Daily Archives: March 22, 2025

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 3.11 “The Naked Truth”

Posted on 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 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 and Peacock!

This week, Marlene gets an opportunity!

Episode 3.11 “The Naked Truth”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on November 21st, 1987)

Women Of The World magazine wants to do a story on Marlene’s life as a cashier.  All of her coworkers try to worm their way into the interview but Marlene succeeds in kicking them all out of the breakroom.  The reporter from the magazine informs Marlene that her life story is fascinating and now they’ll just need to take some naked pictures to go along with it.

Howard is stunned when Marlene says she’s going to pose nude.  Marlene points out that Howard keeps adult magazines in his desk drawer.  Howard denies it before then opening up his desk drawer and checking them out.  Howard fears that Marlene is going to make Cobb’s look bad.  Marlene, in the end, chooses not to get the pictures done because she doesn’t want her future daughter to be ashamed of her.  Personally, I would have preferred for Marlene to have said, “It’s my decision and I’ll make sure my daughter understands that she has to do what’s right for her instead of worrying about what everyone else says,” but whatever.  It’s just a silly sitcom.

Meanwhile, Viker’s wife is pregnant!  Awwww, Viker!  Gordon Clapp got to a do and say a lot in this episode, which I enjoyed.  Viker is one of the more consistently funny characters on this show.  Gordon Clapp played Viker’s stupidity with such an earnest sincerity that you just want someone to hug the guy.

This was not a bad episode.  Gordon Clapp and Kathleen Laskey were often this show’s strongest assets and this episode featured both of them.  Laskey did a great job portraying Marlene’s dilemma while Clapp made me laugh at even the silliest of jokes.  Nope, not a bad episode at all, even if I do think Marlene should have just told everyone that it was none of their business what she chose to do.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 3/16/25 — 3/22/25

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, I was super-excited to discover the original Unsolved Mysteries on Tubi!  I’ve been listening to Robert Stack as he talks about unsolved crimes and a paranormal mysteries and I have to say that Mr. Stack was truly an American treasure!  I like that most of these episodes have updates and it looks like they’re still being updates.  That said, I find the mysteries with no updates to be the most intriguing.

In other news, Case and I are nearly finished with Dark.  We’ll be watching the final episode next Tuesday.

I am now caught up on Kitchen Nightmares.  Chef Ramsay is saving restaurants that don’t really deserve to be saved.  I don’t care if Gordon showed them their aware of their ways.  There’s no way I’d eat in any of those places!

I watched a good deal of the news stations — BBC, FOX, C-SPAN, CNN, a little MSNBC, though that network is kind of annoying and whiny right now — this week.  I won’t go into too much detail but I think I’m starting to become a news junkie.

I went over to Pluto TV this weekend and I turned on Dr. Phil for background noise.  This poor woman was convinced that she was married to Tyler Perry.

King of the Hill on Hulu has definitely been my comfort show this week.  It’s a Texas show and I’m a Texas girl.

 

Happy Birthday in Heaven to the great M. Emmet Walsh! 

Posted on by Bradley Crain

One of the great character actors of all time, M. Emmet Walsh, would have been 90 years old today. Walsh lived a good long life, passing away on March 19th, 2024, three days short of what would have been his 89th birthday. The great movie critic Roger Ebert created his own movie rule that featured Walsh. He called it the “Stanton-Walsh” rule, which also honored the great Harry Dean Stanton. The rule went something like “no movie featuring Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad.” High praise indeed. 

When I think of Walsh, I picture his characters in movies like FAST-WALKING (1981), BLADE RUNNER (1982), MISSING IN ACTION (1984), and RAISING ARIZONA (1987). I’ve tried to forget one of his scenes in FAST-WALKING, but I’m afraid it’s a hopeless cause! His characters always stand out. The movie I first saw him in was the Coen Brothers’ BLOOD SIMPLE (1984). Fox 16 out of Little Rock played this often in the 80’s. The advertisements heavily featured Walsh’s amazingly sleazy private detective character, with his cowboy hat and his slimy grin. It’s a truly amazing performance.

On his birthday, I share one of his great scenes from BLOOD SIMPLE. Rest in peace, Mr. Walsh! And enjoy, my friends. 

