solid the alibi or 2. attract paranormal beings.
I realize this is pontificated elsewhere. In the Star Wars Prequels, The Vergence of the Force that produced Anakin Skywalker and The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise are too linked. Either Plagueis or Sidious had direct involvement in this Vergence or Lucas’ Universe and McDiarmid’s performance led to associations others made.
Note: Goldie truly liked Columbo. I hop on to your Goldie Theory. She fit the Columbo type.
I always figured the Skipper was mighty glad he added that little “(weather permitting)” disclaimer to the “three hour tour” claim he had printed up in all those travel brochures handed out to the tourists.
Charlie Brown actually left the Peanuts strip in 1955. His understudy, Reginald Fitzsimmons, played the role of “Charlie Brown” for the remainder for the strip’s run.
Charlie Brown moved to Hollywood, smitten with the allure of the silver screen. After a few hardscrabble years, he finally found fame and fortune beyond his wildest imagination once he made the name change to the more exotic sounding “Gavin MacLeod”.
I used to come up with theories for Doctor Who but they’d eventually get trampled by new events in the show. My favorite was that The Master was an earlier incarnation of The Doctor. It explains the immature schemes, why The Doctor always had the upper hand, and even their names: you earn your Masters degree before you get your Doctorate.
Mrs. Columbo, as referenced in the original Columbo is real, all right. Not a figment of our hero’s imagination, as claimed in some earlier fan works.
She’s the reclusive daughter (or sister, or cousin, or granddaughter) of some former very prominent part of the state’s judicial system or government. She is very devoted to her husband, despite her dislike of public life. If anyone important gets too close to “doing something” about him, she makes a brief phonecall to her powerful, influential relative and the wrongdoers have no choice but to back down.
We’re lucky this couple is on our side, is what I’m saying.
Not so much a theory, but a missed opportunity: in the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman series, particularly during the first season, the bad guys knew her super strength came from her magic belt so they’d find a way to steal it to even the odds.
I always wanted them to be met with the realization that, yes, her super strength is gone, but she’s still a trained warrior and can easily defeat them. The difference then would be that when she punched them they’d just fall down instead of smashing through a wall.
I never fleshed out an idea for it, but people have often wondered why Kolchak was such a monster magnet, why is it always he who runs into these things.
I know McGavin wanted a running, connective thread in the series, and while I wouldn’t have wanted it to go overboard with complicated, convoluted myth/world building, and lose the fun of a monster of the week. In my mind, there’s a reason for ‘why him’ - it could be there’s a supernatural counterbalance at play, and maybe he isn’t the first, that there have been others like him.
I never worked through the details, just played around with that idea. If the series continued, maybe they’d have addressed it.
Someone else proposed that he’d been widowed before he made detective. It was common knowledge, but everyone he met already considered him an eccentric so they just humored him when he talked about her as if she were still alive.
(I still like my theory better, but when in Rome…)
) that you expect him to suddenly say “It’sa me, Mario!” He’s so ridiculously over-the-top that we’re convinced he’s on the run and this is the super-clever disguise he came up with when he smuggled himself aboard the cruise ship to escape. It’s a game now that every time we see this one we come up with more stories about this guy’s past.