Late Night Retro Television Review: Friday the 13th: The Series 3.15 “The Long Road Home”

Posted on June 13, 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 Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th: The Series, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The entire series can be found on YouTube!

This week …. ugh.

Episode 3.15 “The Long Road Home”

(Dir by Allan Kroeker, originally aired on February 12th, 1990)

This week’s episode starts where most episodes end. Micki and Johnny retrieve the cursed antique. In this case, it’s a yin-yang charm that allows the owner to swap minds with a recently deceased person. That sounds like a really cool antique and I have to admit that I’m kind of annoyed that this is one of those shows where the antique is recovered early. I would have enjoyed seeing the entire search.

I certainly would have enjoyed it more than having to spend the next 40-something minutes listening to Micki and Johnny discuss whether or not to start a relationship while, at the same time, being pursued by an inbred redneck and his brother. This episode goes off the rails as soon as Micki and Johnny step into a roadside diner that is owned by a family of homicidal hillbillies. In order to save their lives, Johnny had to use the cursed antique himself so that he could enter the body of one of the brothers. That went against everything that the show previously established about the cursed antiques. You’re not supposed to use a cursed antique, not even once. Johnny uses it and everything works out fine for him. It feels like cheating and it was something that Ryan would never have done. God, I miss Ryan.

But I want to get back to this relationship nonsense. Since when is Micki attracted to Johnny? Johnny’s been hitting on Micki since his first appearance and she’s never been interested in the past. Now, suddenly, they’re having a relationship talk? It comes out of nowhere. In the end, Micki and Johnny agree not to have a relationship as long as there are still cursed antiques that need to be found and that’s a good idea. Still, the whole thing just felt tacked on.

This episode was dull. Chris Wiggins wasn’t in it and that’s a shame because this episode needed his steady, no-nonsense presence.

Oh well. Not every Friday can be a great one!

Brad’s “Scene of the Day” – Richard Thomas in SEPTEMBER 30 1955 (1977)!

Posted on June 13, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Actor Richard Thomas turns 74 years old today. He’s especially important to me because of two specific roles. First, he co-starred with my favorite actor Charles Bronson in the 1991 Christmas movie, YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS. Along with IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, I watch YES VIRGINIA every year during the Christmas season. Second, he filmed a movie in central Arkansas back in 1977 called SEPTEMBER 30, 1955. Part of the movie was filmed along the Arkansas River in Toad Suck, AR. This is the community I grew up in, and my parents still live there. As a matter of fact, I’ll be spending Father’s Day with my Dad in Toad Suck. In my “scene of the day,” I share a scene from SEPTEMBER 30, 1955 where Thomas’ character learns of the fatal car crash of James Dean. Notice in the scene that his shirt has the initials ASTC, which stands for Arkansas State Teachers College. My dad received his teaching degree from ASTC. This college is now called The University of Central Arkansas (UCA), and that’s where I received my Finance Degree. The entire scene is filmed on the campus of UCA, and I’ve played tennis on those courts many times. I’ve attended football games at that stadium. The campus has been completely updated since this move was filmed in 1977, but it still looked a lot like that when I began my college years in 1991. It’s a trip down memory lane for me.

Happy Birthday, Richard Thomas!!

Funny Farm (1988, directed by George Roy Hill)

Posted on June 13, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Andy Farmer (Chevy Chase) is a New York sports writer who leaves the city and moves to the small town of Rosebud, Vermont so that he can work on his novel. He and his wife, Elizabeth (Madolyn Smith), struggle to adjust to living in a small town. The delivery of their furniture is delayed by the collapse of a covered bridge. When they try to make a phone call from inside their own house, the local operator tells them to deposit ten cents. They were expecting a Norman Rockwell-type town and instead, they find themselves having to pay for the funeral of a man who was buried on their property long before they moved in. When Elizabeth makes more progress writing a children’s book than Andy does with his heist novel, their marriage starts to feel the strain.

Chevy Chase is now so much better known for the stories of his unprofessional and diva-like behavior on film and television sets that it’s easy to forget that he was, at his peak, a very funny actor. Chase may be playing a variation of his put-upon everyman but, compared to the first two Vacation movies, most of the humor in Funny Farm is very mild. George Roy Hill was a classy director who had been making movies since the 50s and Funny Farm feels like a throwback to the type of family-friendly comedies that Disney would make in the 60s. That I laughed as much as I did was largely due to Chase’s performance. Whether he was tripping over a Dutch door, reacting to his wife’s dislike of the first few chapters of his new novel, or offering to pay the townspeople $50 to pretend to be nice for a weekend, Chase was consistently funny and even likable. I don’t know if this is the type of performance that Chevy Chase could give today. There’s a bitterness that’s now integral to screen persona and it’s made him into someone who audience want to laugh at instead of with. It’s too bad because Funny Farm is a reminder of the type of comedic actor that Chevy Chase used to be and who he probably still could be if not for the failed talk show and the infamous Friar’s Club roast.

