Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 2.3 “Save The Max”

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 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, Bayside Radio is on the air!

Episode 2.3 “Save The Max”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 22nd, 1990)

Uh-oh!  Max is about to lose The Max!  The land that the Max is sitting on belongs to the school board and, if Max the owner can’t come up with $10,000 in back rent, he’s going to lose the restaurant.  As Jessie puts it, “our favorite hang-out is going to become a parking lot!”

Here’s the thing — so what?  I mean, seriously, is it that hard to find a place to get a hamburger in California?  For the most part, the Max has always come across as being a fairly tacky place.  It’s hard for me to imagine anyone over the age of eleven thinking that Max’s magic tricks were worth watching.  Even more importantly, why didn’t Max pay his rent?  Max is an adult.  He’s a grown man.  Why does it fallon a group of teenagers to take care of Max’s problems?  Pay your own damn bills, Max!

Fortunately (I guess), Zack has recently re-launched the school radio station.  This is the episode where Zack and Screech discover the radio station in the school basement and Mr. Belding appears in a flashback as a 40 year-old hippie high school student with a thick mustache.  I’m not really sure to whom the radio station is supposed to appeal.  Zack pretending to be “Wolfman Zack” is cringe city.  Screech’s mystery theater is embarrassing.  Lisa’s gossip show would probably lead to multiple lawsuits today.  Aren’t these people supposed to be in class?  Are the other students actually okay with Zack and his friends being the only ones who actually get to do anything interesting at school?

The best thing about this episode is that it gives Slater a showcase.  This is the first episode to feature Slater as a guy who is always confident until he’s either talking into a microphone or looking at video camera.  Whenever he knows he’s being recorded, Slater suddenly freezes up.  Slater’s awkwardness is actually pretty endearing and it makes him a more compelling character than Zack.  With Zack automatically being good at everything, it’s actually kind of nice to get to watch Slater conquer his doubts and prove himself.

Do the kids — and Mr. Belding — go on the air for 24 hours in an attempt raise enough money to save the Max?  You bet they do!  But it’s not until Slater grabs the microphone and talks about how the Max was the first place that he ever felt as if he really belonged that the money starts to come in.  I think one reason that the Gang was having trouble raising money is that all of the Bayside students were at the Max for the telethon.  Seriously, I’m really not sure who was donating all that money at the end of this episode.  I guess Slater has groupies.  Hey, why not?  He’s earned them.

Seriously, though — couldn’t Max have just paid his rent!?  What a deadbeat!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 5/10/26 — 5/16/26

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hollywood Demons (HBOMax)

This week’s episode took a look at prescription drug abuse in Hollywood.  It really didn’t have anything new to say about the subject.

Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Shout TV)

I watched three more episodes of this odd series on Friday night.  The monsters were even more trippy than usual!

The N.Y. Friars Club Roast of Chevy Chase (YouTube)

On Sunday, I watched this infamous roast from 2003.  Chevy Chase was roasted by a few people who knew him and by a lot of people who didn’t.  Stephen Colbert made an early name for himself with his no-holds barred set.  I knew this is something that we’re not supposed to admit nowadays but, as I watched the roast, I actually found myself feeling a little sorry for Chase.  It’s one thing to be insulted by your friends.  It’s another thing to be insulted by strangers who genuinely seem to despise you.  At least Paul Shaffer appeared to be having fun as Chevy’s roast master.

Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano (Netflix)

17 seconds?  After all the hype, it’s impossible not to be disappointed with the actual fight.  That said, I’ve always felt that Gina Carano was not treated fairly by Disney so I’m glad she appears to be making a comeback of sorts.

Saved By The Bell (Tubi)

My review of Saved By The Bell will be dropping soon, assuming I don’t fall asleep before I can write it.

