Monthly Archives: August 2023

Music Video of the Day: Baby, You’re So Strange by Icehouse (1986, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

And there’s nothing wrong with that!  The song is about a man trying to figure out what is going on in his girlfriend’s head.  Sometimes, she seems like he wants him to come right over and sometimes, she acts like she doesn’t even know him.  Could it be another man?  Or could the lead singer be the other man?  It’s so strange.

Baby, You’re So Strange was the second single and video to be released off of Icehouse’s fourth studio album, Measure by Measure.  Icehouse was originally a band called Flowers but they were forced to change their name after a U.S. band with the same name threatened legal action.  They went with Icehouse because it was also the name of their second album.

Enjoy!

Retro Television Reviews: The Master 1.13 “A Place To Call Home”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing The Master, which ran on NBC from January to August of 1984.  The show can be found on Tubi!

This week, The Master comes to an end.

Episode 1.13 “A Place To Call Home”

(Dir by Gordon Hessler, originally aired on August 31st, 1984)

The Master ends in much the same way that it began, with Max and John Peter McAllister in a small town that is controlled by an evil businessman.  In this case, land developer Mark Richards (Jock Mahoney) wants to run the local orphanage out of town so that he can steal the land and expand his uranium mine.  Max and McAllister not only help Kim Anderson (Susan Woollen) save her orphanage but they also provide some much-needed mentoring to two of the orphans, Mike (Doug Toby) and Bobby (played by Kane Kosugi).  Bobby, it turns out, has some martial arts skills of his own!  It’s amazing how McAllister and Max were always traveling to small towns that just happened to be home to other people who knew karate.

Though his son plays Bobby, Sho Kosugi does not appear in this episode, which is a shame considering that it would be turn out to be the show’s finale.  For that matter, the show ends with McAllister having yet to find his daughter.  In fact, Terri McAllister is only mentioned briefly at the end of the episode, when McAllister says that he and Max have to get back on the road because “I’m looking for my daughter.”  Considering that the whole premise of the show was that McAllister was searching for Terri while Okassa was searching for McAllister, it seems like neither was really in a hurry to accomplish their goals.

A Place To Call Home feels like a greatest hits package, duplicating the plot of the pilot while tossing in a bit of the union episode‘s political subtext.  Even the scene where McAllister attempts to hop onto a helicopter feels a bit reminiscent of the ghost town episode.  The Master ended with an episode that resolved nothing and didn’t really bring anything new to show’s format.

Why did The Master end after thirteen episodes?  When taken as a whole, the show wasn’t as bad as its reputation.  While the stunt doubles did most of the work, Lee Van Cleef and Tim Van Patten still managed to develop a likable chemistry over the course of 13 episodes.  At first, the show’s writer stried too hard to play up the idea of Max Keller being a rebel with a chip on his shoulder but, after the first few episodes, it appears that they realized that Van Patten’s greatest strength as an actor was that he had a sort of amiable goofiness to him.  The stories were predictable but the fight scenes were usually (if not always) well-choreographed and entertaining.  The stunt people earned their paycheck.

In the end, though, I think The Master never quite figured what it wanted to be.  Did it want to be a straight action show?  Did it want to be a goofy buddy comedy?  In some episodes, McAllister was apparently a famous and well-known figure.  In others, he was a total unknown.  In some episodes, finding Terri was the most important thing in his life.  In others, he really didn’t seem to care.  The best episodes were the ones that winked at the audience and acknowledged just how ludicrous the whole thing was.  But, far too often, The Master became a generic crime show that just happened to feature martial arts.

The Master is finished and, to my surprise, I’m going to kind of miss it.  It had potential.  But, it’s time to move on to a new series.  Get ready because next week, it’s time for T & T!

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix for Big Top Pee Wee!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on Twitter and Mastodon.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, at 10 pm et, #FridayNightFlix has got 1988’s Big Top Pee Wee, starring Paul Reubens!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag!  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Big Top Pee Wee is available on Prime!  See you there!

Music Video of the Day: Ain’t Nothing But A House Party by Phil Fearon (1986, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Originally recorded by The Showstoppers in 1967, Ain’t Nothing But A House Party has been covered by many artists, from the J. Geils Band to Cliff Richard.  Phil Fearon released his take on the song in 1986 and promoted it with today’s energetic music video of the day.

