As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasionally Mastodon. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We snark our way through it.
Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1992’s Nails!
It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in. If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, find the movie on YouTube and hit play at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag! The watch party community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
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, we’ve got the first part of the second season finale!
Episode 2.21 “Tears Are Not Enough, Part One”
(Dir by Philip Earnshaw, originally aired on February 16th, 2003)
Another school year is coming to an end. It’s time for the final school dance! But first, JT needs to pass his final exams. Liberty agrees to tutor JT on the condition that he take her to the dance. JT accepts and, in the end, he resists the temptation to ask Paige to the dance because “Liberty’s my date.”
Well, that’s good. This episode allows us to see how the JT/Liberty romance started. Of course, we all know that JT will eventually get Liberty pregnant and then get hooked on pills. Fortunately, JT will survive the inevitable overdose. Unfortunately, two seasons after that overdose, JT will be murdered outside of Liberty’s birthday party.
Hmmm …. maybe JT should have asked Paige to the dance.
However, all of this is just the B-plot. The main plot of this episode features Craig’s father (Hugh Dillon) trying to reeneter his life. Craig’s father swears that he’s learned the error of his ways. He’s taken classes to learn how to control his temper. He wants Craig to come and live with him and, with Joey struggling with money, Craig is tempted. Or, at least, Craig is tempted until he shows up late for dinner with his father and his father responds by hitting Craig in the face and then speeding off in his car.
Craig returns home and tells Joey that he wants Joey to adopt him. Then the police show up. Craig thinks that his father called them but it turns out that they are there to let Joey know that Craig’s father died in an auto accident. Given how abusive Craig’s father was, you might think this is good news. However, those of us who have binged this show more than once know that this is going to lead to Craig having a breakdown in two seasons and a cocaine addiction in three.
Seriously, things got dark!
Despite the Liberty/JT subplot, I like this episode. To be honest, I like almost all of the Craig episodes. He was an interesting character and Jake Epstein was one of the better actors on the show. Even though I already know what waits in the future, I’m still looking forward to watching the second part of Tears Are Not Enough.
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sundays, I will be reviewing Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC! It can be viewed on Peacock.
What happened to the diamond ring?
Episode 5.14 “Diener”
(Dir by Kyle Secor, originally aired on January 31st, 1997)
Still on the outs with Bayliss, Pembleton is forced, by order of Giardello, to work with Lewis. The last time that Pembleton and Lewis worked together, the result was chaos. Lewis didn’t have any patience for Pembleton’s arrogance and Pembleton obviously didn’t respect Lewis as a detective. This time, it goes a bit smoother. Pembleton, thanks to Bayliss, has learned how to work with others and Lewis, having lost Crosetti and seen Kellerman pushed to the edge of suicide, is a bit more sensitive than we’ve seen in the past.
The victim is a rich woman who liked to support struggling art students. Lewis suspects that the killer was one of the students. Pembleton suspects that it was the woman’s brother and his suspicions turn out to be correct. When the woman’s belongings are released by the ME’s office, the brother immediately notices that a diamond ring is missing. But how did the brother know that his sister was wearing the ring when she died?
As for the diamond ring, it was stolen by Jeff (Glenn Fitzgerald), who works in the morgue. It turns out that Jeff has been stealing from the dead for a while. Dr. Cox gets a big scene in which she fires him. He definitely deserved to be fired and I assume that he will also be going to jail. That said, the name of this show is Homicide. It’s not named “Medical Examiner.” I like Michelle Forbes’s performance as Dr. Cox but it’s still hard not to feel that, at least as far as the fifth season is concerned, the show is sometimes a bit too quick to try to force her into every story.
While Pembleton solved there case, his wife considered leaving him. Bayliss tried to warn Pembleton but Pembleton shrugged off Bayliss’s comment. In fact, Pembleton told Bayliss that he’s fine no longer working with him. I nearly screamed with frustration. Seriously, you two — work it out!
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 is all about letting the visuals do the talking.
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Saved By The Bell, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
This week, we meet two new characters.
Episode 2.7 “Rent-A-Pop”
(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 20th, 1990)
Remember how, in Junior High, Zack’s parents were divorced and his father was played by Robert Pine, the captain from CHiPs? His father even dated Ms. Bliss at one point. The relationship didn’t last because Zack, as usual, ruined everything by being a trouble maker. Add to that, Ms. Bliss was her usual condescending self….
Well, forget about all that.