No Safe Haven (1987, directed by Ronnie Rondell Jr.)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

A group of drug dealers try to pressure football player Buddy Harris (Tom Campitelli) into throwing the big game.  Buddy fakes an injury to get out of playing so the dealers murder not only Buddy but also his mother and his younger brother.  Big mistake!  Buddy’s older brother, Clete (Wings Hauser), is a CIA agent who is working as a listener in Honduras.  Clete returns home and, with the help of an arms dealer (Robert Tessier, playing a good guy for change), Clete hunts down and kills everyone who killed his family.  Clete not only gets revenge for his family but he also heads down to Bolivia to show the syndicate that, for them, there is no safe haven!

This is one of the ultimate Wings Hauser films, one that he both wrote and starred in.  When Clete seeks revenge, he doesn’t mess around.  One gunman gets set on fire while standing on his balcony.  (He can either burn to death on the balcony or he can jump to a quicker death below.  Either way, Clete’s going to take a lot of pictures)  Wings chases the villains down with speedboats and helicopters and he does it all with a slight smirk that suggests he’s not only getting revenge but he’s also having the time of his life.  This is Wings Hauser at his most demented and he’s playing the hero!  Luckily, the villains are even crazier than Wings.  I have to make a special mention of Branscombe Richmond, laughing and yelling and killing in a way that you would never expect if you only knew him from Renegade.

This is Wings Hauser at his best, in a movie that’s mean, violent, and never less than compelling.  Clete kills a lot of people but it’s okay because, to quote True Lies, they were all bad.  Wings throws himself into the role with his trademark intensity and shows why no one’s safe from Clete Harris.  I’m going to miss Wings Hauser.  Only he could have played Clete Harris.  Only he could have made No Safe Haven the B-action classic of 1987.

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back Kotter, 4.21 “Ooh Ooh, I Do: Part Two”

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 Saturdays, I will be reviewing Welcome Back Kotter, which ran on ABC  from 1975 to 1979.  The entire show can be purchased on Prime.

Wedding bells are ringing!

Episode 4.21 “Ooh Ooh, I Do: Part Two”

(Dir by Norman Abbott, originally aired on May 25th, 1979)

Horshack’s getting married!

For some reason, the Sweathogs throw him a bachelor party in Barbarino’s trashy apartment.  Barbarino isn’t there.  I assume he’s at work or maybe he finally moved back in with his family after realizing just how ugly and depressing his apartment was.  Seriously, I will never understand why a show would try to get viewers invested in such an ugly location.

Anyway, the bachelor party is a bust.  Epstein dresses up in drag and dances for Horshack.  The Sweathogs love it.  Horshack loves it.  But then the Sweathogs make a joke about how Horshack and Mary Johnson are going to be so poor that Mary is going to have to get a job washing bricks to support them.  Horshack realizes that they’re right.  He’s getting married in high school and he has absolutely zero marketable skills.  In fact, he’s such a weirdo that most people go out of their way to avoid him.  How is he going to support Mary?

Horshask freaks out and runs away.  After Mary shows them the note that Horshack left, in which he said that he was running away to become the type of man who could support her, the Sweathogs search all over Brooklyn for him.  Epstein goes to a Marine recruiting station.  Washington and Beau …. eh, I watched this show like 20 minutes ago and I’ve already forgotten what they did.  That’s how well-written this episode was.  Mary, however, knows that Horshack’s favorite movie is Wuthering Heights so she finds him at the local move theater.

They get married!  The ceremony is small and pathetic.  I don’t think a single member of Horshack’s family showed up.  Gabe does show up and, when the Sweathogs realize that Horshack needs a ring to give Mary, Gabe gives up his own wedding ring.  Julie approves.  They’re probably going to get divorced as soon as the show ends.

Gabe, who is usually portrayed as being very concerned with the future of his students, is totally cool with Horshack getting married while still a high school student.  At no point does he suggest that Horshack might be rushing into things or that a stunted manchild who can’t get a job might not be a good husband.  This was one of Kaplan’s rare appearance during the final season of the show but he doesn’t act much like the Mr. Kotter that we got to know over the previous three seasons.  It’s kind of like when Steve Carell came back for The Office finale and only said one line.  It just doesn’t feel right.

