Daily Archives: September 21, 2025

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.6 “The Mating Game”

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 Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, everyone’s thinking about sex!

Episode 1.6 “The Mating Game”

(Dir by Anthony Browne, originally aired on April 22nd, 2002)

Sex therpaist Dr. Sally (Sue Johanson, recreating her role from Degrassi Junior High) is coming to Degrassi and it’s not a minute to soon because everyone is thinking about sex.  Ashley and Jimmy’s 8-month reunion is approaching and, when Paige is cast as Juliet opposite Jimmy’s Romeo in a class assignment, Ashley starts to worry that Jimmy might not be happy with their sex-free relationship.  Of course, Jimmy is more than happy with his relationship with Ashley.  If anything, Spinner seems to be the one who is obsessed with when Ashley and Jimmy are going to “do it.”

Meanwhile, Toby has a crush on Emma but Emma has a crush on Sean.  Toby invites Emma to join him in watching a DVD about an endangered turtle.  Emma agrees because Emma is all about endangered animal documentaries.  But then she stands him up so that she can help Sean out with his school project.  Sean tells Emma about how he had to give up his pet dog when he moved in with his brother, Emma says. “Awwww!,” and Toby ends up heart-broken.  Emma, for her part, is shocked when Manny later tells her that Toby has a “huge crush” on her.

(Though I’m a huge Degrassi fan, I have to admit that I always forget how much time the first season of Degrassi: The Next Generation spent on storylines that were, more or less, abandoned in future seasons.  Toby’s crush on Emma is a good example.)

As for Ashley and Jimmy, they both do the right thing and buy condoms.  (Jimmy goes to a drugstore.  Ashley orders online.)  However, they don’t have sex and instead just blow the condoms up and write cutesy little messages on them.

Finally, this episode features Terri once again getting offended when Ashley comments on her having never had a boyfriend.  For those of us who know our Degrassi history, it’s hard not to cringe at Ashley’s comment because we know what’s going to happen to Terri (and eventually Jimmy) once Terri finally does start dating someone.

This episode was okay.  These first season episodes are not always easy to watch because the show itself got a lot more interesting after the second season.  It’s hard not watch the episodes from the first two seasons and spend most of the time thinking about what the future holds for the characters.  In this episode, Jimmy is gawky and Ashley is confident that she and Jimmy will know when the time is right.  In the future, Ashley is going to lose all of her friends after taking ecstasy and Jimmy is going to end up paralyzed from the waist down.  In this episode, Toby and JT are bummed that only the eighth graders get to see Dr. Sally.  In the future, JT’s going to get stabbed to death and Toby’s going to end up dating Spinner’s adopted sister.  Meanwhile, Sean’s going to end joining the Army and Emma’s going to end up married to Spinner and Terri’s going to leave school after her boyfriend shoves her and she hits her head on a rock.  When you know all that is going to happen, it’s hard to get caught up in Terri’s hurt feelings or Ashley’s awkwardness when she has to pay for her condom delivery.  Seriously, they should be enjoying their lives while they can because the future is going to be dark!

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 4.7 “Thrill of the Kill”

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 Sundays, Lisa will be reviewing Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC!  It  can be viewed on Peacock.

This week, Homicide explores the theory that, when it comes to twins, there’s always an evil one.

Episode 4.7 “Thrill of the Kill”

(Dir by Tim Hunter, originally aired on November 10th, 1995)

Pembleton and Bayliss are working with the FBI to try tack down Newton Dell (Jeffrey Donovan), a Florida man who the FBI believes has committed a series of murders up and down the interstate.  He’s in Maryland now, driving a stolen truck.  Pembleton and Bayliss are able to catch him, though not before three murders have been committed in their jurisdiction.  However, in the Box, Newton insists that he was not the murderer.  He says that the murderer was someone who was traveling with him but he refuses to give out the name.  He says he can’t betray the murderer.  Even when it’s pointed out that his fingerprints were found at the crime scenes, Newton insists that that the murderer wasn’t him.

Bayliss thinks that Newton is trying to set up a insanity defense.  Pembleton doesn’t care.  His job is to catch people who commit murder and, as far as he’s concerned, he’s done just that.  Besides, Newton Dell’s story doesn’t make any sense.  Why would his fingerprints be all over the crime scene if he wasn’t the killer?  Why has every witness provided a description that roughly fits Newton Dell?

Strangely, neither man seems to remember that Munch earlier mentioned that Newton Dell has a twin brother.

Yes, you read that correctly.  This week, Homicide — a show that started off as a very realistic and gritty crime drama — present us with a murderous twin!

Miles Dell calls the department and lets them know that he can’t let his brother go to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.  Soon,  all of the cops are pulling up outside of a convenience store.  Miles (also played by Jeffrey Donovan) is waiting for them.  In the store, a dead clerk is sprawled out on the floor.  So, that’s another murder that occurred because Pembleton and Bayliss somehow overlooked the evil twin theory!

The entire tone of this episode feels different from every episode that preceded it.  With this episode, we hear the tortured inner thoughts of Miles Dell, we get some random slow motion, and we finally get an ending that is so over the top that it feels like a dry run for CSI or Criminal Minds.  Yes, Bayliss and Pembleton do have their usual philosophical debates about the nature of evil.  This is definitely a Homicide episode.  However, it’s also a Homicide episode that shamelessly embraces the melodrama.  There’s not a subtle moment to be found in this episode.  It’s a weirdly entertaining episode but it’s still somewhat jarring to watch.  This is one of those episodes that was obviously made to keep NBC happy.  One need only compare it to something like Doll’s Eyes to see how different this episode was from what came before it.

Again, it’s an entertainingly trashy episode.  Bayliss and Pembleton are enjoyable to listen to.  Jeffrey Donovan was entertainingly over-the-top as both Newton and Miles.  That said, I hope this episode was just a one-off and not a sign of what’s waiting for me over the rest of the season 4.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Bill Murray Edition

Posted on 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, we wish a happy birthday to everyone’s favorite actor, Bill Murray!

That means, of course, that it’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Films

Ghostbusters (1984, dir by Ivan Reitman)

Rushmore (1998, dir by Wes Anderson)

Lost In Translation (2003, dir by Sofia Coppola)

The Dead Don’t Die (2019, dir by Jim Jarmusch)

Scenes That I Love: The Shock Scene From Ghostbusters

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Bill Murray!

Here he is in today’s scene that I love, from 1984’s Ghostbusters!  This perhaps the most realistic portrayal of an ESP test ever put on film.

Music Video of the Day: Rock ‘N’ Roll Doctor by Black Sabbath (1976, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

I have no idea who directed this or where it was filmed.  The Black Sabbath YouTube channel lists this as being the official music video for Rock ‘N’ Roll Heaven and the IMDb says that the video was released in 1976 so that’s what I’m going with.  I’m going to assume that this video was filmed at one of the American stops during the first part of the Technical Ecstasy Tour.

Like most 70s music videos, this is a pretty basic performance clip.  The video lets the band do the talking, as it were.

Enjoy!