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 T. and T., a Canadian show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990.  The show can be found on Tubi!

If you’ve ever watched T and T and thought, “I wish there was a lot less T in this show,” this week’s episode is for you!

Episode 2.18 “Thicker than Water”

(Dir by Harvey Frost, originally aired on May 8th, 1989)

This is a weird episode.

Ronnie (David Hewlett) and Steve (Gordon Michael Woolvett) are two brothers who have opened up a punk music venue in whatever part of Canada that T and T was filmed in.  From the start, everyone is trying to shut them down.  The other neighborhood business people claim that the club is bringing in a bad element.  The police are unsympathetic whenever a fight breaks out.  The fire department is always showing up with a list of regulations.  The sinister person who loaned them the money to start the club wants the brothers to burn it down for the insurance money.  Seriously, it’s not easy run a venue devoted to angry music that is best appreciated by people who like to fight.  But, in the end, the brothers stick together and refuse to let Canada beat them down.

Yay!  Take that, Trudeau!

(Yes, I know that Justin Trudeau was not in charge of Canada when this show was filmed but I’m too lazy to look up who was.  Actually, T and T always pretended that it was set in the U.S. so I guess I should blame the first Bush.  But seriously, everything about T and T screams Canada.)

So, why is this an episode of T and T?  Well, Amy is their lawyer.  (Sometimes, Amy practices criminal law and sometimes, she practices business law and sometimes, she just acts like a lobbyist.  There’s nothing Amy can’t do!)  Amy shows up at the club a few times.  T.S. Turner also shows up once or twice and says, “Little brother, when you believe in something …. YOU FIGHT FOR IT!”

I’m going to guess that this was a backdoor pilot for a series that would have followed the brothers and their club.  I have no idea if the pilot led to a series.  It’s really hard for me to imagine what a potential series would have been like but I would say that I thought the club looked cool.  I liked the rebellious attitude of the bands that performed there.

Like most backdoor pilots, this is a bit of a wasted episode.  This is also the third episode in a row that hasn’t really featured Turner and Amy doing anything new.  The previous two episodes were both clip shows and this episode isn’t even about them.  These episodes are easy to review (yay!) but you do have to wonder what was going on behind the scenes during the latter half of the second season.