Dagmar
- The nickname of Virginia Ruth Egnor (Her acting name
was Jennie Lewis), a statuesque blonde bombshell who was a
regular on the talk variety show BROADWAY OPEN
HOUSE/NBC/1950-51. Program host Jerry Lester renamed Virginia "Dagmar"
for her walk on parts which featured humorous poetry readings
done in deadpan. Reportedly, just before the June 14, 1950
broadcast of the program, Jerry Lester told the five-foot, eight
and a half-inch Jennie Lewis "You just sit there next to the
orchestra and look dumb. Your name is Dagmar." One evening in
1951 while performing, Dagmar's strapless gown slipped off her
bosomy body, exposing her private parts. She later starred on
DAGMAR'S CANTEEN/NBC/1952 where she repeated her hilarious
tributes to literature by reading "original" silly plays to an
audience of military servicemen. See also - SEX, LOVE &
NAUGHTY BITS: "Voluptua"
Dame Edna- Celebrity pseudonym for Australian comedian Barry
Humphries, who was popular down-under and in England for his
female impersonation of a character called Dame Edna Everage who
wore flamboyant glasses, jewelry and lavender wigs. Her (or
should I say his) interview style was akin to Arsenio Hall (fun
& informal). In the fall of 1991, this outrageous female
impersonator starred in his own NBC specials entitled "Dame
Edna's Hollywood," which featured a number of bawdy conversation
with Hollywood celebrities including Burt Reynolds, Mel Gibson,
Bea Arthur, Barry Manilow, Cesar Romero, Larry Hagman, Sean
Young, Jack Palance and Cher. A January 1993 special "Edna Time"
on the Fox network starred Roseanne and Tom Arnold, Luke Perry
and Supermodel Kathy Ireland. On the 4/15/2002 episode "Love is
All Around" on the legal dramedyALLY MCBEAL/FOX/1997-2002,
Humphries reprised his persona as Dame Edna to play a
character named Claire Otoms, a rich (and butt ugly women) who
is advised by her lawyers to get a pre-nuptial agreement before
she gets married. See also - "The
Hag of Haute Couture"
"Dating
Capital of the World"- Hollywood, California
was billed as "The Dating Capital of the World" when it hosted
the game show THE DATING GAME/ABC/1965-73 and THE NEW DATING
GAME/SYN/1973 & 1977-80 emceed by Jim Lange and later by Elaine
Joyce on the 1986 version and Jeff MacGregor on THE ALL NEW
DATING GAME in 1988. See also - CITIES & TOWNS:
"Hollywood"
David
Letterman Pseudonym's- Once a top ten list on
the LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN/CBS/1993+ revealed nicknames
that guest stars have given talk show host David Letterman over
the years. Dave's pseudonym's included Weasel Boy (Heather
Locklear); Nurse Dave (George Clooney); Bonehead (Cybill
Shepherd); Lucky (John Travolta); David Friggin' Letterman
(Rosie O'Donnell); Lou (Mary Tyler Moore); Monkey Boy (John
Goodman); Gump (Siskel & Ebert); Liberal Media Bubblehead
(Senator Bob Dole); and Cabin Boy (Helen Hunt).
Dago Red- The nickname of Father John Francis Patrick Mulcahy, the
chaplain stationed at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
in Korea in the 1950s on the military sitcom
M*A*S*H/CBS/1972-83. The “Dago Red” moniker was used frequently
in the book [written by Richard Hooker] and the 1970 Robert
Altman film that inspired the series by was only used in a few
early episodes.
Deep
Throat - The cover name of a secretive
government agent on the fantasy drama X-FILES/FOX/1993-2002. FBI
Agent Fox Mulder crusaded to uncover the truth about alien
visitations on Earth. His hunt for the truth caught the
attention of a world-weary government official known as Deep
Throat (Jerry Hardin), who supplied Mulder with highly sensitive
materials. Deep Throat once advised Mulder to "Keep your friends
close, but keep you enemies closer."(Don Corleone quote from
The Godfather). When agent Mulder was kidnapped by rouge
agents, Deep Throat procured the remains of an alien fetus from
a high security laboratory as a bargaining chip to save Murder's
life. Unfortunately, while exchanging the alien artifact, Deep
Throat was shot in the chest. His dying words were
"Trust...Trust no one." (Episode No.23 "The Erlenmeyer Flask").