Apparently, this episode was meant to a backdoor pilot for a series that would have focused on Horshack and Mary.  I can’t imagine that working, though I would say that Mary and Horshack do look cute together at the end of the episode.

Speaking of endings, there are only two more episodes left!  Will the Sweathogs finally graduate?  We’ll find out!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special William Shatner Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

Today is William Shatner’s birthday, which means that it is time for….

4 Shots From 4 William Shatner Films

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961, dir by Stanley Kramer, DP: Ernest Laszlo)

Incubus (1966, dir by Leslie Stevens, DP: Conrad Hall)

Big Bad Mama (1974, dir by Steve Carver, DP: Bruce Logan)

The Devil’s Rain (1975, dir by Robert Fuest, DP: Alex Phillips Jr.)

Scenes That I Love: William Shatner Interprets Rocket Man

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, we wish a happy 95th birthday to the one and only William Shatner!

In this scene that I love, William Shatner performs Rocket Man at the 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards (better known as the Saturn Awards).

Live Tweet Alert: Watch ZOMBI 3 With #ScarySocial!

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.  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, for #ScarySocial, I will be hosting 1988’s Zombi 3!

If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag!  The film is available on Prime!  I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy!

 

George Foreman, RIP

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

George Foreman was one of those guys who I expected would be around forever.

When I was growing up, I knew George Foreman as the good-natured boxer who would throw punches for 12 rounds and then make jokes immediately afterwards.  On HBO, he was usually the commentator who showed the most concern for the well-being of the fighters in the ring.  On that infamous night in 1997, when Oliver McCall had an apparent mental breakdown while facing Lennox Lewis in the ring, while the other ring announcers spent their time talking about how bad the night was for the sport and how Don King was destroying the integrity of HBO Boxing, George Foreman was the only one to express any concern about what was happening in Oliver McCall’s head and to say that he hoped McCall would be okay once the fight ended.  That made a big impression on me.  George Foreman may have fought for a living but he never gave up his humanity.

It was only later that I saw the clips of young George Foreman, fighting Ali in Zaire, and I realized how intimidating Foreman had been before he made his comeback in his 40s.  Foreman said that losing Ali in Zaire hurt, both because of the defeat and also Ali’s constant taunting.  Foreman, who famously declined to join in the protests when he was on the 1968 U.S. Olympic team, resented Ali’s claim that Foreman was a sell-out.  (These were the same accusations that Ali tossed at every opponent that he fought but for Foreman, someone who had struggled with poverty when he was younger and who credited boxing with saving him from a life of crime and prison, they especially stung.)  Foreman could have joined Joe Frazier in spending his entire life bitter over his treatment by Ali but Foreman forgave him.  When the documentary about the fight, When We Were Kings, won the Oscar for best documentary, Foreman was at the ceremony with Ali and helped his former opponent step up the stairs to the podium.

George Foreman in Zaire

It’s always hard to believe that the scowling and uncommunicative Foreman of the 70s was the same George Foreman who became an American institution, selling the George Foreman Grill and proving that he still had what it took to be a champion at age 45.  Foreman credited finding religion with giving him a new outlook on life.  At the same time he was making his comeback in the ring, Foreman was working as a minister and working with at-risk youth in Houston.  He was a man who found success but he was also a man who gave back.

Foreman didn’t win every fight.  He lost to Ali in Zaire and to Jimmy Young in Puerto Rico.  After he made his comeback, he lost to Evander Holyfield, Tommy Morrison, and Shannon Briggs.  Holyfield and even Morrison won their fights fair and square.  (Morrison was booed after he won not because he didn’t deserve the victory but because he was Tommy Morrison.)  A lot of people, including me, felt that Foreman was robbed by the judges when it came to the Briggs fight but Foreman accepted the decision with grace.  As I get older, I feel more and more appreciation for what George Foreman accomplished.  He made a comeback when most people had written him off and he did it with humor and humility.

Yesterday, Big George Foreman passed away at 76.  I’ll miss him.