Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 3.11 “Land of the Free (Agent)”

Posted on April 22, 2026 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 Wednesdays, I will be reviewing 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.

The playoffs continue!

Episode 3.11 “Land of the Free (Agent)”

(Dir by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on December 2nd, 1987)

The Bulls are in the playoffs but they need a new running back. Jill decides to sign Brian Bozworth (Brian Bosworth), a player who was drafted by Arizona but who refused to sign his contract because he felt he wasn’t being offered enough money. TD Parker (OJ Simpson) tells Jill that it would be highly irregular for the Bulls to sign Bozworth because, technically, he still “belongs” to Arizona. Jill tells TD to take a knife to the rules and sign Bozworth.

And it’s a good thing that she did because, after some opening jitters, Bozworth plays a key role in getting the Bulls a win over Arizona in the playoffs. Recognizing what the Arizona defense is going to do, he gives Yinessa a heads up. Yinesa throws Bozworth the ball, Bozworth gets the Bulls into good field position, and Zagreb kicks the game-winning field goal.

Zagreb is only able to make that kick because Mad Dog lied to him and told him that Anna had called and agreed to marry him. The next day, at the wedding ceremony, Anna is a no-show. Or, at least, she is until Mad Dog breaks into her house, forces her to put on a wedding gown, and then carries her to the ceremony. She arrives just in time to hear Zagreb giving a speech about how much he loves her. Anna and Zagreb marry.

Finally, Jethro is upset when Bubba is offered a commercial contract with Squelch Sports Drink. Squelch doesn’t want Jethro in its commercials. But when Bubba can’t find the strength to lift a drum of Squelch and pour it over Coach Grier’s head, his contact is canceled.

This was a weird episode. A lot of stuff was going on but none of it really added up too much. At first, Bozworth seemed like a bad player and then, suddenly, he was a good player. Jethro and Bubba were arguing and then suddenly they weren’t. Zagreb got married and good for him. Zagreb is perhaps the most cartoonish character on the show but then again, 1st & Ten is rather cartoonish in general.

Anyway, the Bulls are one step closer to the Championship Game. We’ll see if they make it next week.

Film Review: Target Earth (dir by Sherman A. Rose)

Posted on April 22, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

1954’s Target Earth has an intriguing premise.

Nora King (Kathleen Crowley) wakes up in a Chicago hotel room, surrounded by the pills that she took the previous night as a part of an unsuccessful suicide attempt. The room is quiet, too quiet. Getting out of bed, Nora eventually finds herself walking around Chicago. The city, which should be busy, is silent. At first, there doesn’t seem to be anyone else around. Eventually, Nora does run into a man named Frank (Richard Denning) and later, they meet a couple (Richard Reeves and Virginia Grey) who are busy getting drunk at a local cafe.

It’s a premise that feels like it could have been used in an episode of the Twilight Zone and the somewhat harsh black-and-white cinematography only increases the sense of isolation. Obviously something big has happened in Chicago but no one is quite sure what it could be. Our four survivors meet a few other people as they wander around the city. Some people are terrified. Some people, like the psychotic Davis (Robert Roark), aren’t concerned with what happened but instead are focused on how they can take advantage of the situation. From the start, the atmosphere is effectively creepy and ominous. Richard Denning and especially Kathleen Crowley give strong performances, capturing their confusion at the situation.

And then the robot shows up.

Now, I have to be honest. I love this robot. It’s big and ludicrous and it move so stiffly that there are times that it looks like it’s going to trip and end up flat on its back. There’s something undeniably charming about the fact that, in 1954, an actor got into a silly robot costume (complete with fake arms) and then waddled around while everyone pretended to be terrified of him. While the robot is definitely dangerous and it can fire a laser beam from its eye, I have to admit it immediately reminded of Torg, the cardboard robot from Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. It’s exactly the type of thing that people like me tend to love about cheap, 1950s science fiction. Back then, robots were considered to be so exotic that they only had to exist to be intimidating. Today, we’re spoiled by fancy robots. We expect every robot to be The Terminator.

That said, as charming as I found the robot to be, it totally altered the atmosphere of the movie. As soon as the robot shows up, Target Earth goes from being atmospheric to campy. The actors are still good. Robert Roark is genuinely menacing as the evil Davis. But that robot pretty much assures that we’ll never forget we’re watching a l0w-budget sci-fi flick.

As was typical of 50s sci-fi, things are eventually explained by the military. We get some stock footage. We get some scenes of concerned officers discussing what’s happening in Chicago. Personally, I would have preferred it if the film had extended the mystery a bit. It’s at its best when the viewer doesn’t know what’s going on. That said, the film’s first half is wonderfully suspenseful. The robot is perhaps too adorable for its own good but the movie still leaves you wondering what you would do if you woke up and discovered that the rest of humanity has vanished.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 7.16 “The Buck Stops Here/For Better or Worse/Bet on It”

Posted on April 22, 2026 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, the ship is a casino!

Episode 7.16 “The Buck Stops Here/For Better or Worse/Bet on It”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on January 14th, 1984)

It’s a gambling cruise!