He was replaced by X (Steven Williams) who later was slain by
Syndicate henchmen but not before writing the letters SRSG in
his blood (Episode No.73 "Herrenvolk"). Both Deep Throat and X
worked for the Cigarette-Smoking Man. TRIVIA NOTE: Deep Throat
was also the name of the adult X-rated film starring Linda
Lovelace as a woman with a clitoris in her throat. The movie
later inspired the nickname of the informant who leaked the
Pentagon Papers to the Washington Post (upon which the X-FILES
agent was named). See also - TOBACCO PRODUCTS:
"The Cigarette-Smoking Man"
Diet Coke
Hunk, The- In the 1990s, the handsome actor
Lucky Vanous, (a.k.a. "The Diet Coke Hunk") starred in the "Diet
Coke Break Commercial" about a bunch of women looking out of an
office window during their work break at a slender yet muscular
construction worker, who had just taken off his shirt. As the
sweaty laborer refreshed himself with a nice cool Diet Coke, the
bug-eyed women staring down from their window perch filled their
imaginations with all sorts of fantasies. At break's end, the
women seemingly fulfilled, moved away from the window but not
before saying "Same time Tomorrow?" to their voyeuristic
colleagues. Lucky Vanous, who set all the women's heart's a
flutter later starred in his own work-out video entitled The
Ultimate Fat-Burning System. In 1994 Psychology Today
displayed Lucky Vanous on their front cover sporting the words
"From Pecs To Sex" and an inside story about "The Beefcaking of
America" that explored changing gender roles which shifted the
spotlight to include men's bodies. In 1997 Lucky Vanous got the
role of bad guy Matt Dunning, the deceptively charming
contractor on FOX's primetime soap PACIFIC PALISADES. TRIVIA
NOTE: Diet Coke soda was introduced to the public on July 8,
1982. Coca-Cola is consumed 448 million times a day in 160
countries. See also -"The
Coca-Cola Girl"
Digger
- The nickname of the friendly mortician,
Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown) who was a regular on the
sitcom THE LIFE OF RILEY/NBC/1949-58. Using occupational puns,
"Digger" the smiling undertaker greeted his friend Riley by
saying "You're looking fine, Riley, very natural" and then
closed each conversation with "Well, guess I'll be shoveling
off...." The name "Digger" was also used prominently in the
prime time soap DALLAS/CBS/1978-91 in reference to the father of
wealthy executive, Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval). Willard
"Digger" Barnes (David Wayne/Keenan Wynn) was a partner with
Jock Ewing (Jim Davis) in their early days of wildcatting for
oil and was cheated out of his shares of the company profits by
the Ewings, a fact that his son, Cliff never forgot.
Dime Lady,
The- Nickname of actress Candice Bergen
earned while commercial spokesperson for Sprint Telephone
Company which advertised their "Dime-a-Minute" promotions during
the 1990s. The TV spots followed a reluctant Candice Bergen as
she tried to elude the many fans who were continually asking her
"Is it true..." questions concerning Sprint's inexpensive
Dime-a-Minute phone rates. Eventually she took to dressing in
disguises to hide from her adoring public. On the final
first-run episode of her comedy MURPHY BROWN/CBS/1988-98
Murphy's son Avery uses his mother's Sprint card to track down
their friend Eldin Bernecky the painter (Robert Pastorelli), to
let him know his mother had cancer. Eldin was living in Spain in
a tiny peasant village at the base of the Pyrenees. As Eldin
reunites with Murphy, Avery approaches and says "Do you know you
could call anywhere in the world on Sunday for only a dime."
Murphy replies "Yeah, I knew that, Honey. Now why don't you go
set another place at the table."
