I would like to add my name to the list of people who had a MBP come back to life after the blanket trick. Prior to doing that, I had ripped the machine apart, meticulously cleaned the carpet of crap that was blocking my air vents, cleaned the heat sink/processors and reapplied thermal paste. It was in the blanket for some time, but it kept shutting off, so I had to keep turning it back on. I think it may have been the system realizing it was too toasty, thereby shutting itself down.
I was personally experiencing the no-video, no-POST version of this horror story, so I'm thrilled to say that the blanket got me back up to speed.
Thanks and good luck!