Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing the Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
Well, it’s been over a month so I guess it’s time to get back to reviewing this show. I can’t really remember why I picked this show to review but whatever. Let’s see what’s happening in Canada.
Episode 2.9 “Don’t Take My Job Please”
(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on December 12th, 1986)
It’s contract renegotiation time and Howard is convinced that his 12 years of loyal service and the fact that his store is making a lot of money will lead to him getting a raise. Instead, Corbin from Corporate (Grant Cowan) informs him that the company is letting him go.
Howard vanished, without even Edna knowing for sure where he’s gone. Jack Christian becomes the new manager and is soon putting pictures of himself up all over the store. However, when Christian’s “Buy One, Get One Free” sale leads to the store losing a huge amount of money, Corbin tells Christian that he’s fired …. unless, of course, he can track down Howard and convince him to take the manager’s job.
What? Is this how they do business in Canada? I understand firing Howard because the company didn’t want to give him a raise. I understand firing Christian because he lost a lot of money on a stupid promotion. But what type of company then begs the first fired guy to come back? Does Cobb’s not have any other potential store managers? Do they not have a management training program? This doesn’t sound like a well-managed company.
Of course, the problem with bring Howard back is that Howard has disappeared, with his last words to Edna being that he was struggling to find anyone willing to hire someone as old as him. (Howard says he’s 45. Don Adams was in his 60s when this show aired.) But then Christian takes everyone out to dinner at Musketeer, the Canadian version of Medieval Times, and guess who is dressed up like D’Artagnan and leading people to their tables? It’s Howard! Edna tells him that Cobb’s wants him to come back. Howard says this is the best news he’s ever heard.
Uhmm …. Howard, it’s obvious they don’t appreciate you and they’re probably just going to try to screw you over again. Tell ’em to kick rocks in Manitoba.
Anyway, that’s the episode. It didn’t really add up too much but that’s to be expected with Check It Out. This was one of those episodes where nothing made any sense but — to give credit where credit is due — the cast made the most of it, with Jeff Pustil, Kathleen Laskey, Aaron Schwartz, and Simon Reynolds all wringing laughs out of the most mild of dialogue. It’s too bad that the episodes were always so plot-heavy because Check It Out! worked best when it just lets everyone be strange.
Through the Shattered Lens 