Doctor Death-
The somber nickname given to Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a physician who
took the limelight in 1990-91 when he advocated helping people
to die. He called himself an "obitiatrist," preferring to be
known as someone who engaged in "medicide." Dr. Death provided
the "means, expertise, counseling and assuredness" to leave this
world in peace. Critics however called him a "serial mercy
killer." The controversy over his tactics in helping patients
with Alzheimer's Disease, or other terminal/painful disorders
kill themselves made this physician the man of the hour in the
media. He made the rounds on the talk show and news magazine
circuit defending his position, even appearing as a guest on ABC
NEWS NIGHTLINE hosted by Ted Koppel. Dr. Death's suicide list
included an Alzheimer patient whom he helped die in June of
1990; and two Michigan women, a former elementary school teacher
who had suffered from a painful genital disorder and a former
housewife with Multiple Sclerosis both whom died in a double
doctor-assisted suicide on October 23, 1991. Dr. Death wasn't in
this for the money, however. He provided his suicide machine at
no cost. The machine consisted of three bags of solutions that
dripped into an intravenous line attached to the body of the
person to die. In the case of a person whose veins were too weak
to take an intravenous needle, Dr. Death had a back-up system-a
face mask attached to a canister of carbon monoxide. On November
22, 1998 CBS 60 MINUTES news magazine broadcast Dr, Kevorkian
actually administering death to a patient. The following week he
was accused of 1st degree premeditated murder by the State of
Michigan and later found guilty of second degree murder in March
of 1999. Dr. Kervorkian's videotape of the injection death of
Lou Gehrig's disease patient, Thomas Youk, prompted his arrest.
Michigan Judge Jessica Cooper sentenced Kevorkian to 10 to 25
years in prison but not She rebuked his behavior saying "You had
the audacity to go on national television, show the world what
you did and dare the legal system to stop you. Well, sir,
consider yourself stopped." TRIVIA NOTE: In 1991, The Hemlock
Society published their controversial suicide manual entitled
Final Exit. The 5/9/95 broadcast of THE LATE SHOW with David
Letterman featured the top ten Dr. Kevorkian Pick Up lines:
No.10 "Some Call me Dr. Death, but you can call me Dr. Love";
No.5 "If you ever want out of the relationship...that can be
arranged"; and No.1 "Can I buy you a last drink?" On the 12/9/98
installment of THE TONIGHT SHOW, host Jay Leno mentioned Dr.
Kevorkian's Christmas TV special entitled "Not a Creature Was
Stirring." On the sitcom LEARNING THE ROPES/SYN/1988-89,
professional wrestler Steve "Dr. Death" Williams doubled as a
wrestler known as "The Masked Maniac."
Doctor Fad- Nickname of Ken Okuda, an Asian -American entrepreneur who
merchandised unique inventions and weird toys like the "Wacky
Wall Walker" and helped promote them to "Fad" status.
Dr.
