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.
The undefeated season continues!
Episode 4.13 “The High and Mighty”
(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on December 28th, 1988)
In this week’s episode, we watch as the Bulls fly to and then from their latest game.
On the flight to the game, Denardo worries about whether or not he has what it takes to eventually win the Championship game. (That’s this show’s equivalent of the Super Bowl.) On the flight back, Denardo’s confidence has been restored and he can’t wait to start planning for the big game.
TD Parker (played by OJ Simpson) spends the flight back flirting with a flight attendant. OJ Simpson’s performance in this episode is perhaps the worst that he’s given since he first joined the cast. I think the problem is that Parker is supposed to be drunk and Simpson was incapable of playing any emotion or condition beyond bland amiability.
Bubba is terrified of flying and has a nightmare that Mad Dog is flying the plane.
Zagrib and a ringer (James Hampton) hustle all of the players in a poker game on the first flight. On the return flight, Zagrib loses all of the money he won and then begs Mad Dog not to kill him. Mad Dog says that he won’t hurt Zagrib because the team needs a good kicker.
Executives Gail (Shanna Reed) and Michael (Paul Tuerpe) argue over where the new Bulls Stadium should be located. Michael thinks that he has found the perfect spot but, on the flight back, Gail lies to him and tells him that the spot used to be a toxic waste dump. Michael calls the head of the Dodds Corporation and tries to take credit for finding the location where Gail wants to put the stadium. This storyline would have been more effective if Michael and Gail were interesting characters.
Finally, Doug falls for an obsessive flight attendant who later tells him that she poisoned his coffee. Doug panics, though he doesn’t actually die or anything so I think she was just lying to him.
I actually kind of liked this episode because I thought it was interesting to see how the members of the team distracted themselves before the game and how they celebrated after they won. This episode was all about big personalities in a confined location and, with the exception of OJ, it featured some fine ensemble work from the cast. Considering how much this show has struggled with finding a consistent tone from not only episode-to-episode but also from scene-to-scene, this was an unusually disciplined episode.
Next week, we finish up the fourth season!
Through the Shattered Lens 