Zack lives in California now and his parents are still together. His father, Derek Morris (John Sanderford), is now a computer salesman who played a little baseball in college and who is always on his big mobile phone. When Zack tries to tell Derek about how he’s struggling in school, Derek waves him off so that he can take a business call.
Zack has a problem. He wants to go on the class ski trip. However, he’s failing all of his classes and Belding wants to see his father. Luckily, the Max’s new waiter, James (Mark Blankfield), just happens to be an unemployed actor who has nothing better to do than help out a bunch of teenagers who are about 30 years younger than him. Zack’s plan is for James to pretend to be Mr. Belding and to assure Zack’s father that Zack is doing well in school. Then, James will switch and pretend to be Zack’s father for the official meeting with Belding. Does all that sound way too complicated? Well, it is. Zack never came up with a plan that wasn’t ludicrously complicated. In this case, it involves faking a Chess Club poisoning so that Belding won’t be in his office when Derek arrives.
Meanwhile, there’s a school carnival going on in the gym. Oh no! Look over at the dunk tank! There’s the real Derek Morris getting ready to throw baseballs at the real Mr. Belding!
“Who is this jerk?” Derek asks after dunking Mr. Belding.
Mr. Belding introduces himself. Derek learns the truth. Zack is grounded but Derek learns an important lesson about spending too much time on the phone.
I have to admit that this episode is a favorite of mine. That’s largely due to the performances of Mark Blankfield and John Sanderford, both of whom are now deceased. (Sanderford passed in 2023 and Blankfield in 2024.) Both actors bring some much needed new energy to the show. Blankfield’s performance is broad but funny. Sanderford’s performance, quite appropriately, is a bit more grounded in reality. My favorite moment in this episode is when Derek Morris notices Mr. Belding’s computer and announces, “I sell these,” before then asking James a lot of questions about it. James’s confusion was perfectly played by Mark Blankfield and it was impossible not to smile about how enthusiastic Derek got about potentially making a sale. Even at a meeting to discuss his son’s academic record, Derek was always looking for an opportunity. That’s the sign of a great salesman and a potentially lousy father.
Both Derek Morris and James the Actor would return and why not? This episode provided them with a great introduction.
This documentary was about …. well, it’s right there in the title. One man performed card tricks. A woman played a saw like a violin. Another woman wrote poems on a typewriter in the park. A man danced on a subway train. The documentary was an interesting look at a group of unique Americans. Unfortunately, I watched it rather late at night so my eyelids were heavy during the majority of the show.
Degrassi: The Next Generation (Tubi)
My review will drop tomorrow.
Homicide: Life on the Street (Peacock TV)
My review will drop tomorrow.
Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Shout TV)
There’s just no stopping those dinosaurs!
The Larry Sanders Show (HBOMax)
Hank’s Sex Tape! Oh my God, what a cringey episode. When a sex tape featuring Hank Kingsley starts to circulate in Hollywood, it threatens Hank’s new job as an orange juice commercial spokesman. Henry Winkler and Norm MacDonald appear as themselves and have a classic conversation about Hank and …. well, you can watch the episode and see for yourself. Why is this episode so funny and so cringey? Hank is played by Jeffrey Tambor. “Wash your mouth out with Hank.” AGCK!
Saved By The Bell (Tubi)
My review of this week’s episode will drop in about 90 minutes.
UFC Freedom 250 (Paramount Plus)
I’ll just go ahead and tick everyone off by admitting that I enjoyed the spectacle and the unique silliness of UFC on the White House lawn. Yes, there were some regrettable moments. If you were annoyed by the comment about a certain former first lady, you had every right to be. It was a stupid thing to yell and unnecessarily divisive. But, at its heart, the event itself was pure Americana. Abraham Lincoln’s favorite sport was wrestling. Teddy Roosevelt loved boxing. Richard Nixon was a bowler. There’s actually a long history of this sort of thing.
Kelty Crawford (Abigail Breslin) is thirty years old and troubled. She’s the epitome of almost every Generation Z cliche imaginable. Haunted by a terrible accident and various guilt and mental issues, she currently has few career prospects, little money, and an upcoming wedding that is going to cost her a fortune.
She’s also having trouble sleeping. She sleepwalks and, when she does wake up, she’s doing strange things like eating the toothpaste straight out of the tube. Both to make some extra cash and to try to find out what is at the root of her sleepwalking, Kelty agrees to take part in a sleep study that is being conducted by the rather shady Dr. Baylour (Michael Eklund). Baylour gives her a shot of a powerful drug. Kelty falls into a deep sleep and she immediately has dreams about killing a man that she doesn’t know.
During her waking hours, Kelty is shocked to sees a news story about how the body of the man she dreamed of killing has recently been discovered. Kelty fears that she killed the man in her sleep. Kelty is also shocked when Dr. Baylour vanishes without paying her for taking part in his sleep study. Hey, Dr. Baylour — she’s got a wedding to pay for!
I had high hopes for I Killed Him In My Sleep. Abigail Breslin, who was just ten years old when she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Little Miss Sunshine, has developed into a good actress and she especially seems to be well-cast as people who are dealing with dark secrets. The film’s premise sounded intriguing. It sounded like I Killed Him In My Sleep would embrace the melodrama, much in the same way that Doug Campbell and Eric Roberts did with the Stalked By My Doctor series. (Remember Stalked By My Doctor: A Sleepwalker’s Nightmare? That was a classic!) And, to give credit where credit is due, this film did feature one twist that actually did take me by surprise.
And yet, with all that in mind, I Killed Him In My Sleep fell flat for me. A lot of it is because, instead of fully embracing the melodrama and cheerfully celebrating the excess that goes along with it, the film moves very slowly and seems to take itself very seriously. With its muted cinematography and its overly talky characters, this is a film that tries so hard to be naturalistic that it instead ends up feeling even more fake than usual. Abigail Breslin is a good actress and she probably does about as well as anyone could have with this role. Unfortunately, her dialogue sounds more like a series of social media posts than an actual human being. Kelty may not be a typical Lifetime heroine but that she’s also just not that interesting.
That said, the plot had potential and the nightmare scenes were well-directed. The film captured the feeling of waking up disorientated and not being quite sure what you’ve just spent the last few hours doing. A few nights ago, I dreamt that I had a job at a retirement community and that I did so well that everyone living there was happier than they had ever been. That was a nice dream and far better than killing people.
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Baywatch, which ran on NBC and then in syndication from 1989 to 2001. The entire show can be viewed on Tubi.
This week, Mitch rescues a dog and Shauni and Eddie rescue an outsider.
Episode 2.8 “Thin or Die”
(Dir by Douglas Schwartz, originally aired on November 4th, 1991)
Mitch rescues an adorable dog that is swimming in the middle of the ocean! Awwww!
The dog is so cute! But Mitch has a date that night and the dog seems to be determined to ruin it. Can Mitch adopt the dog? Actually, didn’t Mitch already adopt a dog? Didn’t almost this exact same thing happen during the first season? Seriously, whatever happened to the first dog!?
Fortunately, the dog helps Mitch track down its owner. It turns out that she’s being held hostage on her own boat. This, of course, allows for a minor action sequence. One thing that I always find interesting about Baywatch is that the lifeguards were apparently also cops. Garner Ellerbee may have been actual badge-carrying cop but he still didn’t do anything without asking a lifeguard to accompany him.
While Mitch is dealing with the dog situation, Eddie and Shauni are having relationship issues. When Shauni claims that she and Eddie don’t have anything in common, Eddie decides to ask out Nicole, the woman who works at his message service. (Apparently, message services were an early 90s thing.) Eddie has never met Nicole. He just knows that he digs her sultry voice and apparently, he’s sick of Shauni always yelling at him. Hey, remember when Eddie and Shauni got engaged? The show just kind of forgot about that.
Nicole (Melinda Reimer) shows up on the beach and she’s fat! I don’t include the exclamation mark to be cruel. I include it because that’s how the show presents her weight issue. Not only is Eddie kind of cheating on Shauni but he’s also doing it with a fat girl! Feeling insecure on the beach, Nicole later tries to walk into the ocean. Can Eddie and Shauni help her realize that she shouldn’t give up hope? Of course, they can! That said, it’s pretty safe to say that Nicole will never show up on another episode of Baywatch. You do have to feel a bit sorry for actress Melinda Reimer, who gives about as good a performance as anyone could with a Baywatch script. That said, the show definitely makes clear that the main lesson is that you should never judge anyone solely by their voice. Because they might be fat.
This episode was basically two half-baked stories mashed together. Yes, there was the hostage situation. And there was Nicole’s weight problem. But despite all of that, there really wasn’t any drama. Everything played out a low-key, laid-back pace. This was an episode that understood the assignment: Come up with just enough of a story to justify your existence but mostly just feature hot people on the beach.