Of course, it’s all for charity. The Love Boat has been turned into a floating casino but all of the money that the passengers lose will be donated to the Flanders Hospital. Florence Flanders (Celeste Holm) is yet another old friend’s Captain Stubing’s and he’s happy to welcome her aboard. He is less happy to see Florence’s ne’er-do-well brother, Frank (Richard Jaeckel). Frank is in debt to another passenger, Al Dixon (Richard Ponzini). Frank is willing to cheat and steal to get the money to pay off Al. When Stubing calls Frank out on it, Frank threatens to reveal that Florence’s deceased husband had a mistress.

One of the people cheated by Frank is newlywed Nancy Sidon (Leah Ayres), who is upset about the prospect of having to move in with her in-laws. Her husband, Stewart (Shea Farrell), says that it’s perfectly normal to move back in with your parents after you get married. He also doesn’t want Nancy gambling. When Nancy loses all of her money, she fears that she’s going to lose Stewart as well. Fortunately, Frank has a change of heart and returns all of the money that he stole. Not only has Nancy avoided divorce but she now has enough that she and Stewart won’t have to move in with the in-laws.

Meanwhile, Michael Borden (McClean Stevenson) is carrying a very valuable silver dollar with him. When Sally (Jo Ann Pflug) accidentally puts the silver dollar in a slot machine, Michael has a near breakdown. He obsessively pulls on the lever, hoping to win back his silver dollar. Soon, he’s broke. However, Sally puts her final dollar in the slot machine, pulls the lever, and hit the jackpot. Michael wins back his silver dollar and he also finds love. To be honest, Sally could do better.

This was a rather low-key and almost moody episode. The laugh track was notably muted. On the one hand, the show celebrated gambling for charity. On the other hand, nearly everyone’s life was ruined in the casino. Richard Jaeckel gave a good performance as the conflicted Frank. Not giving a good performance was McClean Stevenson, who came across as being so cranky and whiny that I found myself hoping he would never win back his silver dollar.

This cruise did not hit the jackpot for me.

Song of the Day: Main Title Theme From The Shining, composed by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind

Posted on April 22, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Shining (1980, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: John Alcott)

For today’s song of the day, we have the title tune to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The Shining is a classic horror film and features one of Jack Nicholson’s most iconic performances.

Enjoy the greatest road trip music ever recorded.

Scenes That I Love: Jack Nicholson’s Freeway Performance in Bob Rafelson’s Five Easy Pieces

Posted on April 22, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 89th birthday to the legendary Jack Nicholson.

Today’s scene that I love comes from the 1970 film, Five Easy Pieces. In this Oscar-nominated film, Jack Nicholson plays Bobby Dupea. Born to a wealthy and music-obsessed family, Bobby currently works in an oil field and is alternatively angry, cynical, and idealistic. After Jack Nicholson’s Oscar-nominated turn in Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces featured Nicholson playing the type of role for which he would be best-known in the 70s, the wayward rebel who must choose between being a part of society or being forever an outcast.

In this scene, Bobby and his oilfield co-worker find themselves stuck in a traffic jam. Bobby gets a chance to show off both his temper and his talent. It’s a great scene and Nicholson gives such a strong performance that it’s only later that you realize that Bobby’s anger didn’t really accomplish much.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Jack Nicholson Edition

Posted on April 22, 2026 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 is Jack Nicholson’s 89th birthday!

It’s been sixteen years since Jack Nicholson last appeared in a movie, the forgettable How Do You Know. And yet, he remains a screen icon with a filmography that is a cinema lover’s dream. He’s worked with everyone from Roger Corman to Stanley Kubrick to Milos Forman to Martin Scorsese and, along the way, he’s become a symbol of a very American type of rebel. Though often associated with the counter-culture, his style has always been too aggressive and idiosyncratic for him to be a believable hippie. Instead, he’s one of the last of the beats, an outsider searching for meaning in Americana.

Happy birthday, Jack Nicholson. May you have many happy returns!

4 Shots From 4 Jack Nicholson Films

Easy Rider (1969, dir by Dennis Hopper, DP: Laszlo Kovacs)

Chinatown (1974, dir by Roman Polanski, DP: John A. Alonzo)

The Shining (1980, dirby Stanley Kubrick, DP: John Alcott)

The Departed (2006, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Michael Ballhaus)

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 3.22 “Best Laid Plans”

Posted on April 21, 2026 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, season 3 comes to an end.

Episode 3.22 “Best Laid Plans”

(Dir by John B. Moranville, originally aired on April 19th, 1998)

Heh heh …. they said laid.

The third season finale of Pacific Blue finds everyone at a crossroads, almost as if the showrunners weren’t sure who would be back for the fourth season so they wanted to make sure that everyone had an excuse to leave. There’s a lot of personal drama in this episode and I guess it would be compelling if any of these people were the least bit likable or sympathetic.

Victor Del Toro is being investigated by Internal Affairs and he spends the majority of the episode telling people that he suspects that he’s going to lose his job.

Cory is dumped by her long-distance boyfriend and leaps into a new relationship with some guy she accidentally punched at a bar. (She was trying to hit his friend, who was being pretty obnoxious at the time.)

