Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 3.12 “Oh Lucky Man!”

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night 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 Highway to Heaven, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1989. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!

It’s time to work at another youth center!

Episode 3.12 “Oh Lucky Man!”

(Dir by Dan Gordon, originally aired on December 10th, 1986)

Jonathan and Mark are working at a youth center …. again!

Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with Jonathan and Mark working at a youth center. From what I’ve seen of this show, Michael Landon seemed to have a natural rapport with kids and Victor French’s grouchiness was always put to good use whenever he had to deal with someone younger. It’s just hard not to notice that Jonathan and Mark seemed to go to several youth centers each episode and they almost always dealt with exact same issue. Some kid is angry or insecure. He may not have a father in his life. Jonathan helps the kid admit his anger and learn to trust whoever wanted to adopt him. Usually, this seemed to involve helping the kid find the courage to play a sport or something similar.

In this episode, the youth center is run by an ex-con named Jake (Thalmus Rasulal). Mark was the one who arrested Jake and sent him to prison but Jake so impressed Mark with how he turned his life around that Mark ended up testifying in favor of giving Jake parole. Jake opened up a youth center to “keep the kids out of the gangs.” And again, there’s nothing wrong with that. I admire anyone who comes out of prison and attempts to do something good for their community. One of the truly shameful things about our justice system is that it’s been forgotten that prison is meant to rehabilitate. We focus so much on punishment that we end up forgetting that we’re supposed to be a nation built on second chances. Jake has made something out of himself and now, he’s giving back.

(And yes, that is your When Did Lisa Marie Become A Bleeding Heart? moment of the week,)

The problem is that his youth center desperately needs money. It looks like everything is going to be alright when Mark wins $5,000,000 while taking the kids out for lunch. Mark plans to give the money to the youth center. He also plans to be there for a troubled kid named Brady (Ian Michael Giatti). But when Mark is approached by Nina Van Slyke (Shannon Tweed), those plans change. Nina claims to be the head of a charity and she convinces Mark that her charity could do a lot more good with the money than the youth center. Mark finds himself falling in love with Nina and he even tells Jonathan that they’re partnership might be over. However, Nina is actually a con artist who just wants to take Mark’s money for herself.

Will Mark see the error of his ways? Of course! And he’ll apologize to Brady for missing Brady’s big game and he’ll keep the youth center open by giving the money to Jake. This is Highway to Heaven. There’s not a cynical note to be found in this show.

That said, this episode was a bit uneven with the soap opera-like scenes of Nina and her partner (Roy Thinnes) plotting to cheat Mark never gelling with the more earnest scenes of Jonathan helping out at the youth center. As always, this episode was well-intentioned and about as sincere as you can get. The strength of this show is that it’s so sincere. But Shannon Tweed felt like she was acting in a totally different show from Highway to Heaven. As a result, this episode never quite came together as a cohesive unit.

Oh well. At least Brady’s going to get a family!

Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three’s Company (2003, directed by Jason Ensler)

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Do you remember Three’s Company?

The sitcom was a big hit when it aired in the 70s and 80s and it still gets a lot of play in syndication today. Based on a British sitcom (and you would really be surprised to how closely the first season followed the original series), Three’s Company starred John Ritter as Jack Tripper, an aspiring chef who moved in with two single women, Janet (Joyce DeWitt) and Chrissy (Suzanne Somers). Because their impotent landlord (Norman Fell) didn’t want people of the opposite sex living with each other unless they were married, Jack pretended to be gay. Every episode centered around a misunderstanding, though it was Suzanne Somers’s performance as the perpetually bouncy and braless Chrissy Snow that made the show a hit. The show fell apart when Somers asked for more money, Ritter and DeWitt got angry with her, and the studio bosses lied to everyone. Today, the show is legendary as an example of how backstage tension can end even a popular series.

Behind The Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three’s Company attempts to dramatize the success and eventual downfall of Three’s Company. Joyce DeWitt appears at the beginning and the end to talk about how important she thinks the show was. In the movie, she is played by Melanie Paxson. John Ritter is played by a lookalike actor named Bret Anthony while an actress named Jud Taylor plays Somers. Brian Dennehy plays ABC president Fred Silverman and other executives are played by Daniel Roebuck, Wallace Langham, Gary Hudson, and Christopher Shyer. The movie recreates all of the drama that went on during Three’s Company without offering much insight or really anything new to the story. Even though the movie was co-produced and hosted by Joyce DeWitt, Suzanne Somers is really the only sympathetic character in the movie. DeWitt comes across as being jealous while Anthony plays John Ritter as being a bland nonentity who chooses his own success over being honest with his costars. The network executives are more interesting, just because watching them provides a glimpse into how real producers and showrunners picture themselves. They just wanted to make a good show about a sex addict pretending to be gay so he could live with two attractive, single women but the agents and the network presidents just keep getting in the way! Won’t someone please think of the mid-level network executives?

Bland though this recreation was, it was enough of a rating hits that NBC went on to produce several more Behind The Camera films. Three’s Company was only the beginning.

