Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.

Uh-oh.  This episode features OJ Simpson doing the real acting.

Episode 3.9 “Call For The Hall”

(Directed by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on November 4th, 1987)

TD Parker (played by OJ Simpson) has a lot to deal with this week!

The team’s running back has been injured.  Buffalo is willing to trade their running back in return for Bubba Kincaid!  Nobody wants to say goodbye to Bubba.  He’s the heart of the team.  He’s the team “poobah,” which means that he gets to wear a stupid horned helmet whenever he’s at that team bar.  But the Bulls need a running back.  TD is the one who has to tell Bubba that he’s been traded.  Jethro is named the new team poobah.  Bubba’s wife is not happy about moving to Buffalo because it’s too cold up north.  Fortunately, it turns out that Buffalo’s running back has also been injured and the trade is canceled.  Bubba is staying!

TD has also been voted into the football hall of fame.  Should he take his wife and son to the ceremony or should he bring his mistress?  TD can’t decide, even though it seems like kind of an obvious decision.  Still, TD has to go to the team owner for advice and he is shocked when she reveals that she and everyone else know about TD’s new relationship.

Sorry, TD — everyone knows!

The team owner says that he should probably bring his wife, if just for the sake of appearances.  TD then plays basketball with his son and apologizes for not being a better father.  This leads to a line of dialogue that so totally epitomizes how much times have changed that it really should be put in a museum.

OJ Simpson apologizes for not being more like Bill Cosby.  I think that pretty much sums up this show’s entire third season.

In the end, TD does not take his mistress to the Hall of Fame.  But it doesn’t appear that his family attends either.  TD gives a speech, thanking his wife and son.  Awwww.

This episode features a lot of OJ Simpson acting.  As an actor, OJ was mild, bland, and likable.  He delivered his lines smoothly but with little sincerity.  Of course, nowadays, it’s impossible to listen to him speak without searching for a hidden meaning between the lines.  As I watched this episode, I found myself thinking, “Do not make him mad, do not make him mad….”

There was one other storyline in this episode.  Dr. Death and Mad Dog stole Coach Grier’s pet mouse.  The mouse died.  Dr. Death and Mad Dog had to run up and down the stadium stairs as a punishment.  The laugh track insists that all of this is funny but I had to disagree.  Killing pets is never a good look.

This episode was a lot like OJ’s acting — mild and bland.  Unlike OJ, it won’t be getting voted into the Hall of Fame anytime soon.