Watched and Reviewed:

  1. 1st & Ten,
  2. Baywatch,
  3. CHiPs,
  4. Crime Story,
  5. Decoy,
  6. Freddy’s Nightmares,
  7. Hunter,
  8. The Love Boat,
  9. Pacific Blue,
  10. Saved By The Bell: The New Class,
  11. St. Elsewhere

Retro Television Review: Baywatch 2.4 “Money, Honey”

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 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 is pretty pointless.

Episosde 2.4 “Money, Honey”

(Dir by Monte Markham, originally aired on October 7th, 1991)

When Mitch and Eddie are hired to serve as lifeguards at a Hollywood party, film producer Dita (Leslie Easterbrook) is impressed when she sees Mitch respond to a boating accident.  She decides to make Mitch into a movie star.  Everyone knows that Mitch can swim and run in slow motion but can he deliver scripted lines?  Dita doesn’t care.  She just wants to sleep with him.  That goes against Mitch’s ethics so his film career ends before it even begins.  Meanwhile, Shauni puts together a benefit to protect a sea lion habitat.  At first, it looks like Shauni won’t be able to raise the money but then Mitch donates his movie paycheck to the cause.

This was a montage episode of Baywatch.  There really wasn’t much of a plot but there certainly were a lot of montages.  Watch as Mitch nervously sits in the makeup chair.  Watch as a bunch of bikini-clad beachgoers gather for Shauni’s benefit.  Listen to the music.  Watch the images.  Don’t worry about a thing….

In short, this was a pretty pointless episode.  That said, the sea lions were cute and the scene where Captain Thorpe tried to teach Mitch how to audition did make me smile.  It’s interesting that it took only four episodes for the syndicated version of Baywatch to fall into the pattern that would definite it for the next ten years.

Live Tweet Alert: Join #ScarySocial For Kill, Baby, Kill!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on Twitter and Mastodon.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, at 10 pm et, #ScarySocial presents 1966’s Kill, Baby, Kill,, directed by Mario Bava!

If you want to join us this Saturday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag!  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Kill, Baby, Kill is available on Prime!  See you there!

Scenes That I Love: Henry Fonda in The Ox-Bow Incident

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, we celebrate the birthday of Henry Fonda!

Fonda was born 121 years ago today and, over the course of his long career, he was often cast in role the epitomized everything great about America.  It’s rare to find a Henry Fonda film in which he played an out-and-out villain, though he did just that in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West.  (Leone, in fact, cast Fonda as the evil Frank because he knew audiences would be shocked to see Fonda coldly gunning down settlers and their families.)

One of Fonda’s finest films was 1943’s The Ox-Bow Incident, in which he played a cowboy who finds himself drafted into joining a posse that ends up hanging three men for the crime of murder and cattle rustling.  The members of the posse (including seven of whom voted against hanging the men) later learn that the men were innocent.  In today’s scene that I love, Henry Fonda reads aloud the letter that one of the men wrote to his wife shortly before he was hung.  This was one of Fonda’s most heartfelt and powerful performances.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Danny Trejo Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 lets the visuals do the talking!

Today, the Shattered Len wishes a happy 82nd birthday to the man and the legend, Danny Trejo!  Trejo’s journey from being a gang member to an ex-con to a drug counselor to a pop cultural institution is an inspiring one, all the more so because Danny Trejo is so candid about both his past struggles and his present successes.  

It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Danny Trejo Films

Runaway Train (1985, dir by Andrei Konchalovsky, DP: Alan Hume)

 

Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987, dir by J. Lee Thompson, DP: Gideon Porath)

 

Heat (1995, dir by Michael Mann, DP: Dante Spinotti)

 

Machete Kills (2013, dir by Robert Rodriguez, DP: Robert Rodriguez)

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Freddy’s Nightmares 2.13 “What You Don’t Know Can Kill You”

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 Fridays, I will be reviewing Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Tubi!

This week, Freddy is just as confused as the rest of us.