Fix-Um - The nickname of Arthur Youngquist who
hosted the home repair show DR. FIX-UM/ABC/1949-50. This program
was the precursor of such home improvement gurus as THAT'S
O'TOOLE/ABC/1949 with Arthur Peterson as handyman Tinker
O'Toole; Norman Brokenshire, an ex-radio announcer from THE
BETTER HOME SHOW/ABC/1951-52; HANDYMAN/SYN/1955, a program for
home-workshop addicts; Bob Vila from THIS OLD HOUSE/PBS/1979+;
HOMETIME/PBS/1987+ with Dean Johnson (and assorted female
assistants); HOME AGAIN WITH BOB VILA/SYN/1990+; and comedian
Tim Allen's klutzy TV Fix-It Show host Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor
on sitcom HOME IMPROVEMENT/ABC/1991-99. See also -
"The House Doctor"
Doctor
Johnny Fever- Disc jockey Johnny Caravella's
(Howard Hesseman) on-air persona while he worked the morning
shift for the "Top 40" rock and roll radio station WKRP IN
CINCINNATI/CBS/1978-82. Johnny was a burned-out 60s rocker who
avoided responsibility, mismanaged money and always had a glazed
over look in his eyes. Before coming to WKRP he was fired from a
Los Angles radio station for saying the word "Booger" on the
air. His first day on the radio in Cincinnati went something
like this: "You've got the Doctor, I'm burning up in here. We're
all in critical condition, babies. But you can tell me where it
hurts, because I got the healing prescription here from the big
WKRP musical medicine cabinet. Now I'm talking about a 50,000
watt intensive care unit, babies. So just sit right down, relax,
open you ears real wide and say give it to me straight Doctor, I
can take it!" A few seconds into a rock and roll song, he
interrupted the record to say the "Oh yeah, BOOGERS!" The Johnny
Fever character returned for a few episodes as the overnight DJ
on the syndicated revival of the series THE NEW WKRP IN
CINCINNATI/SYN/1991-93. TRIVIA NOTE: The first song played on
WKRP when it switched to a rock and roll format was "Queen of
the Forest" from Stranglehold performed by Ted Nugent. See
also - "Venus
Flytrap"
Doctor
Sphincter- The alter-ego of cable celebrity
Rich Kornfeld a former computer programmer who starred in a
short series called TIGHTLINE on community public access in
Minneapolis in the 1990s. Doctor Sphincter was a TV host of
TIGHTLINE (a parody of ABC NEWS NIGHTLINE) who was so tense and
repressed that he made Richard Nixon look like Richard Simmons.
Dressed in a gray suit with his shirt tightly buttoned about his
neck, Dr. Sphincter questioned his guests as his forehead
sweated and his face strained like a constipated person on a
toilet. Dr. Sphincter's worry-wart mentality forced him to
ponder "Why people were so sloppy?...so lax?", "Why they don't
clean up?," and "Why they don't produce?" His conclusion? "I
think the answer is tightness!" He warned his viewers that we
"must keep aware at all times of how loose we can become."
Kornfeld created the Dr. Sphincter character in college. He
continued producing the program with the assistance of his close
friends who met weekly at a restaurant to brainstorm for ideas
the day before the show was to be recorded. The Dr. Sphincter
character has appeared on public service announcements and
industrial films.
Doll
- The affectionate nickname of Roger "Doll" Addison
(Larry Keating) given to him by his wife Kay Addison (Edna
Skinner) on the sitcom MISTER ED/CBS/1961-65. Even during an
episode "Ed the Pilgrim" set in Plymouth Rock, Kay referred to
her husband as "Dolleth. Kay also called her husband Sour Puss,
Lemon Puss, Diamond Jim and Mother's Little Financial Genius.
Dowager
Queen of the Game Shows, The- Self-proclaimed
nickname of actress, comedienne Pat Carroll whose early years in
television consisted of being a panelist or guest on numerous
game shows including WHO SAID THAT?/ABC/1955; MASQUERADE
PARTY/CBS/ABC/NBC/1952-60; KEEP TALKING/CBS/1958-60;
PASSWORD/CBS/1962-64; and THE PRICE IS RIGHT/CBS/ABC/1962-64.
TRIVIA NOTE: The dictionary defines a "Dowager" as an "elderly
woman of wealth and dignity." See also - "Bunny"
Downtown
Brown -The street name of Detective Marcel
"Downtown" Brown (Tim Reid), a San Diego police detective on the
detective drama SIMON & SIMON/CBS/1981-88. See also - "Venus Flytrap"
Downtown
Julie Brown- The on-air persona and veejay
Julie Brown who hosted the weekly dance show CLUB
MTV/MTV/1987-92 broadcast from the Palladium in New York City.
The primary function of this hot and sassy, black female with a
British accent was to provided friendly, zany chit-chat
in-between MTV music videos. She often wore funky see-through
clothing (pants with no butts) and was famous for her trademark
purple bra. After five years Julie Brown left MTV saying in an
interview segment of THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW "my boobs couldn't
take it anymore jigglin' up and down." In 1992 she was featured
on the call in radio show AMERICAN DANCE TRAXX. Downtown got her
nickname from her sports broadcasting days when she reported
from "Downtown" while interviewing the Pistons and other sports
figures. She was also a former World Disco Dancing Champion.
