Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 6.11 “The Tomorrow Lady/Father, Dear Father/Still Life”

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 Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986!  The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!

This week, a man tells a terrible lie, Greer Garson can see the future, and Isaac is losing his hearing!  Come aboard, we’re expecting you….

Episode 6.11 “The Tomorrow Lady/Father, Dear Father/Still Life”

(Dir by Richard A. Wells, originally aired on December 4th, 1992)

This episode of The Love Boat features one of the worst stories ever.  Ken Miller (Lawrence Pressman) wants to date Sarah Curtis (Kim Darby).  However, Sarah is on the cruise as a member of the Single Parents Group and, when Sarah first sees Ken, she assumes that Ken is a single father because he’s standing with Libby McDonald (played by the one-named Louanne), who is the daughter of Ken’s friend, Tom (Jim Stafford).  So, Ken just decides to lie about being a father.

Eventually, Sarah finds out.  When she notices that Libby is spending all of her time with Tom, the gig is up.  Sarah, however, FORGIVES Ken and accepts his marriage proposal!  (“Looks like I won’t be a member of Single Parents anymore….”)  Lady, he lied to you about having a daughter!  He recruited a little girl to pretend to be his daughter!  THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO START A MARRIAGE!

The other two stories were better.  One featured Greer Garson (in her final screen performance before retiring) as a woman who was a self-described “good guesser.”  She met a struggling businessman (Howard Duff) who wanted to use her power to play the stock market but eventually, he fell in love with her for her and not her powers.  Howard Duff’s character was not particularly likable but Greer Garson seemed to be having fun.

The other story featured Isaac struggling with a double ear infection and fearing that he would permanently lose his hearing.  He didn’t, which is good considering that he’s the ship’s head bartender and he’s the guy who everyone comes to with their problems.  (It always amuses me how a passenger will just automatically start talking to Isaac as if they’re best friends when they’ve only been on the boat for a couple of hours.)  What made this story work, though, was the performance of Ted Lange.  He was so believably scared of losing his hearing that you just wanted someone to hug him and reassure him that it would all be okay.  When his hearing finally came back, I breathed a sigh of relief.  Obviously, playing Isaac was probably not the most challenging roll of Ted Lange’s career.  I mean, the man has played Othello!  Still, Lange gave a really good and honest performance in this episode.  He didn’t use the fact that he was acting on The Love Boat as an excuse to just coast.

This cruise …. it was kind of forgettable.  Still, at least Ted Lange got a chance to shine!

Song of the Day: Andy Warhol from David Bowie

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s song of the day comes from David Bowie and it’s about Bowie’s fascination with Andy Warhol.  Warhol himself apparently didn’t care for this song but Bowie meant it as a tribute.

This song came out in 1971.  25 years later, Bowie would play Andy Warhol in Basquiat.

Scenes I Love: Robert Mitchum in Out of the Past

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The great Robert Mitchum was born, on this date, 107 years ago.  Today’s scene that I love comes from one of my favorite Mitchum films, the classic 1947 noir Out of the Past.

In this scene, we are reminded that no one was cooler than Robert Mitchum.  And no one threw a better punch.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Andy Warhol Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More 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!

On this date, 97 years ago, Andy Warhol was born.  Today, we mark this occasion with….

4 Shots From 4 Andy Warhol Films

Empire (1965, dir by Andy Warhol)

Vinyl (1965, dir by Andy Warhol)

Poor Little Rich Girl (1965, dir by Andy Warhol)

Chelsea Girls (1966, dir by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey)

Music Video Of The Day: Summer 09 by Vancouver Sleep Clinic (2019, dir by Max Galassi)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s music video of the day is this haunting and rather sad video for Summer ’09, the second single to be released from Vancouver Sleep Clinic’s second album, Onwards to Zion.

The song itself was inspired by the passing of a friend of Tom Bettison’s.  (Bettison is the artist behind Vancouver Sleep Clinic.)  Bettison’s friend passed away in 2017 and this song was Bettison’s way of dealing with the pain of his loss.  It’s not surprising, then, that both the song and the video are both nostalgic and sad, a song of regret that also celebrates the time that these two friends were able to share with one another.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 2.14 “One Kiss Goodnight”

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 Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Pacific Blue, a cop show that aired from 1996 to 2000 on the USA Network!  It’s currently streaming everywhere, though I’m watching it on Tubi.

This week, Cory helps a man who can’t remember how lame this show is.

Episode 2.14 “One Kiss Goodnight”

(Dir by Sara Rose, originally aired on December 15th, 1996)

Alec Cooper (Markus Flanagan) gets amnesia after he falls off the balcony of his hotel room while trying to escape some mysterious men with guns.  Cory tries to help Alec figure out who he actually is and she starts to fall in love with him in the process.  Alec admits that there seems to be something familiar about Cory.

Well, that means there are only two possibilities.

Cory and Alec are either meant to be together

or

Alec is married to someone who looks just like Cory!

