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.
This week, OJ Simpson falls for a blonde. Uh-oh.
Episode 5.5 “Love and Marriage”
(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on November 8th, 1989)
TD Parker (OJ Simpson) and Kristy Fullbright (Shannon Tweed) end up working closely together while searching for a new punter. Kristy is in the process of getting a divorce from her husband. TD is already divorced and has been chasing after almost every woman that he sees. Still, TD doesn’t know if he should get involved with someone with whom he works. Kristy, meanwhile, isn’t sure that she isn’t still in love with her husband….
Meanwhile, Zagreb goes on a dating show but is humiliated when his date, Colleen (Mitzi Kapture), says that he was a terrible date whose breath smelled like garlic. The entire team watches the show and starts to chant, “Colleen! Colleen!” Ha hah, everyone hates Zagreb. Later, Colleen approaches Zagreb at the bar and tells him that the show told her to say a lot of negative stuff about Zagreb but, actually, she wants to date him again. Isn’t Zagreb married? I remember that there was a huge storyline about him getting married during the third season.
Finally, Bubba and Jethro are taken to small claims court over an incident that happened at the bar. Jethro decides that he would like to get together with the plaintiff.
But let’s get back to OJ Simpson and Shannon Tweed. I don’t know if I can express just how boring it is to watch two mid actors with zero screen presence fall for each other. Because it’s impossible to look at TD Parker and not see OJ Simpson, I found myself getting very worried as I watched TD obsess on an emotionally fragile blonde. At the end of the episode, it looks like TD and Kristy are finally going to hook up but then Kristy’s husband calls and says he’s not sure if he wants a divorce. Kristy says she’s not sure either. TD leaves Kristy’s house, looking regretful.
As I’ve mentioned before, the presence of OJ Simpson add a subtext to every scene that undoubtedly was not there when this show first aired. OJ is supposed to look wistful as he leaves the house. Instead, I found myself hoping that Kristy would remember to lock all the doors that night and definitely not go out to dinner at Mezzaluna.
I guess the important thing, though, is that Bulls got a new punter.
