The Guardian of Who-ville??

Who-ville, circa 1966.

After viewing GRINCH for probably the 100,000th time, Da-da noticed something (he's slow). Maybe it has something to do with playing Santa at the mall for 12 hours every day, but to Da-da, the quasi-iconic "Whoville" welcome arch from, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" looks remarkably like another TV icon...

The Guardian of Forever, which first appeared in 1967. Is this Who-ville, circa 6,798,000,000 AD?

...the "Guardian of Forever," from that classic Star Trek episode (which you of course don't have memorized), "The City on the Edge of Forever." You know, the one with a young, hot Joan Collins as the circa '30s earthling innocent who must die because she is young and hot, with DeForest Kelley (McCoy) pumped full of drugs, Kirk working as a janitor and looking forlorn, and Spock dressing like an urban hipster. Were they indeed travelling through time via, "The Guardian of Who-ville," some zillion years in the future, the eroded mountains turned ruin-strewn plain, the welcoming Guardian itself worn down? The Guardian tells Kirk and Spock that the original builders (the Whos?), fled into the past as their planet died, so this could indeed be the ancient remains of Who-ville. If so, where is the Grinch? Where's Max? Where's Cindy Lou? Somewhere in our past? Our future? OUR PRESENT?? Is a grown-up Cindy Lou really Lady Gaga (whose real name is Cindy Lou Who), as some tabloids have reported?? DO strategic ellipses and double question marks make things... more questionable?? [spooky Xmas music UP] Of course, doctor.

If nothing else, it looks like Gene Roddenberry may have been influenced by the Grinch.

Righty tighty, lefty loosey!