It turns out the latter is true.  Alec eventually get his memory back and Cory meets his wife, who indeed looks a lot like her.  Cory goes back to being single.  Interestingly, Chris spends this entire episode telling Cory that she needs to date more but she doesn’t approve of Cory dating someone who has amnesia.  Then again, Chris doesn’t really approve of anyone doing anything.

Meanwhile, TC’s girlfriend makes the decision to leave Santa Monica so that she can attend a graduate program and become a counselor for rape victims.  This is the sort of storyline that would have been touching if TC has any personality or if he and his girlfriend had any sort of chemistry.  But they don’t.

It probably sound like I hated this episode.  Actually, I think it’s one of the better episodes of season 2, if just because the bike riding was kept to a minimum.  The bikes would have made this awful.  Without all of the bike nonsense, it was merely forgettable.  That’s progress!

Retro Television Review: Fantasy Island 7.4 “God Child/Curtain Call”

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 Tuesdays, I will be reviewing the original Fantasy Island, which ran on ABC from 1977 to 1984.  Unfortunately, the show has been removed from most streaming sites.  Fortunately, I’ve got nearly every episode on my DVR.

This week, the curse of Lawrence continues.

Episode 7.4 “God Child/Curtain Call”

(Dir by Ted Lange, originally aired on October 29th, 1983)

Tori Spelling is in this episode.  She was only ten years old at the time but she was already a terrible actress.   In the role of Laurie, a poor little rich girl whose fantasy is to ask God why her parents died in a crash, Spelling gives a performance that is overly cutesy.  There’s nothing authentic about her or her delivery.  Her role on the show was obviously a result of her father being the producer.

Laurie doesn’t find God.  (At first, she assumes Roarke is God but he assures her that he is not, despite the fact that he has God-like powers.  Ricardo Montalban, for his part, said that he always felt that Roarke was a fallen angel who was doing penance on Fantasy Island.)  Laurie does however find Adam Cobb (George Kennedy), a former circus clown-turned-alcoholic who briefly pretends to be God.  At first, Laurie hates Adam for lying about being God.  Then Mr. Roarke explains that Adam’s wife died in a circus fire and that his own daughter was adopted by another family.  Laurie feels sorry for him and invites Adam to come live in her mansion with her aunt.  Adam considers it but ultimately decides that he needs to instead search for his own daughter.  In a rather bizarre turn of events, he dances with Laurie while singing Funny Face to her.

As for Laurie meeting God, Adam suggests that maybe there’s a bit of God in everyone and therefore, we’re all God.  Whatever, you hippie.

This storyline was ugh.  Like seriously, just ugh.  Laurie didn’t get her fantasy.  She just met some old alcoholic who spouted a bunch of a Unitarian mumbo jumbo at her.  As for Adam leaving the Island to find his own daughter …. well, did he?  This episode doesn’t tell us.  How exactly is he going to find her?  Does she want anything to do with him?  How was the penniless Adam able to afford a trip to Fantasy Island in the first place?

AND WHERE THE HELL IS TATTOO!?

Meanwhile, Milton Berle played an old comedian who wanted his former partners (Imogene Coca and Howard Morris) to forgive him so that they could perform together one last time.  This storyline felt very familiar and it featured a lot of singing.  Even Mr. Roarke sang a song.  It’s actually kind of strange how many songs were sung in this episode because this wasn’t a musical episode.  This wasn’t like that musical episode of The Love Boat where the songs were evenly distributed across the program.  Instead, towards the end of the episode, people just started singing.  It was weird.

Speaking of The Love Boat, this episode was directed by Isaac himself, Ted Lange.  Lange keeps the action movie but I just wish this episode had been better written.  This is another episode where it’s easy to imagine how much better it would have been with Tattoo than with Lawrence.  Tattoo would have definitely gotten emotionally involved with Laurie’s search for God.  Lawrence, on the other hand, is just a stiff upper lip butler whose main concern is making sure everyone gets their drink order.  It’s nothing against Christopher Hewett, who I have read was a good Catholic.  It’s just that he’s stuck playing a character who does not belong on the Island.

This was a pretty desultory trip to the Island.

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special John Huston Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More 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!

119 years ago today, the writer/director/actor John Huston was born in Nevada, Missouri.  Today, we honor his life and films with….

4 Shots from 4 John Huston Films

The Maltese Falcon (1941, dir by John Huston, DP: Arthur Edeson)

 

The Misfits (1961, dir by John Huston, DP: Russell Metty)

 

The Night of the Iguana (1964, dir by John Huston, DP: Gabriel Figueroa)

 

Under the Volcano (1984, dir by John Huston, DP: Gabriel Figueroa)

Scenes I Love: The Opening of Guardians of the Galaxy

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wises director James Gunn a happy 59th birthday!

My favorite James Gunn film remains 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy.  Not coincidentally, that’s also my favorite comic book film.  A good deal of that love has to do with the film’s absolutely brilliant introduction of Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord.  In the scene below, both the film and Gunn announce that this is a comic book movie that actually has a sense of humor.  Let the other franchises specialize in depressed heroes and grim themes.  The Guardians of the Galaxy are all about dancing.

Here’s a scene that I love, directed by James Gunn: