Today’s music video of the day is typical of the type of video that used to dominate MTV, the movie tie-in where clips of the artist performing were mixed with scenes from the film. The video for Colors goes further than many other film-related music videos by not only showing scenes from the film but also by projecting them on the brick wall behind Ice-T. The movie was a hit and, on MTV, so was the video.
Enjoy!
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986! The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!
After the past few cruises, I think we’re overdue for a good episode of The Love Boat. Let’s see if this week’s episode can deliver!
Episode 2.23 “A Funny Valentine/The Wallflower/Home is Not a Home”
(Dir by George Tyne, originally aired on March 3rd, 1979)
Julie has decided that this week’s voyage is going to have a carnival theme and, in order to get everyone in the mood, she’s hired a fortune teller! Mary Louise (Samantha Eggar) claims that she can read palms but she’s even more interested in the art of phrenology, the study of heads. When she sees that Captain Stubing is bald, she can’t wait to see what the top of his shiny head says about his romantic future. Unfortunately, Stubing is in one of his depressed moods and says that fortune telling is for the young. He explains that he’s old and he already knows that he’s destined to spend the rest of his life alone.
Awwwww!
Luckily, Mary Louise has other ideas! The Captain is soon won over by Mary Louise’s free-spirited ways and her joi de vivre. But the Captain also realizes that, unless he holds a carnival every cruise, there’s really not much place for a fortune teller on the ship. The best that he can offer Mary Louise is a job in the gift shop. Realizing that their lives are just too different, Mary Louise leaves the boat without saying goodbye the Captain …. but then she returns to tell the Captain that maybe she will take that gift shop job.
Awwwwww!
But then the Captain tells her that she would be miserable working in a gift shop. (Hopefully, none of the other gift shop employees overheard him.) The Captain and Mary Louise part ways.
Again, awwwwwww!
It was a simple story but I have to say that Samantha Eggar and Gavin MacLeod had a surprising amount of chemistry and both of them gave really heartfelt performances in this episode. I found myself caring about them as a couple and hoping that things would work out. Of course, I knew things couldn’t work out because then the show would have to find a new captain.
While all that is going on, shy Sylvia (Patty Freedman) has finally taken the advice of her neighbor, Gopher. She has booked a cruise on the Love Boat! However, Sylvia is painfully shy and doesn’t even realize that there’s a passenger named Monroe (Zane Lasky) who has a crush on her. (Of course, Monroe is pretty shy himself.) Gopher decides that Sylvia needs a confidence boost so he sends her a rose at dinner and tells her it’s from a secret admirer. Unfortunately, Sylvia becomes so obsessed with finding her secret admirer that she continues to fail to notice Monroe trying to talk to her. When Sylvia returns to her cabin, she discovers hundreds of roses. When she tells Gopher about it, Gopher is confused because he didn’t send any roses to her cabin. For some reason, Gopher assumes that Sylvia is now delusional and that she only thought she saw all of the flowers in her cabin. Seeking to restore her sanity, Gopher confesses that he sent Sylvia the rose. Sylvia assumes that Gopher means that he sent all of the roses so, when Monroe confesses to sending the flowers to her cabin, she assumes that Monroe is making fun of her and….
AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!
Yes, this is another story where all of the problems could have been easily resolved by everyone not acting like an idiot. But you know what? As much as stories like this usually tend to drive me crazy, I actually enjoyed this one. Patty Freedman and Zane Lasky both gave charming performances, even if their characters did things that didn’t always make sense. I was happy when they finally got together. This was a rare case where two passengers really did seem perfect for each other.
Finally, the third storyline featured Arthur Godfrey and Minnie Pearl as Ned and Molly, two seniors who were eloping. Looking to stop the marriage was Ned’s son, Francis (Warren Berlinger), and Molly’s daughter, Rowena (Elinor Donahue). Of course, Francis and Rowena fell in love and the episode ended with everyone planning to get married in a big double wedding. This story was pretty predictable and Berlinger and Donahue went a little bit overboard playing their characters as being uptight prudes in their first few scenes. But, still, at least everyone got a happy ending.
I liked this episode. The crew was likable, the passengers were charming, and everyone found love. Yay!
The Emmy nominations were revealed today. There’s so many of them that I couldn’t even begin to list them all here on the site but you can view them over at the Emmys’s main site. While looking over the nominees, I had just a few thoughts.