Unfortunately, Fearon’s cover of the song did not reach the heights of popularity as the version done by the J. Geils Band.  Fearon’s version peaked at number 60 on the UK charts while reaching number 80 on the US charts.  I still prefer what Phil Fearon did with the song.

Enjoy!

Retro Television Review: City Guys 5.19 “Model Behavior” and 5.20 “Almost Fatal”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Thursdays, I will be reviewing City Guys, which ran on NBC from 1997 to 2001.  Almost the entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

Seriously, how have we not reached the final episode yet?

Episode 5.19 “Model Behavior”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on November 17th, 2001)

I have to admit that, with each week, it gets harder and harder for me to watch and review this stupid show.  I’m currently on the final season and there’s only a few more episodes left to go but, every Thursday, I literally have to force myself to sit through whatever episodes are available on YouTube.  City Guys was never a particularly original show to begin with.  I mean, the only thing that distinguishes it from every other show that Peter Engel produced for NBC was that the cast was a bit more diverse than usual.  But, by the fifth season, it was obvious that the writers were out of ideas and the cast was ready to move on.  I’m at the point that, whenever I hear Al call his ex-girlfriend “Dawny Dawn,” I want to throw something across the room.  Whenever Ms. Noble starts to talk down to her students, I want to scream.  Whenever Chris say something dorky or Jamal asks someone to “Help a brother out,” I silently groan.  It’s all so predictable that I feel like I could probably just guess what happened in each episode and be correct.

As for this episode, Jamal has a girlfriend!  Now, because so much of Season 5 is not streaming online, I don’t know if this episode is the first time that we’ve seen Rosie (Jenna Watson) but apparently, she and Jamal are very much an established couple.  Rosie gets an opportunity to be a model and Jamal throws a fit because he doesn’t want other guys checking out his girlfriend, even though Jamal was earlier doing the same thing to Rosie’s fellow models.  When Rosie calls him out on it, Jamal learns an important lessons about double standards.  Personally, I’m amazed that a successful model like Rosie would waste her time with someone who can barely handle running the cash register at the Manhattan Diner.

Meanwhile, Dawn is organizing a week-long trip to Florida and one of the students who was meant to be a part of the group has to drop out after she gets mono.  Ms. Noble tells Dawn that it’s up to her to select who will be the replacement.  Al and L-Train suck up to Dawn and try to convince her to take them to Florida.  Dawn picks some guy named Jason instead and Ms. Noble gives Al and L-Train a week of detention.  In the past, this is the type of B-plot that would have been saved by the comic timing of Steven Daniel but, at this point, I’m even tired of L-Train.  To be honest, I don’t know why Dawn didn’t just pick her best friend Cassidy.

This episode just felt tired.  The Florida trip made no sense whatsoever while the model storyline just made me think about how much better California Dreams would have handled the whole thing.  I’ve been reviewing City Guys for nearly a year now and I’m definitely ready to move on.

Episode 5.20 “Almost Fatal”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on November 17th, 2001)

Here’s the plot description for Wikipedia:

After Chris, Jamal, and El-Train survive a car crash, they start going through some changes as they now view life in a whole new perspective. The three friends begin live to their lives on the edge by doing certain activities to the extreme.

This is one of the many season 5 episodes that is not currently streaming anywhere.  That’s kind of a shame because the plot description makes it sound like this episode could have been interesting or, at the very least, memorably bad.  That said, if I had to guess, I’d say that this was probably just another episode where everyone spent too much time hanging out on the roof and getting a stern talking to from Ms. Noble.

Next week, I’ll be more another episode closer to being done with this show!

Music Video of the Day: War Ensemble by Slayer (1990, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The video for Slayer’s War Ensemble, which was meant to be the band’s first ever music video, was shot at Wembley Stadium on October 14th, 1990.  At first, the plan was for Slayer to mime playing the song along to the studio track.  When the 12,000 fans who had shown up for the shoot started to boo the plan, Slayer instead decided to play the song live but to try to stick as close to the studio version as possible.  The band did just that.