Retro Television Review: Malibu, CA 2.1 “Race Your Dream”

Posted on February 6, 2025 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 Malibu CA, which aired in Syndication in 1998 and 1999. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

It’s the second season but I’m too lazy to change the graphic. Sorry, not sorry.

Today we begin season 2 of the bane of my existence.

Episode 2.1 “Race Your Dream”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on October 9th, 1999)

The second season of Malibu CA starts with a few changes.

It’s firmly established that Scott and Jason are no longer in high school so I guess they graduated and, instead of going to college, they’re still working as busboys at their Dad’s restaurant. I don’t know what type of message that sends but it’s probably not a good one. (Also, I guess the show decided to forget about Scott having a job as a sportscaster.)

Murray is now working at the restaurant as well.

Priscilla Inga Taylor has officially joined the cast. Gina May is no longer on the show. Sam actually went to college after graduating.

Stads is still on the show and somehow, she’s even bitchier than usual in this episode. And when I say “bitchy,’ I don’t mean that she’s an empowering diva who won’t let anyone stand in her way. I mean that she’s whiny and in a bad mood for now particular reason.

Lisa Jones (Marquita Terry) is a medical student who gets a job as a waitress at the restaurant. You’d think I would relate to her since we share the same name but nope. During her job interview, she specifically points out that no one else at the restaurant is doing a good job. It’s true but still kind of rude. Admittedly, I’ve never had to actually interview for a job but it seems like criticizing the place where you want to work would be a mistake. That’s especially true if you’re interviewing for a job that literally thousands of other people could do.

Scott has a crush on Lisa. Lisa thinks Scott is a slacker. Jason lies and says that Scott is in training for the U.S. Olympic try-outs. WHAT!? That’s what he came up with! Maybe he could point out that Scott had a job as a sportscaster. Or maybe he could reveal that Scott is the assistant manager of the restaurant. Instead, he said that Scott is trying out for the OLYMPIC SWIM TEAM! SERIOUSLY, LET THAT SINK IN!

Of course, Saved By The Bell: The New Class had an entire season where everyone on the show was a member of the swim team so maybe Peter Engel just had a thing for swimming.

Lisa is friends with someone who actually is a competitive swimmer. She introduced him to Scott. Scott gets challenged to a race. Scott agrees. He loses but only barely because …. WHAT!? SCOTT IS SWIMMING AGAINST AN OLYMPIC ATHLETE! What the Hell was wrong with our Olympic team in the 90s that a member of it could nearly get beaten by some Malibu beach bum? WHAT THE HELL!?

THE SHOW IS STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! STUPID MINDS!

Anyway, Lisa is impressed that Scott tried. And Scott is told that there’s an outside chance that he actually could make the Olympics if he starts training….

SERIOUSLY, THIS IS SO STUPID! Not even One World was this stupid! Not even Hang Time had the audacity to suggest its characters were going to magically make the Olympic team. (It is true that Scott is revealed to have been a good swimmer in high school. I’m a good dancer. It still doesn’t mean I’m joining The Paris Opera Ballet anytime soon.)

So, basically, season two is going to be the same as season one.

Song of the Day: The Girl Who Invented Rock and Roll by Mamie Van Doren

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 94th birthday to actress and singer, Mamie Van Doren! Here she is performing today’s song of the day, The Girl Who Invented Rock and Roll!

This scene is from 1958’s Teacher’s Pet.

Searching For Babe Ruth

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

Because today is Babe Ruth’s birthday, I wanted to watch a movie about the player who is still considered to be one of the best to ever play the game of baseball. Specifically. I wanted to watch a film that was made about him while he was still alive, The Babe Ruth Story (1948). in which the very presence of Babe Ruth on a baseball field causes a previously crippled child to walk again.

I couldn’t find that movie streaming anywhere online but I did watch two other Babe Ruth movies. First, I watched Babe Ruth Story: That Ever Livin’ Babe (1962). It’s available on Prime and it’s a documentary that was made about Babe Ruth. Actor Pat O’Brien narrates the life of Babe Ruth, from his start at a school for wayward boys all the way through the end of his career. It was a good good documentary and one thing that I found interesting is that the documentary didn’t try to sugarcoat any of Babe Ruth’s later problems with gambling or that he liked to live large. (That was the reason why, despite his success on the field and his popularity off the field, Babe Ruth was one of the few former stars not be offered a management position after he retired from playing,) The documentary even admits that, having grown up so poor that his own family sent him away, Babe Ruth was determined to enjoy his fame. More importantly, the documentary also featured a lot of footage of Babe Ruth both on and off the field, including his first game at Yankee Stadium and also he and his wife selling liberty bonds during World War I.

Then, on YouTube, I found Just Pals (1932), a nine-minute film starring the Babe himself. Babe Ruth returns to the “orphanage” where he grew up and watches a group of boys play baseball. When one of the boys strikes out and walks away dejected, Babe Ruth takes the time to teach the boy how to properly hold and swing a bat. That’s not quite as good as magically curing a cripple but Babe Ruth still offers some good advice and an important lesson. He teaches the kid how to hit a ball like Babe Ruth. The team wins the next game and Babe Ruth is there to see it. Then he drives away with one of the orphans stowing away in the trunk of his car.