First off, the Emmys themselves always feel a bit silly. I think it’s because there’s so many different categories and so many contenders that, inevitably, one feels as if they’ve only seen a few of the actual nominees. As well, the Emmys tend to fall into the habit of nominating the same programs over and over again, regardless of whether the show or performer actually had a good individual season. Once a show is nominated two times in a row, it seems destined to be nominated for the rest of its run, even if its subsequent seasons aren’t that interesting. (Cases in point: Only Murders In The Building and Ted Lasso.) By that same token, if a show is snubbed during it’s first or second season, it’ll probably never be nominated for anything, regardless of how popular or critically acclaimed it may eventually become. (Case in point: Yellowstone.) In other words, don’t take the Emmys seriously.
In the comedy categories, I was really happy to see that both Jury Duty and James Marsden were nominated. Ted Lasso was nominated because the Academy is addicted to voting for it and not because it had a particularly noteworthy third season. I was glad to see that Barry was nominated but annoyed to see that neither Sarah Goldberg nor Stephen Root were remembered. I was glad that Natasha Lyonne was nominated but Poker Face still deserved far more nominations than it received.
In the drama categories, it’s pretty much all Succession. Succession ended this season and I’m glad that I’ll no longer have to pretend to care about it. There’s something so liberating about the prospect of never having to read another cutesy interview with Brian Cox or another think piece on why Shiv is the greatest character ever. I imagine Succession will sweep the Emmys, which is a bit unfortunate as this year will always be Better Call Saul‘s last chance to be honored. Hopefully, Bob Odenkirk will finally win an Emmy for Better Call Saul. I’m glad that Andor was nominated but I’m disappointed that Diego Luna was not.
In the limited anthology series category, it’s hard not to be a bit annoyed that the Academy went for Ryan Murphy’s overlong and rather pointless miniseries about Jeffrey Dahmer while completely snubbing National Geographic’s A Small Light. At this point, I guess the Academy feels obligated to honor anything that Ryan Murphy forces on them. I was also disappointed that The English failed to pick up any major nominations, not even for the great Emily Blunt. The Emmy win that would make me happiest would be for Ray Liotta to win for Black Bird.
In the movie category, Beavis and Butt-Head Do The Universe was not nominated but …. well, I kind of knew that it wouldn’t be. It was hilarious but, unfortunately, it’s not the type of thing that wins awards.
Traitors should have been nominated for Best Reality Competition.
South Park‘s “Worldwide Privacy Tour” was not nominated for Best Animated Program. That’s just ridiculous. The Television Academy wimped out as far as that’s concerned.
Anyway, it’s the Emmys. In the end, no one really cares that much.
143 years ago, on this date in Kentucky, director Tod Browning was born. Though Browning was a director who was comfortable working in any genre, he is today best remembered for the horror films that he directed for Universal studios. Today’s scene that I love comes from Tod Browning’s 1931 adaptation of Dracula.
In this scene, Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) is introduced to Prof. Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan). Van Helsing notes something interesting about Dracula’s reflection, namely that he doesn’t have one. Needless to say, the Count is not amused.
4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
94 years ago today, the great director Monte Hellman was born in New York City. Though Hollywood never quite understood Hellman or his idiosyncratic vision, he and his films have inspired a countless number of independent filmmakers. Hellman started his career with Roger Corman and was one of the first directors to recognize the talent of actors like Jack Nicholson and Warren Oates. When Monte Hellman passed away in 2021, he was eulogized as one of the key figures of the Hollywood counterculture. Today, we celebrate Hellman and his films with….
4 Shots From 4 Monte Hellman Films
The Shooting (1966, dir by Monte Hellman, DP: Gregory Sandor)
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971, dir by Monte Hellman, DP: Jack Deerson)
Cockfighter (1974, dir by Monte Hellman, DP: Nestor Almendros)
China 9, Liberty 38 (1978, dir by Monte Hellman, DP: Guiseppe Rotunno)
by Norman Saunders
This is from 1950. How can you ride a horse and shoot two guns at the same time? You can’t.
In 1988, long before Frank Sinatra started teaming up with pop artists and Tony Bennett had his brief moment of MTV popularity, Tom Jones and Art of Noise teamed up to cover Prince’s Kiss. The song was an unexpected success in Europe and Asia, hitting number one in both New Zealand and Spain while entering the Top Ten in many other countries. In the U.S., it peaked at #14 on the Billboard Top 100.
Of the two co-directors, Stephen Lowe also did videos for Duran Duran and Lisa Stansfield. Martin Brierly has worked as cinematographer and a second unit director on several projects, including the third Alien film.
Enjoy!