Chris takes a pregnancy test and it’s positive. TC asks her to marry him. Despite the fact that Chris was previously hoping TC would ask her to marry him, Chris says no because …. well, because Chris is the worst. No, actually, it’s because Chris doesn’t want TC to marry her just because he feels like he has to. Chris and TC have separate scenes where they imagine how wonderful it would be to have a baby and how annoying it will be once the baby grows up to be a bratty teenager. But then Chris finds out that it was a false positive.

Palermo, meanwhile, is burned out. He’s feeling old. He wants to do more than just look at crime scenes. Plus, he’s having sex with a 22 year-old (played by Saved By The Bell: The Next Class’s Sarah Lancaster) and he’d rather do that then go to work.

Sadly, Palermo does have to go to work. A gang of criminals is breaking into people’s home and carving letters on their foreheads. (The letters correspond to their last name — Edwards gets an E and so on.) It turns out that the leader of the gang blame Palermo for his mother’s death and is spelling out P-A-L-E-R-M-O. The bad guys are always one step ahead because a member of the gang (Ginny Shcrieber) is working as a receptionist at Pacific Blue headquarters. Do they not do background checks before hiring people?

Palermo does catch the guy, though only after several people have been permanently scarred. Once again, you have to wonder why the bike cops are the only people working these cases. Add that the end of the episode, Palermo announces he’s going to Italy.

That’s one down and four more to go! Who will be around for season 4?

We’ll find out next week!

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 1.12 “Tommy A”

Posted on April 21, 2026 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 Saved By The Bell: The New Class, which ran on NBC from 1993 to 2o00. The show is currently on Prime.

It’s midterms!

Episode 1.12 “Tommy A”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 27th,1993)

Tommy D has got his driver’s license!

Everyone’s excited because Tommy’s father has promised to buy him a car and that means Tommy will be able to drive them everywhere. Keep in mind, no one is excited for Tommy. Instead, they’re just excited that they’re going to get a chauffeur who is too dumb to realize that he’s being taken advantage of. Consider this your reminder that the first season of Saved By The Bell: The New Class featured some of the least likable character to ever appear on a dopey teenage sitcom.

Uh-oh, Tommy’s father is concerned about Tommy’s terrible grades. He informs Tommy (and, for some reason, Mr. Belding) that, unless Tommy gets at least one A on his midterms, he won’t get his car.

The gang tries to come up with a class that Tommy could do well in. This is kind of dumb as it’s already been established that Tommy is an amazing mechanic and that he takes autoshop. He’s also a jock and therefore, he should do well in his physical education class. The gang, however, decides to get Tommy an A in his science class. Because the teacher grades on a curve, the gang tells the nerds in the class that they have the answers to the midterm and that they’ll signal which answer is correct by coughing. By giving the nerds the wrong answers, they’ll help Tommy get an A….

So, to be clear here …. I mean, what the Hell? Seriously, who comes up with a plan like this? Wouldn’t the teacher notice that there are a lot of extra students in the class on the day of the midterm and that they’re all coughing in unison? As well, it’s one thing to try to help Tommy pass. It’s another thing to try to make a bunch of other students fail. Not even Zack Morris would have gone that far. (As I’ve mentioned before, the first season of Saved By The Bell: The New Class has been oddly mean-spirited.)

It doesn’t matter, though. Tommy still flunks his science midterm. Now, he only has one chance left to get an A and it’s in …. ENGLISH!

Oh my God, how difficult is the English midterm going to be? Apparently, the entire grade will be determined by each student standing in front of the class and giving a one minute speech. What? What type of class is this?

Luckily, Scott and Weasel have a scheme. Weasel dresses up like a janitor and he convinces Mr. Snavely, the strict English teacher, that it would be dangerous to enter his classroom. Mr. Belding steps in to give and grade the English midterm. Scott figures that Belding will go easy on Tommy and Scott is right. Tommy speaks for less than a minute and basically says that everyone should just be themselves. Belding gives the speech an A. TOMMY’S GETTING A CAR!

And Megan realizes that she doesn’t have to play dumb to get boys to like her. That was the episode’s B-plot. It was pretty dumb and required Megan to behave in a way that was totally out-of-character.

Anyway, Tommy D is now Tommy A. He thanks his friends for helping him. Hey, Tommy, they just want a ride!

Next week, the first season ends!

Song of the Day: Maria, performed by the UNT One O’Clock Lab Band

Posted on April 21, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Texas Flag, by Erin Nicole

Since today is San Jacinto Day, it seems appropriate that today’s song of the day should come from Texas!

Here is the University of North Texas’s One O’Clock Lab band performing Maria at the Addison Jazz Festival.

Scenes That I Love: Bernie

Posted on April 21, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy San Jacinto Day!

You can celebrate by watching my favorite scene from Richard Linklater’s Bernie! I really love this quick lesson about my home state:

By the way, that line about “Dallas snobs,” always got a big laugh from the audiences at the Dallas Angelika. It’s important to have a sense of humor.

Don’t worry, Vermont. You’ll learn how to laugh at yourself someday.