Ironically, just a few months later, this fiercely anti-war song would reportedly be a favorite of soldiers fighting in Operation Desert Storm.

Enjoy!

Retro Television Reviews: The Love Boat 2.26 “April’s Return/Super Mom/I’ll See You Again”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

This week’s cruise features Cyd Charisse!

Episode 2.26 “April’s Return/Super Mom/I’ll See You Again”

(Dir by George Tyne, originally aired on May 5th, 1979)

This episode’s writers would want us to believe that the most important thing that happens during this cruise is that April Lopez (played by Charo) returns to the ship.  During the first season, April was introduced as a stowaway who managed to charm the entire crew despite traveling illegally.  With the help of Captain Stubing, April has gone on to become the cruise line’s most popular entertainer and this week, she’s returns to the Love Boat!

The crew is super-excited because April is such a vivacious force of energy.  Or, at least, she was.  When she shows up on the boat, she seems to be feeling a bit down.  As she explains it to Julie, April has discovered that show business is not all that it’s cracked up to be and that it’s full of lecherous men.  (Shocker!)  April has decided that she would rather be a cruise director.  Julie agrees to show April what the job entails and …. well, it turns out that Julie actually has a pretty easy job.  She just goes to Acapulco Lounge at night, spots people who are alone or shy, and offers to dance with them.  I do that on a regular basis.  I should be a cruise director.

Anyway, April eventually realizes that she makes people happy by performing.  Charo was a popular guest star on The Love Boat and, unlike a lot of other actors who appeared in multiple episodes, she always played April.  (In this episode, she sings the show’s theme song.)  In many ways, Charo was the epitome of The Love Boat, in that her act was meant to be both sexy and old-fashioned at the same time.  The Love Boat was a show where everyone on the boat was constantly looking to get laid but the camera still cut away as soon as the cabin door closed and it was understood that sex on the boat would always lead to marriage on dry land.  It was a show with the customs of the 70s and the morals of the 50s.

The episode spends a lot of time on April’s search for happiness.  Personally, I was more excited by the fact that Cyd Charisse was on the boat.  Cyd Charisse is one of my favorite dancers of all time and was one of my personal role models when I was younger.  From the minute that Charisse boards the boat, the cameras are focused on her legs, which were just as spectacular as they were 20 years earlier in Singin’ In The Rain and Silk Stockings.  Charisse plays Eve Mills, a former USO entertainer who, by an amazing coincidence, happens to be on the same cruise as the man that she fell in love with during World War II, Frank Pearse (Craig Stevens).  By another amazing coincidence, Frank just happens to be an old friend of Captain Stubing’s!

Anyway, Frank and Eve recognize each other and they eventually work up the courage to approach each other.  Eve thought Frank was killed in the war.  Frank thought that Eve ignored all the letters that he sent her while he was recovering from being wounded in action.  (It turns out the letters were never mailed because Frank’s nurse was in love with him.)  Frank is still in love with Eve but he sees that she’s accompanied by a handsome young Frenchman named Francois (Stephen Schnetzer).  Eve reveals to Frank that Francois is not her boyfriend.  Instead, Francois is her son!  And guess who Francois’s father is?  (Really, the fact that he was named Francois should have given it away.)

Finally, Bud (Jerry Stiller) and Margaret (Anne Meara) are on their second honeymoon but, unfortunately, they’ve had to bring along their four bratty kids (one whom is played by a very young Corey Feldman).  Bud wants to have a good time.  Margaret keeps worrying about the kids.  Bud gets a dance lesson from April, which leads to Margaret getting jealous.  Don’t worry, they work it out.  Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara were adorable together but this story was stressful for me to watch, just because the kids were so hyperactive and never stopped running around.  Still, the image of Charo teaching Jerry Stiller how to dance feels like it should be enshrined in a museum devoted to the 1970s.

This episode seemed to exist because the show’s producers really liked Charo and it’s hard not to feel that the rest of episode’s storylines were just treated as being afterthoughts.  That said, I enjoyed the Cyd Charisse/Craig Stevens story.  Stevens was stiff and dull but Cyd Charisse was Cyd Charisse and that’s all that really matters!