Tuesday - 070417 - Blurry; NCIS; Illya Kuryakin; More Tobey and Clive

Tuesday of last week was a blur. I don't have any cash or credit card receipts for lunch or anything else, so I didn't go anywhere.

David McCullum as Illya Kuryakin Larger image

I do remember watching "NCIS," because it had a very twisted and clever plot. One of the NCIS members (Timothy McGee played by Sean Murray) writes detective novels and bases the characters and events of what goes on around him. The only people who see the manuscript are him and the publisher who keeps it under lock and key.

NCIS studies a murder scene, but Tim feels some strange sense of "deja vu."

NCIS grill the publisher but get no where. By the way, her assistant is played by a "flaming" Wilson Cruz of "My So Called Life" fame. Wilson is openly gay. And the character was certainly intended to be gay. But then he suddenly, he vanishes from the plot.And I did ask myself if the "flaming" was necessary.

Two more murders occur, again based on the story being written.

Timothy McGee as a true detective writer types his stories. And from time to time when faced with writer's block, he free flows with the characters and writes whatever comes to mind. It turns out that a rabid fan from Tim's morning breakfast place has been dumpster diving to retrieve the typewriter ribbon. Then taking what he read literally.

At the very end, the NCIS crew is able to save the fan from killing, Abby, the lab technician. (She's not staying at her house because of a major plumbing problem caused by trying to flush vodoo dolls down the toilet. She says she's staying at some sister's place. The sisters, of course, are nuns and not there because of a retreat. Abby, it turns out, is a member of their bowling team. There's a very brief shot of a photo showing Abby smiling, holding a bowling ball, surrounded by several short nuns. This photo alone was worth watching the show.

There are a lot of quirky characters in the show. Tim is the resident qeek and speaks Klingon, (I just learned that a gay qeek is called a queek.) Pauley Perrette as Abby Sciuto is the goth lab guru. (Always goth - huge clunky boots, tattoos, wrist bands, pendants by the score.) Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs is the gruff but patriarchal leader. Cote de Pablo is Ziva David (pronounced Da' vid) formerly of Israel's Mossad. Michael Weatherly plays the almost always oversexed Anthony DiNozzo.

Well, while I'm on this, I may as well mention Abby's Halloween costume. The last thing you would think - Marilyn Monroe wearing the dress from "The Seven Year Itch." She was gorgeous. As her boss leaves the room, she says, "Thank you, Mr. President!"

And then there's David McCallum, who in the early 60s played one of the sexiest spy agents in the history of TV, Illya Kuryakin of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.". There's something about the name Illya Kuryakin that I've always liked. He was so delicious with his long blond page-boy hair and faux Russian accent. Robert Vaughn as Napolean Solo was not so bad himself. And I loved Leo G. Carroll as Mr. Waverly.

There was even a set of about 25 UNCLE paperbacks with different plot lines. They were cheeky, imaginative and a delight to read. One of my favorite scenes is when they visit MI5 in London. On the stairs they pass a very distinguished man with a bowler hat and carrying a furled umbrella. With him was a stunning woman in the latest fashion. Once inside, the host makes a passing comment about their having passed one of their top professionals and talented amateurs on the stairs. This was a sneaky acknowledgment to John Steed and Emma Peel of "The Avengers."

In another case, they into the Sussex countryside to meet an elderly beekeeper. Who immediately tells them where they've been, who they've seen, what case they're working on, etc. A sly reference to Sherlock Holmes.

On NCIS, he plays pathologist Donald 'Ducky' Mallard.

I'm sure, as before, I was able to work in some more tinkering with the pensive guys page for Tobey and Clive.