What I’d really like to see is Babe Comes Home (1927), a silent movie starring Babe Ruth that supposedly featured a lot of footage from Babe Ruth’s games. Unfortunately, it’s believed to be a lost film.

Artist Unknown

Babe Ruth was born 130 years ago and he played his last game 90 years ago. He was the first baseball player and one of the first athletes to become a celebrity in America and he’s still considered to be one of the best to ever play the game. I don’t know if he actually called his shot at the 1932 World Series but I like to think he did.

Happy birthday to Babe Ruth, the man who epitomized the the spirit of baseball! As for the rest of us, Spring Training begins on February 20th, the Dodgers and the Club will play in Japan in March 18th and 19th, and then the Regular Season runs from March 27th to September 28th! Go Rangers!

Artist Profile: Jay Weaver

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

The five covers below were done by an artist named Jay Weaver. I searched for biographical information about Jay Weaver but I couldn’t find much. I did come across a painter named Jay Weaver who had a few shows in New York City and who died in 1960. However, it appears that Jay Weaver was born in 1936. Since the covers below were all done in the 20s, it must just be a case of two artists having the same name.

Jay Weaver has a distinctive style, that’s for sure. Though Weaver wouldn’t have had anything to do with them, I also like reading the headlines on the covers. What kind of girls smoke? Good question!

1921

1922

1925

1926

1927

Brad’s Song of the Day – Guns N’ Roses and a memory of “Patience”

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Today is Axl Rose’s 63rd birthday, which reminded me of a very interesting memory I had of the first time I heard the song “Patience.”

I grew up on Gospel music and Country music, but late in the 80’s I attended a summer camp called Project Caves where we learned about and explored various caverns in North Arkansas. While there, we were paired up with roommates from across the state. As I was getting to know my roommate on the first night, he shared his favorite current music album with me, which happened to be Appetite for Destruction by Guns N’ Roses. He had his cassette with him so we listened to it. And needless to say, I immediately loved it, especially the song “Sweet Child o’ Mine.” I also loved “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Paradise City,” and we listened to the album almost on repeat over those couple of weeks. By the time I got back home to Toad Suck, I had “Sweet Child o’ Mine” memorized word for word and note for note. I couldn’t wait to tell my brother and sister about the songs. At first they kind of teased me and called me “heavy metal man,” but it wasn’t long before they were listening to (and loving) those songs as well.

Music awards shows were a big deal around our house in the 80’s because that’s where we got to watch our favorite singers and bands perform. I remember The American Music Awards show being advertised, with one of their live performances to be provided by Guns N’ Roses. For historical reference, the show was on January 30, 1989, and I had recently turned 15. Giddy with excitement, my brother, my sister and I made sure we were in front of the TV that night so we could watch the group perform one of our favorite songs. Which would it be… Sweet Child o’ Mine, Paradise City, Welcome to the Jungle???

And then the performance started with Axl Rose whistling the slowest song imaginable, the song we’d all come to know as “Patience,” which would be released as a new single a few months later. We all looked at each other like WTF?! We listened to the song together in disappointment, but I do kinda remember liking the part at the end even that night. In full disclosure, the song would go on to grow on me, and I even like the song now, but it was NOT the song we were looking for that night. We still bring that up to each other and laugh at times.

Today, however, I share that performance with you! Happy birthday, Axl! And enjoy, my friends!

Scenes That I Love: Ronald Reagan in Kings Row

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s scene that I love features future President Ronald Reagan, giving what he considered to be his best performance in 1942’s Kings Row. He liked one of the lines in this scene so much that he used it as the title for autobiography.

On what would have been Ronald Reagan’s 114th birthday, here is today’s scene that I love.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Francois Truffaut Edition

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 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!

Today, on what would have been his 93rd birthday, TSL pays tribute to the great Francois Truffaut. No one captured the act of falling in love in life, people, and cinema with the skill, sensitivity, and humor of Francois Truffaut. It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Francois Truffaut Films

The 400 Blows (1959, dir by François Truffaut, DP: Henri Decae)

Shoot the Piano Player (1960, dir by François Truffaut, DP: Raoul Coutard)

The Story of Adele H. (1975, dir by Francois Truffaut, DP: Nestor Almendros)

The Last Metro (1980, dir by François Truffaut, DP: Nestor Alemndros)

A Joseph Cotten Scene That I Love From Citizen Kane

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Joseph Cotten passed away 31 years ago today. Cotten appeared in a lot of good films and worked with many important directors but he will always be remembered for bringing to life Jedidiah Leland, the drama critic in Citizen Kane. I liked the character so much that I paid tribute to him with my penname, though I substituted an A for the first I.

Cotten played Jedidiah as both a young man and an old man in Citizen Kane. The first time I saw the movie, I reacted to the young Leland. With each passing year, I think I understand better what the older Leland was talking about when he said that memory is the greatest curse ever inflicted on the human race.