As for Funny Farm, it’s an amusing and likable comedy and it still holds up well today. Chase is the key to the film’s success but he’s not the only reason that the film works. I liked the scene where Mike Starr and Glenn Plummer, as the two movers, watch as the bridge they tried to drive over collapses. I even liked the running joke about the two ducks who refused to leave the Farmers’s property. Funny Farm may not have been a hit when it was first released but it’s since built up a cult following. There will always be a place for a funny comedy that leaves you in a good mood.

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 2.2 “Lust Et Veritas”

Posted on June 13, 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 Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988. The show can be found on Hulu and, for purchase, on Prime!

This week, St. Eligius gets a new plastic surgeon.

Episode 2.2 “Lust Et Veritas”

(Dir by Mark Tinker, originally aired on November 2nd, 1982)

This episode sees the addition of two new doctors to the hospital’s staff and they’re both played by familiar actors. Elliott Axlerod is played by Stephen Furst. He’s a new resident and obviously terrified of screwing up in the ER. He asks Ehrlich and Fiscus for advice. When told that he’s required to perform a rectal exam on every patient, he asks, “Is it too late to go to law school?” Ehrlich assures him that it is.

(It’s never too late!)

Secondly, Mark Harmon joins the cast as plastic surgeon Bobby Caldwell and not even a porn star mustache can obscure the fact that young Mark Harmon was amazingly hot. (Actually, old Mark Harmon isn’t that bad either. He aged well.) Bobby, we learn, was brought to St. Eligius by Dr. Craig. He’s cocky and confident and it’s obvious that he loves being lusted after by Dr. Armstrong and Nurse Daniels. However, he already has a secret lover as this episode finds him showering with Joan Halloran, the city hall bureaucrat who spends most of her time arguing with Dr. Craig about whether or not to shut down one of the hospital’s non-profit programs.

Dr. Craig is nervous because he’s waiting for a heart to become available so he can perform his first transplant on Eve Leighton (Marian Mercer), a teacher who wants to get back into her classroom as soon as possible. Ehrlich is nervous because Craig is taking all of his frustrations. and his nervousness out on him.

Meanwhile, Jerry Singleton (Alan Arkin), the demanding husband of stroke-victim Fran (Piper Laurie), continued to push his wife to recover until finally, at the end of the episode, she yelled that he was pushing her too hard. It was a heart-breaking moment. Jerry thinks that he’s helping his wife but, as this episode showed, he’s actually been torturing her with his overbearing demands that she hurry up and get better.

Finally, a former resident named Barry Dorn (Peter Horton) returns to the hospital to try to convince Dr. Cavanero to change her negative evaluation of his job performance. Everyone acts as if Barry was a character on the show during the previous season, even though he wasn’t. It’s even revealed that he is Wendy Armstrong’s former boyfriend. When Cavanero refuses to change her evaluation, Armstrong accuses her of not having any feelings. (Seriously, Armstrong is the worst!) Even worse, when Cavanero heads to the doctor’s lounge, she finds Barry waiting for her. Barry punches her, busting open her lower lip. Armstrong stitches up the cut and then says that Cavanero is lucky because now, she’ll have an excuse to meet Dr. Caldwell! Armstrong then offers a half-hearted apology for previously accusing Cavanero of being heartless. (Again, Armstrong is the worst!!!!)

This wasn’t a bad episode. Mark Harmon and Stephen Furst seem like they’ll be good additions to the show’s ensemble. The Barry story felt a bit odd, just because Barry was apparently present but 0ff-camera during the entire first season. It sounds like Barry went through a lot of the same things that Peter White went through during the first season and Peter was not present in this episode. There’s a part of me that suspects that Barry was originally meant to be Peter but the show’s producers obviously decided they wanted to keep Peter around for a bit longer.

Next week …. well, I have no idea how things are going to develop. There’s a lot going on in this hospital. We’ll see what happens.

10 Films For The Weekend (6/13/25)

Posted on June 13, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here are just a few recommendations from a girl who is currently packing for her vacation!

Happy Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th kind of snuck up on me this year, which is a shame because this is the only Friday the 13th that we’re going to get in 2025. I have a feeling that I’m not alone in being taken by surprise, though. Usually the streaming services make a bigger deal about Friday the 13th. This year, only Pluto TV has the complete series available to stream.