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing the original Fantasy Island, which ran on ABC from 1977 to 1986. Almost entire show is currently streaming is on Youtube!
What I’ve long-feared has happened.
Tubi has removed the original Fantasy Island from its site. The recently-canceled Fox version can be viewed but not the original. Don’t get me wrong. I liked the new Fox version. But these are Retro Television Reviews and a show that premiered in 2021 is not yet retro.
Fortunately, quite a few episodes are on YouTube and it’s probable that the original complete series will again end up streaming somewhere. So, I’m going to try to continue to review this show. I can’t guarantee that I won’t run out of episodes at some point. For instance, it doesn’t appear that much of seasons 6 or 7 can be found, even on YouTube. (Unfortunately, it appears that only the first three seasons of Fantasy Island have been released on DVD.) But I’m going to do my best!
Episode 3.5 “The Chain Gang/The Boss”
(Dir by Michael Vejar, originally aired on October 19th, 1979)
Tattoo has decided that he wants to be an artist! Mr. Roarke demands to know why because God forbid Tattoo have a life outside of spotting the plane. Tattoo admits that he wants to get the island women to pose for him. Mr. Roarke orders Tattoo to abandon his art career and head down to the docks to meet the plane.
The plane is carrying two guests who hope, much like Tattoo, to change their lives.
Cindy Carter (Donna Mills) is a switchboard operator who has a crush on her boss, Brent Bailey (Brett Halsey). Her fantasy is to be the boss of her own company. Mr. Roarke grants her wish and soon, Cindy is in charge of her own multi-national corporation. In fact, her corporation owns Brent Bailey’s business! Cindy also gets a executive assistant named Gary Pointer (Roddy McDowall). Unfortunately, it turns out that Brent isn’t a very nice person and he’s been siphoning money out of the pension fund. He threatens to frame Cindy to keep her from approving an audit of the fund. However, with Gary’s support and eventual love, Cindy stands up to Brent and reveals his wrong-doing. Mr. Atwell (Stacy Keach, Sr.), the presumed-dead head of the company, suddenly shows up at the stockholder’s meeting and announces that he faked his own death to discover who was embezzling from the pension fund. The stockholders applaud as Brent Bailey is taken away from the police. It’s all rather silly and melodramatic but the likable presence of Roddy McDowall kept the story entertaining.
Meanwhile, Mike Jenner (Dennis Cole) came to the Island to confront Eddie Collins (Cameron Mitchell), the criminal that Mike believes murdered his father and framed him for a theft. (There’s a lot of theft in this episode.) Mr. Roarke reveals that Eddie lives in a nearby fishing village. Mike goes to the village, spots Eddie, and punches him. Eddie hits back….
….and both of them are sentenced to spend a year on a chain gang!
Fantasy Island has a chain gang!? And the chain gang is overseen by a redneck named Captain Hawks (R.G. Armstong)!? Why has this never been mentioned before? I mean, is it normal to sentence paying guests to spend a year on the chain gang?
Anyway, Eddie and Mike set aside their difference and break out out the prison camp. (Fantasy Island has prison camps!?) During their escape, Eddie gets trapped in quicksand. Mike does eventually rescue him but only after Eddie confesses to having framed Mike’s father. As soon as Eddie confesses, Mr. Roarke shows up in his jeep. Apparently, Mike is now free to leave the Island with his fiancee (Pat Klous) while Eddie is sent to the Fantasy Island prison for the rest of his life. Much as the other fantasy was saved by the reliable likability of Roddy McDowall, this episode was saved by Cameron Mitchell’s grouchy presence. One could always trust Mitchell to give it his all while playing a bad guy.
With the fantasies taken care of, Tattoo returns to his art. When he asks his model to pose naked, she destroys all of his paintings while Mr. Roarke laughs and laughs. Mr. Roarke really does hate his assistant.
When it comes to Willie Wonka, I’m at a total loss. I know there was Wonka gum and candy. There’s also the classic film with Gene Wilder and the adaptation from Tim Burton (both I’ve never really watched). This new version from Paul King (Paddington) appears to be prequel, with Timothee Chalamet (Dune) in the lead role. Patterson Joseph (Neverwhere, The Beach), Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean), Hugh Grant (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), Olivia Colman (The Father), Matt Lucas (Bridesmaids), and Sally Hawkins (Paddington).
Wonka premieres in theatres this Christmas.
by Earle Bergey
This cover is from 1926. Even back then, Paris was the city of lonely romance.
Through the Shattered Lens 