Late Night Retro Television Review: Friday the 13th: The Series 3.16 “My Wife As A Dog”

Posted on June 20, 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, it’s all about a man and his dog.

Episode 3.16 “My Wife As A Dog”

(Dir by Armando Mastroianni, originally aired on February 19th, 1990)

I knew I was going to dislike this episode as soon as I saw the title.

While Johnny and Micki spend their time trying to get the store up to code so that it can pass a fire inspection (and good luck doing that when there’s a literal portal to Hell located in the basement), Jack searches for a cursed leash. Jack has no idea what the leash does. He just knows that it’s cursed. However, the leash’s owner — fireman Aubry Ross (Denis Forest, making his fourth appearance on the show) — has figured out that, by using the leash to strangle people, he can transport the mind of his dying dog into the body of his estranged (but not dying) wife.

Or something like that. To be honest, I had a hard time following the particulars of this curse. Fortunately, so did Jack. This is the first episode that I can think of where Jack admits that he has no idea how a cursed objects works. Even when he retrieves the leash at the end of the episode, he admits that he’s still not sure what Aubry actually did with it. Jack being confused made me feel a little bit less dumb so I was happy with that. The episode ends with Aubry in jail, being visited his panting wife. She brings him his slippers because she’s now a dog in a human body.

Ugh. This was an attempt to do a light-hearted episode and I respect the show for trying to do something different. At the same time, it also featured four murders and a woman, who simply wanted to get a divorce from her creepy husband, being transformed into a dog. Our regulars were barely in this episode and, when they did appear, we had to suffer through some awkward flirting between Johnny and Micki. Denis Forest did a good job as Aubry but otherwise, this was an episode that I could just as soon forget.

Brad’s “Hero of the Day” – Audie Murphy!

Posted on June 20, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier in World War II, was born on June 20th, 1924. After performing unimaginable acts of bravery in the war, Audie Murphy came back to America and became a respectable actor while battling PTSD. He starred in the story of his own life, TO HELL AND BACK (1955), a movie that my son watched on repeat when he was growing up. Back in 2010, we visited Arlington National Cemetery and specifically looked up Murphy’s gravesite. Based on cemetery records, the only site visited more than Murphy’s is that of John F. Kennedy. Also, every time I drive through Greenville, TX on my way to Dallas, I’m sure to look at the monument to Audie Murphy along interstate 40. I never miss making sure I spot the monument and think of Audie Murphy. Sadly, Murphy would die at just 46 years of age in a plane crash in Virginia.

Enjoy this trailer for TO HELL AND BACK!

Freefall: Flight 174 (1995, directed by Jorge Montesi)

Posted on June 20, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

During a routine flight from Montreal to Edmonton, the two pilots (played by William Devane and Scott Hylands) discover that they do not have enough fuel to make it to their destination. Their aircraft was one of the first in the fleet to use the metric system but a conversion era led to the ground crew measuring the plane’s fuel in pounds instead of kilograms. With the help of an air traffic controller (Nicholas Turturro), the pilots try to land their plane before it falls out of the sky.

Based on a true story, Freefall is one of the many airflight disaster films that were made for television in the 80s and 90s. (Not surprisingly, the genre became less popular after 9-11.) The emphasis is on the pilots and ground control remaining calm and professional in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. While Devane and Hylands look for a place to land, flight attendant Shelley Hack keeps the passengers from panicking. In typical disaster movie style, the passengers have their own dramas that are wrapped up as they wait for the plane to either land or crash. It’s a low-budget movie but the cast does a good job. William Devane is one of those actors who just looks credible flying an airplane.

The movie’s main lesson? Don’t use the Metric System unless you absolutely have to,

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 2.3 “Newheart”

Posted on June 20, 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, things get dark.

Episode 2.3 “Newheart”

(Dir by Mark Tinker, originally aired on November 9th, 1983)

What a depressing episode!

It doesn’t start out on a particularly depressing note. It opens with a bachelor part for Dr. Vijay Kochar, who is about marry a woman that he’s never actually met. (It’s an arranged marriage.) The bachelor party, which appears to have been held in Fiscus’s apartment, is a bust. Dr. White shows up with a sex doll. Victor Ehrlich shows up with a short film called “Sally Takes a Ride,” which turns out to be not the pornography he was expecting but instead, a short film about astronaut Sally Ride. Vijay mentions that he’s a virgin and soon, with the help Dr. White and Nurse Daniels, the news is all over the hospital. Kathy Martin decides to give Vijay an early wedding gift by having sex with him.