That said, you can watch the first Friday the 13th (1980) on Tubi. Though the films were never critical favorites and I doubt they’ll ever have a Halloween-style resurgence (and really, that’s the way I like it because the last thing that horror fans need or deserve is for David Gordon Green to screw up Jason like he did Michael), the first Friday the 13th is still entertaining to watch. It’s interesting to see how much the first few films drew from the Italian giallo movies. The first Friday the 13th is even a whodunit, featuring a killer wearing gloves! It also features a young Kevin Bacon in a speedo so what’s your excuse for not watching? Personally, I always relate to Marcie in this film. I imagine I’d share the same fate if I ever found myself working at a summer camp, wandering around in my underwear and saying, “C’mon, guys….” until someone got annoyed and hit me with an axe. You can watch the film on Tubi.

Friday the 13th: Part 2 (1981) is actually a really good horror movie, featuring interesting victims and, for the first time, Jason Voorhees as the killer. Jason dresses like a hillbilly in this one. Amy Steel is a badass heroine. Russell Todd’s an incredibly handsome man. The film itself actually has some wonderfully creepy shots, from the POV tracking shot that creeps up on Lauren-Marie Taylor to the shadowy shot of the cars driving into town. It can be viewed on Pluto.

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) was quite obviously not the final chapter but it was, in my opinion, the best of the films. Everyone remembers this one for Corey Feldman as Tommy Jarvis and Crispin Glover as one of the victims but really, the entire cast does a great job of bringing their characters to life and actually making them interesting for once. My heart always breaks a little for Peter Barton and Barbara Howard. They were such a cute couple. It can be viewed on Pluto.

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1987) is hardly the best of the Friday films but I have to admit that I’ve always kind of liked it. Not only does it feature the first appearance of Zombie Jason but it also features enough strange plot twists to keep things watchable. The recently passed Lar Park Lincoln plays Tina, the girl with psychic powers and she gives a far better performance than the material probably deserved. Terry Kiser plays “Bad News” Crews. It can be viewed on Pluto.

Mario Bava’s Bay of Blood (1971) is a classic giallo and it features a rare (and successful) stab at social satire on the part of Mario Bava. It’s also interesting to see the scenes that were lifted, almost shot-for-short, for Friday the 13th Part 2. It can be viewed on Tubi.

Happy Father’s Day

This s going to be a bittersweet Father’s Day for me and my sisters. Our Dad passed away last August. Indeed, one of the reasons why I’m going on vacation next week is so I can get away from the sad memories for a bit. If I had to think of any film that captured my Dad’s independent spirit, I’d probably go with Convoy (1978). When I was growing up, my Dad sometimes worked as an independent trucker. He liked this movie and he liked Rubber Duck and you know what? Rubber Duck would have liked him as well. Convy was notorious for the cost overruns and the amount of drugs done on set but I’ll tell you right now — if you don’t cheer when Kris Kristofferson, Burt Young, and other truckers defy the law, you have no heart. Convoy can be viewed on Tubi.

My Dad was also a Godzilla fan, which is one reason why I’m a Godzilla fan! I can still remember being little and watching Godzilla films with him. They used to air every Saturday afternoon. One of our favorites was Godzilla vs Megalon (1973), in which Godzilla teams up with the giant robot, Jet Jaguar. I know that Godzilla purists tend to be dismissive of this film but I don’t care. I loved it! It can be viewed on Max.

I guess it says something about my job here that I can get sentimental about a violent and bloody film like 10 to Midnight (1983) but I have to admit that I’m always touched by the father-daughter relationship of Leo (Charles Bronson) and Laurie Kessler (Lisa Eilbacher). It reminds me a lot of my relationship with my Dad. Of course, those of you just looking for a good Cannon-era Bronson flick won’t be disappointed either. Gene Davis turns Warren Stacy into a truly loathsome villain and Bronson’s final line is a classic. Plus, this film has got Andrew Stevens in the role of the liberal rookie detective who no one can believe is a cop. The film can be viewed on Tubi.

Happy Odds and Ends

If you want to watch a Bava film that’s a little less gory than Bay of Blood, Planet of the Vampires (1965) is an atmospheric delight. Just as Bay of Blood inspired Friday the 13th, Planet of the Vampires inspired Alien. Keep an eye out for Ivan Rassimov, who had the best head of hair in Italian horror. The film is on Pluto.

Jim Belushi celebrated a birthday this week and you can celebrate as well by watching one of my favorite guilty pleasures, The Principal (1987). This film is heartfelt, violent, occasionally funny, thoroughly ludicrous, and actually kind of touching in its determination to actually say something. Jim Belushi vs Michael Wright is one of the ages. Lou Gossett, Jr. appears to be amused by the whole thing. “He’s the Principal, man!” The film is on Tubi.

Have a great week!

(Check out last week’s films here!)

Four Books To Read This Weekend (6/13/25)

Posted on June 13, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy Friday the 13th! I am currently packing for a two-week vacation that will start on Sunday. I’ll be bringing along several books with me. I am very much a believer in “the beach read.” If you’re going to be relaxing on the beach, it’s important to not only have the perfect bikini but also to have a good book to read. A book can be used to shield your eyes from the sun. A book can give you an excuse not to talk to someone. A book can make you look smart and that’s always a good thing. Never underestimate the importance of the beach read!