Episode 2.13 “What You Don’t Know Can Kill You”

(Dir by Ken Wiederhorn, originally aired on January 7th, 1990)

Psychiatrist Dr. Rothman (David Hern) has been hypnotizing his female patients and then molesting them.   (This was something that apparently used to happen quite often with Victorian-era hypnotists.)  When a colleague (Phil Proctor) discovers what Rothman is doing, Rothman hypnotizes and programs one of his patients, Derby Brown (Fran Montano), to become an assassin.  However, Rothman screws up the programming and ends up getting shot by a hypnotized Derby.  Derby’s girlfriend suggests that Derby should have plastic surgery to disguise his appearance.  They see a handsome man’s photograph in a newspaper and they decide that’s the face they want.  As a result of the surgery, Derby now looks exactly like Vinnie (Paul Regina, playing both roles).  Unfortunately, Vinnie is a mob informant and there’s a hitman after him.

Got all that?

This episode was pretty dumb.  Paul Regina did a good job as Vinnie and his new doppelganger but, for the most part, I’m not really sure why this was even an episode of Freddy’s Nightmares.  There was nothing supernatural about either story and neither story was particularly scary.  Freddy only appeared in his host segments and he seemed to be fairly bored with the whole thing.

Usually, I love it when a show embraces the melodrama but this episode wasn’t subversive enough to work as a satire.  Despite the over the top plot, it still felt oddly generic.

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 3.20 “Amazing Face”

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 Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988.  The show can be found on Daily Motion.

The drama continues in Boston.

Episode 3.20 “Amazing Face”

(Dir by Janet Greek, originally aired on February 20th, 1985)

This week, at St. Eligius:

  • Nurse Rosenthal thinks that she’s pregnant.  That sound you hear is me sighing.  Seriously, I liked Nurse Rosenthal during the first season but now I’m kind of sick of her and her sanctimonious attitude, her homewrecking affair with Richard, and her annoying children.  Obviously, the show’s writers really liked Nurse Rosenthal but I’m tired of her.  A pregnant Nurse Rosenthal?  I don’t think I could handle that.  Fortunately, it turns out that Nurse Rosenthal is actually starting menopause.
  • When is Rosenthal going to dump Richard?  We all know it’s going to happen.
  • Dr. Westphall has put his house on the market and boy, is he glum about it.  Westphall continues to be the most depressing human being on the planet.
  • Mrs. Hufnagle has heart surgery.  Before that, however, she steals some scrubs and wanders in on an operation.
  • Fiscus wants to hook back up with Cathy Martin.  When a macho patient makes a misogynistic comment about Cathy, Fiscus throws a punch and gets his ass kicked.  Luckily, Cathy has learned kung fu.
  • The bandages are removed and Andrea Fordham (Ann Hearn) sees her new face.  She now looks like an average teenager.  She tells Dr. Caldwell that she’s still not ready to face the world.
  • Shirley Daniels is a patient at St. Eligius.  She tells everyone who she meets that she killed Peter White and that she can’t wait to go to jail for it.  She promises Doctors Wade and Morrison that she’ll never shoot anyone else.  She also reveals that she’s the one who sent the baby ski mask to Peter’s widow.  She’s knitting a new ski mask for Morrison’s son.  Oh, Shirley!
  • The episode ends with Shirley going to the morgue and flashing back to the time she shot Peter in the testicles.
  • Considering all the hospitals in Boston, was it really a good idea for her to stay at the same one where she happened to kill a doctor, albeit one who deserved exactly what he got?

This episode felt like filler.  Ehrlich acted like a jackass.  Morrison acted like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.  Dr. Craig was arrogant.  Dr. Westphall was depressed.  It wasn’t a bad episode but there wasn’t anything terribly memorable about it either.

It was just another day at St. Eligius.

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix for Dolemite!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly watch parties.  On Twitter, I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday and I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday.  On Mastodon, I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, at 10 pm et, I will be hosting #FridayNightFlix!  The movie?  1975’s Dolemite!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, find Dolemite on Prime, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag!  I’ll be there happily tweeting.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

See you there!