Since this episode aired in 1983, there’s a random aerobic class being held in the hospital, which leads to a lengthy scene of spandex and dancing. It’s a bit of a silly scene for what was, for the first half hour, shaping up to be a silly episode.

Fran and Jerry Singleton finally check out of the hospital. Fran has regained the ability to speak and can stiffly walk. Jerry has learned to stop being such an overbearing jerk. Dr. Morrison is not there to say goodbye to the Singletons because….

…. and here’s where things start to get dark….

….his wife is in another hospital! Jack Morrison’s wife has an offscreen cerebral hemorrhage and, as evidenced by Morrison’s tears at the end of the episode, she does not survive. At the same time that she’s dying, Dr. Craig gets a call telling him that there is finally a heart available for the transplant. And, though it wasn’t explicitly stated, it seems pretty obvious that the heart in question belonged to Morrison’s wife.

AGCK!

Seriously, how much more depressing can one episode get? And for all this to happen to Jack Morrison, who is probably the most decent character on the show, it’s just not fair! I mean, he was literally the only married intern who had a happy marriage. He has a newborn son. And now, he’s going to have to balance being a single father with being a resident.

Poor guy! I hope next week finds some sort of relief for him.

10 Films For The Weekend (6/20/25)

Posted on June 20, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hail To The King, Baby

This Sunday is Bruce Campbell’s birthday. Our own Case Writes will be reviewing Bruce’s two autobiographies on that day. Here’s a few films you can watch while celebrating.

Sadly, the first three Evil Dead films are not streaming anywhere for free this weekend. However, Bubba Ho-Tep (2002), which features Bruce as a nursing home resident who may or may not actually be Elvis Presley, is available on Tubi. This is definitely Bruce’s best non-Ash performance and there’s actually something very touching about the idea of an elderly and forgotten Elvis teaming up with John F. Kennedy (Ossie Davis) to battle an ancient mummy. There’s a lot of humor to be found in this film but there’s also a definite strain of melancholy and Bruce gives a truly moving performance as someone who you’ll want to believe in. The film is on Tubi.

Maniac Cop (1988) is nowhere near as good as the Evil Dead films or Bubba Ho-Tep but it does give audiences a chance to see Bruce giving a relatively “serious” performance as a policeman who is accused of a murder that was actually committed by a hulking zombie cop. Not only does this film feature Bruce Campbell but it’s also got Tom Atkins, William Smith, Richard Roundtree, and Robert Z’Dar. If nothing else, this film is a tribute to exploitation canniness. Director William Lustig and screenwriter Larry Cohen understood that the idea of dangerous cop would remain compelling one long after the film’s initial release and, as such, Maniac Cop retains a definite cult appeal. The film is on Tubi.

Sadly, Bruce Campbell is killed off rather early in Maniac Cop 2 (1990). That’s a shame because the second film is a lot better than the first one. Robert Davi plays the detective who won’t be pushed around while Robert Z’Dar takes the maniac cop’s search for revenge to a whole other level. Leo Rossi is memorably unhinged. Personally, I would have liked to have seen Bruce try to take a chainsaw to the Maniac Cop but it was not be. Maniac Cop 2 can be viewed on Tubi.

Finally, The Woods (2006) is a sadly underrated horror film, one the features Bruce in a supporting role as a loving dad. Agnes Bruckner give a wonderful performance in the lead role, investigating her mysterious school and taking way too much abuse just because she has red hair. Hey, I’ve been there! I’m just happy that “fire crotch” didn’t catch on the way that “Gingers have no soul” did. (Seriously, the redheads have no soul thing was funny when South Park did it but everyone else needs to shut up about it.) The Woods is an atmospheric horror film from Lucky McKee and one that I would recommend even if it wasn’t Bruce Campbell’s birthday. View it on Tubi.

Pleasures, Guilty And Otherwise

Seriously, if I had to suggest one non-Bruce Campbell movie to you for this weekend, it would be my favorite Lifetime film, True Confessions of a Go-Go Girl (2008). Chelsea Hobbs plays a recent college graduate who realizes that she can either waste more of her life in law school or she can just make a bunch of money by being a …. GO-GO GIRL! The use of the anachronistic term “go-go girl” really does get to the charm of this movie, which manages to be both enjoyably trashy and quaintly old-fashioned at the same time. Hobbs discovers that she loves to dance and that men love to watch her dance. Her wimpy boyfriend freaks out when Hobbs goes from being a meek “good” girl to an aggressive temptress. The film is at its best when its embracing the decadence and the melodrama. On stage, Hobbs is empowered and I was all about that. Of course, Hobbs has to using hard drugs and learn a lesson because that’s the way these films go. Still, this one is a lot of fun and it features Corbin Bernsen doing his somewhat sleazy father figure thing. Find this film on Prime.

The Perfect Teacher (2010) is also available on Prime and you need to watch it because it features my favorite line of all time. “I can be your dream …. or I can be your NIGHTMARE!” This is another perfect Lifetime film and it can be viewed here!

The Wrong Cheerleader (2019) is one of the best of Lifetime’s wonderfully over-the-top “Wrong” film, featuring Degrassi’s Cristine Prosperi and, of course, Vivica A. Fox. “Looks like he messed with the wrong cheerleader.” Hell yeah! It’s on YouTube. (I have a feeling that if I ever hire someone incompetent, Vivica A. Fox will show up at my door and say, “Girl, looks like you hired the wrong landscaping crew.”)

The Babysitter’s Seduction (1996) was not originally made for Lifetime but it definitely found a home there. Keri Russell is the innocent babysitter. Stephen Collins is the handsome but sleazy guy who seduces her and then tries to frame her for killing his wife. This film’s twists was probably more effective back when Stephen Collins was still best-known as Rev. Camden as opposed to being known for …. other things. But it’s still a top-notch example of embracing the melodrama. It can be viewed on Tubi.

From the best Lifetime films, let’s now consider the best SyFy films. Jersey Shore Shark Attack (2010) not only features Tony Sirico, Paul Sorvino, and Jack Scalia but it also features characters with names like Nooki, TC, and Paulie Balzac dealing with killer sharks in New Jersey. Joey Fatone appears as himself and is promptly eaten. Of the many shark films to have been produced by the Asylum, this is definitely one of the best. It’s on Tubi!

Directed by actor Bruce Davison, Bigfoot (2012) not only features the title character but it also includes Danny Bonaduce, Barry Williams, and Sherilyn Fenn amongst the cast. Alice Cooper plays himself and meets a less-than-heroic end. This Asylum film is a true classic. It’s on Tubi!

(Click here for last week’s recommendations.)

A Book For The Weekend (6/20/25)

Posted on June 20, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Wow, I thought as I read Howard Hughes: The Secret Life, was there anyone Howard Hughes didn’t have sex with?

Actually, I imagine there was. Charles Higham’s 1993 biography, which I found in a used bookstore in Pensacola, is full of all sorts of “scandalous” details about Howard Hughes’s life and the decadent Golden Age of Hollywood but it’s not always convincing. Hughes, who was the subject of Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, was undoubtedly an eccentric and I have no doubt that he treated a lot people badly but the book itself tends put a lot of faith in gossip and rumors. As such, we get the established stories of Hughes bringing his control freak tendencies to Hollywood and having affairs with Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner mixed with stories about Hughes’s being involved with the Watergate break-in and also carrying on clandestine affairs with everyone from Errol Flynn to Tyrone Power, Jr. The book goes as far as to suggest Hughes died of AIDs, using an evidence the word of a doctor who didn’t examine Hughes but who did apparently read a list of symptoms that Hughes was rumored to have during his final days. That’s really the way that Higham approaches the majority of Hughes’s life. The established facts are mixed with rumor and speculation on the part of the author. It’s not always convincing but then again, since when does gossip have to be believable?

In short, the book is trashy but readable. It’s one of those books that one should probably read with a healthy sense of skepticism but, at the same time, one can appreciate the sheer number of personalities that Higham manages to weave into his narrative. Hughes goes from aviation to Hollywood to politics and he meets everyone who was anyone. It’s a history nerd’s dream.

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix for TWIN DRAGONS (1992)!

Posted on June 20, 2025 by Bradley Crain

This Friday, June 20th, at 9 pm CT, join my wife Sierra and I as we guest host for Lisa, and she continues to enjoy her vacation! We’ll be watching TWIN DRAGONS (1992), starring not just 1, but 2 Jackie Chans! It’s available on Prime!

I’ve included the trailer below!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Jaws Edition

Posted on June 20, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

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 all about everyone’s favorite shark.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Jaws Edition