First published in 2024, Ask Not: The Kennedys and Thee Women They Destroyed is beach read for gossip-lovers who are also into politics and history. Written by Maureen Callahan, Ask Not looks at the lives of the women who had the misfortune to know the members of the Kennedy family. Using the death of Carolyn Bessette as a framing device, Callahan examines the lives of Jackie Onassis, Mary Jo Kopechne, Joan Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Martha Moxley, and several others. Callahan doesn’t just look at the famous victims of the Kennedy men. One of the best chapters deals with a young woman who was left paralyzed by Joseph P. Kennedy III’s reckless driving, someone whose name may not be nationally-known but who will never forgotten by those who loved her. The tragic death of the ex-wife of RFK Jr., who committed suicide after he left her and then tried to annul their marriage, is also examined. Callahan writes that she has no personal animus against the Kennedys. I’m not sure that I buy that but still, her book is a fascinating look at both the arrogance of power and the way that the Kennedys were protected, for decades, by a sympathetic and compliant media. The book reminds us that Chappaquiddick was not a Kennedy tragedy. Instead, it was a Kopechne tragedy. Of the many who have written about Chappaquiddick, Callahan is one of the few to actually show any interest in who Mary Jo Kopechne was and who she could have gone on to been if she hadn’t been abandoned to drown that night. If just for that, this book deserves to be read.

If you’re a Degrassi fan, you simply have to read 2022’s The Mother Of All Degrassi. Linda Schuyler’s memoir charts her life and shows how she went from being an 8th grade teacher to co-creating the most important thing to ever come out of Canada. Schuyler includes all the behind-the-scenes details that you could possibly want but, even more importantly, her personal story is an inspiring and a heartfelt one.

Speaking of memoirs by television producers, 2016’s Truth Is A Total Defense: My Fifty Years In Television is Steven Bochco’s somewhat self-aggrandizing memoir. It’s nowhere near as well-written as Linda Schuyler’s memoir but if you’re looking for gossip, this is a good book to go with. Bochco, who passed away in 2018, was known for creating hit shows and pissing off the networks. This memoir spends a lot of time on the people who Bochco did not like. It makes for a fun read, if not a particularly enlightening one.

Finally, no vacation is complete with a true crime book to read. If you want to read one that will truly leave you angry, I recommend Philip Weiss’s American Taboo, which examines the 1975 murder of Peace Corp volunteer Deborah Gardner and how the crime was covered up by both the Peace Corp and the government. Not only was Gardner’s name smeared but the killer was never punished for his deeds. True crime is a genre that has produced a lot of bad books but it’s produced some good and important ones as well. American Taboo is one of the best.

Of course, the whole fun of traveling is seeing what you discover. I’ll be bringing books with me but I’ll also be leaving plenty of room for any trashy paperbacks I come across on the way! I’ll let you know what I find.

Song of the Day: Title Music From A Clockwork Orange by Wendy Carlos

Posted on June 13, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Seeing as how today is Malcolm McDowell’s birthday, it only seems right that today’s song of the day should be one that was used in his best-known film.

The Title Music For A Clockwork Orange was, of course, adapted from Music For The Funeral of Queen Mary, composed by Henry Purcell.

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix for Space Mutiny!

Posted on June 13, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly watch parties. On Twitter, I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday and I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday. On Mastodon, 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, I will be hosting #FridayNightFlix! The movie? SPACE MUTINY!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag! I’ll be there tweeting 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.

Space Mutiny is available on Prime and Tubi!

See you there!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Friday The 13th Edition

Posted on June 13, 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 is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Admittedly, the Friday the 13th films aren’t exactly known for being the most visually impressive horror films ever made. That’s especially true of the first 8 films, which were all shot on a low budget and in a hurry. That said, today is Friday the 13th and there’s no way that I, as a lover of the horror genre, couldn’t use the 4 Shots format to pay a little bit of tribute to one of the most successful and influential horror franchises of all time.

So, with that in mind, here are….

4 Shots From 4 Friday the 13th Films

Friday the 13th (1980, dir by Sean S. Cunningham)

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984, dir by Joseph Zito)

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986, dir by Tom McLoughlin)

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989, dir by Rob Hedden)

Back in 2012, I reviewed every single film in the Friday the 13th film franchise! It was a lot of fun!

My Friday the 13th reviews:

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!

Scenes That I Love: The Opening Of A Clockwork Orange

Posted on June 13, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to actor Malcolm McDowell.

Today’s scene that I love comes from 1971’s A Clockwork Orange, featuring McDowell as Alex. This opening scene is famous for its music and its production design but what truly makes it work is the intensity of McDowell’s stare and the seductive menace of his half-smile.