FELICITY/WB/1998-2002 (Sally Reardon) - When Felicity Porter (Keri Russell),
the 17-year-old pre-med student and daughter of a successful cardiologist left
for New York University, she took with her the address of a confidante to whom
she could relate her experiences in the Big Apple. This mysterious friend is
Sally Reardon (un-credited voice of Janeane Garafalo), the never seen but only
heard mentor who communicates via audio tape message with Felicity. Her audio
tapes contains responses to Felicity’s tapes as well as counseling on the topics
of love and life. Sally is actually Felicity’s high school French teacher who
moved away from Felicity but never lost touch. Sally resides in Sante Fe, New
Mexico. Some sample audio messages: [to Sally] "Sally, I would only say this to
you, so after you listen to this tape, you have to erase it. But I can actually
picture what it might be like to be with a man for the first time, sexually. If
you're laughing at me right now, I don't blame you." [To Felicity] "I guess when
your heart gets broken, you sort of start to see the cracks in everything. I'm
convinced that tragedy wants to harden us, and that our mission is to never let
it. "
THE GHOST BUSTERS/CBS/1975-76 (Mr. Zero) - This supernatural comedy starred a
trio of Ghost Busters who received their assignments via a tape recorded message
featuring the voice of the never-seen superior, Mr. Zero. Agents Eddie Spencer,
Kong and Tracy (a trained Gorilla) find their taped-messages hidden at LeChler's
hardware store (inside a rubber fish or bouquet of flower's). At the end of each
message Mr. Zero concludes "This tape will self destruct in five seconds." It
always blew up in the face of Tracy who tempted fate by counting off the
seconds.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE/CBS/1966-73 (Spy Supervisor) - This spy thriller began each
episode with a confidential tape recorded message played to a government
operative who belonged to the IMF (Impossible Mission Force). It usually began
"Good Morning, Mr. Phelps" followed by a biography of a sinister person or group
who was about to do sometime terrible to the free world. The typical ended with
the message "If any of your force be killed or captured, the secretary will
disavow any knowledge of your actions...this tape will self destruct in 5
seconds... Good Luck, Jim." Bob Johnson supplied the voice of the unseen
espionage official on the tape recordings. The series remake MISSION
IMPOSSIBLE/ABC/1988-90 featured a self-destructing video laser disc player (with
the same voice, of course) in place of a tape recorder.
OVER MY DEAD BODY/CBS/1990-91 (Nikki's father) - This crime drama starred the
adventures of an obituary writer Nikki Page (Jessica Lundy) who teamed with
British crime novelist (Edward Woodward) to solve crime and get ideas for news
articles and crime novels. During each episode Nikki's never-seen father left
messages on his daughter's answering machines. His messages, coincidentally,
predicted her every move.
TWIN PEAKS/ABC/1990-91 (Diane, the secretary) - Diane was the often mentioned
but never seen secretary of FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), an
obsessive-compulsive investigator who loved good coffee, cherry pie and talking
into his hand-held tape recorder. Acknowledging his secretary Diane as he spoke
into his tape recorder, agent Cooper transmitted all of his thoughts ("There's a
hint of Douglas fir needles in the air"), ideas and clues on the murder case of
Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), a high school homecoming queen. Whether Diane really
cared about all his comments on Douglas Firs, and Mmmmmm! good cups of coffee, I
guess we'll never know. An example of Dale Cooper speaking into tape recorder:
"Diane, its 6:18 AM...I'm holding in my hands a small box of chocolate
bunnies..." For those fans of the show who are interested in hearing more of
Agent Cooper's observations there's Diane...the Grammy winning The Twin Peaks
Tapes of Agent Cooper (performed by Kyle Maclachlan), an audiotape produced by
Simon & Schuster Audio Cassettes. In addition, the book "The Autobiography of FBI
Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes," we were given further background
into Cooper's special form of note taking. An entry in the "Autobiography" for
January 10, 1978 reads: "Diane, I hope that you will not mind that I address
these tapes to you even when it is clear that I am talking to myself. The
knowledge that someone of your insight is standing behind me is comforting."