TRIVIA NOTE: Don't confuse the black Downtown Julie Brown with
the white Julie Brown who starred on the MTV Network program
JUST SAY JULIE. Her credits included "Medusa: Dare To Be
Truthful? (a scathing parody of Madonna's "Truth Or Dare"
documentary) originally broadcast on the SHOWTIME cable network;
the sketch comedy series THE EDGE/FOX/1992-93; and the musical
comedy gems "The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun" and "I Like 'Em
Big and Stupid."
Drywall
Master of the Universe, The- The
self-proclaimed title of blue-collar worker Dan Conner (John
Goodman) on the sitcom ROSEANNE/ABC/1988-97. When Dan's wife
Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) teasingly doubted her husband's ability
to get a dry-walling job, Dan kicked back his kitchen chair,
flexed his arm muscles and roared "I am the dry-wall Master of
the Universe!" in an attempt to convince his wife and himself of
his worthiness.
Duck
Boys, The- On episode "The Promise" on the
police drama DUE SOUTH/CBS/SYN/1994-98, detective Ray Vecchio
(David Marciano) referred to two fellow detectives Jack Huey
(Tony Craig) and Louis Gardino (Daniel Kash) as "The Duck Boys."
His sarcastic remark was in reference to the two detective slick
interrogation style ("nothing sticks to their feathers" nor
"ruffles their feathers") and thinly veiled reference to Donald
Duck's three nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Later in the
series, Det. Gardino dies in a car bomb meant for Ray Vecchio.
Duke,
The- Celebrity pseudonym of Marion Michael
Morrison known to the public as western film star John Wayne.
His nickname was taken from a pet Airedale named Big Duke that
he owned as a child. Wayne was called "Little Duke." Besides the
many films featuring the Duke kicking the butts of Indians,
outlaws and WWII bad guys, he is also remembered for introducing
the first episode of the western GUNSMOKE/CBS/1955-75. John
Wayne was offered the part of Matt Dillon but turned it down in
favor of a young actor named James Arness.
Dumbest
Girl in America, The- Self-proclaimed title
of Kelly Bundy (Christina Applegate), a beautiful blond rock
bimbo on the dysfunctional sitcom MARRIED
WITH...CHILDREN/FOX/1987-97. At one point, Kelly's greatest
aspiration was to get groupie bragging rights and say "I'm with
the band!" Kelly did earn the distinction of playing the "Rock
Slut" in the Gutter Cats music video. Her popularity with the
boys once made her say she was "The Beatles of the 1980s." When
asked her birth sign she replied "I'm an Aquarium." Later, she
was hired by Channel 83 as the "Action News" TV Weather Bunny
Girl. See also - "Spud"
Duncan the
Wonder Horse- The showbiz moniker of TV news
anchor Tom Brokaw. The nickname came about during the 1980
political campaign when executive producer Steve Friedman dubbed
him "Duncan the Wonder Horse" as Brokaw galloped tirelessly back
and forth between his daily responsibilities on the morning
TODAY show and weekend assignments covering elections around the
country.
Durwood- On the sitcom BEWITCHED/ABC/1964-72, Endora the witch
(Agnes Moorehead) hated the fact that her daughter Samantha
(Elizabeth Montgomery) had lowered herself to marry a mortal
man, Darrin Stephens (Dick York/Dick Sargent). In an effort to
forget this fact or just to bother Darrin, she never pronounced
his name properly. Endora has called him: Durwood, Darwin,
Dagwood, Donald, Dennis, Dum-Dum, Dumbo, Derek, Darwood, Durweed,
Darius, David, and Dobbin (a term also used by his warlock
father-in-law, Maurice). See also - CLOTHING:
"Kerwood Derby"