Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 3.13 “Swine and Punishment”

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 Welcome Back Kotter, which ran on ABC  from 1975 to 1979.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, in a special Thanksgiving episode, Freddie is accused of cheating.

Episode 3.13 “Swine and Punishment”

(Dir by Bob Claver, originally aired on November 24th, 1977)

At the new apartment, Gabe tells Julie about the time his Uncle Thomas came across a man who had his ear to the ground.  Uncle Thomas listened to the ground and heard nothing.  The man agreed and said that it had been that way for hours.  It was a bit of an odd joke but Julie laughed.

Meanwhile, at the school, Mr. Woodman interrupts Gabe’s class to announce that Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington passed his English test.  He got a 94!

YAY!

Mr. Woodman says that there’s no way that Freddie could have passed the test without cheating.

Boo!  Hiss!  Hiss!

Seriously, Mr. Woodman’s usually a great character and John Sylvester White’s unhinged performance is one of the few consistently funny things about this show (especially in the later seasons) but Woodman is the worst in this episode.  One of the Sweathogs finally does well in a class that isn’t taught by Mr. Kotter and Woodman accuses him of cheating.  No wonder the Sweathogs don’t have any self-esteem.

Woodman says that Freddie can prove his innocence by taking and passing a make-up exam.  Freddie refuses and Gabe supports him.  But when the other Sweathogs talk about how proud they are of Freddie, Freddie relents and agrees to take the makeup test.

That night, Freddie shows up at the Kotter apartment.  After thanking Gabe for supporting him, Freddie reveals that he did cheat on the first test.  He cheated because he knew the material (apparently, Freddie is a huge fan of Alexandre Dumas and The Three Musketeers) and he couldn’t stand the idea of getting a bad grade on material that he knew.  Freddie’s self-esteem is so low that he’s convinced that he can’t pass a test without cheating.

Awwwwww!  Poor Freddie!

With Gabe’s encouragement, Freddie takes the makeup exam without cheating.  (The other Sweathogs attempt to write the answers on a gyro sandwich but Horshack screws it up by putting mustard on the sandwich and …. well, look, it was all really dumb, okay?)  Freddie again passes the exam, this time getting an 84.

Yay!

But Gabe tells Freddie that he still needs to tell the truth about cheating on the first exam….

WHAT!?  Gabe — what are you thinking!?

Freddie agrees that Gabe is right and I can only assume that he got kicked out of school as a result.  Sorry, Freddie, it was nice knowing you.

Back at the Kotter apartment, Julie refuses to listen to Gabe talk about his Uncle Robert so Gabe talks to the Thanksgiving turkey instead.

This episode felt very familiar to me and eventually, I realized that it was basically just a remake of the season two episode where Freddie was accused of stealing from the Sweathog emergency fund.  Of course, during the earlier seasons, there’s no way Gabe would have pressured Freddie to confess.  By the time the third season rolled around, the Sweathogs and Gabe had lost a bit of their edge and were now more concerned with being good role models.

That said, this episode deserves some credit for giving Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs a showcase.  Of all the Sweathogs, Freddie was often the one who was regulated to just standing in the background and looking cool.  With this episode, the viewer is reminded that Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs was a good actor in his own right and capable of playing both drama and comedy.

Next week …. it’s Epstein’s turn in the spotlight!

Live Tweet Alert: Join #ScarySocial for The Overnight!

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.  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 9 pm et, Tim Buntley will be hosting #ScarySocial!  The movie?  2022’s The Overnight!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag!  I’ll be there tweeting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

The Overnight is available on Prime!

See you there!

Music Video of the Day: Close (to the Edit) by Art of Noise (1985, dir by Zbigniew Rybczyński)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This video was directed by the man who edited the controversial 1983 film, Angst.  This video was also controversial and was banned in New Zealand for being too violent.  Compared to what I see whenever I scroll through my twitter timeline, this video seems incredibly tame (albeit entertaining) today.

Myself, I would never order anyone to destroy a musical instrument.  Well, I guess I would if it was like a harmonica or something.  Don’t get me started on harmonicas.  Unless you’re Charles Bronson in Once Upon A Time In The West, stay away from the harmonica.  I’m looking at you, Tim Kaine.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Friday the 13th: The Series 1.21 “Double Exposure”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th: The Series, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on YouTube!

This week, a reporter uses a cursed camera to make the news!

Episode 1.21 “Double Exposure”

(Dir by Neill Fearnley, originally aired on May 16th, 1988)

As you may remember, at the end of the previous episode, Ryan reluctantly left the Pentite Community and returned to Toronto so that he could continue to help Micki and Jack track down the cursed antiques.  When he left, he promised Laura that he would always love her.

Well, that didn’t last long.  This episode opens with a Ryan in a photobooth, taking pictures of himself and his new girlfriend, Cathy!  RYAN, YOU CAD!  Now, in Ryan’s defense, Cathy is played by Catherine Disher (who previously played the supercool Sophie in the first season of T and T) and she seems like a much better match for Ryan than the somewhat dour Laura.  Cathy and Ryan actually have fun together!  Of course, this is Friday the 13th and that means that all fun is temporary.

There’s a serial killer stalking Toronto and Ryan just happens to witness him murdering his latest victim in an alley.  To Ryan’s shock, the killer appears to Winston Knight (Gary Frank), a television news anchorman who is currently getting huge rating because of his reporting on the killings.  But how can that be?  When Ryan witnesses the murder, Winston is live on the air, delivering the news.  Winston even gets a phone call from someone claiming to be the murderer.

Winston speculates that the killer might be an obsessed fan who is wearing a Winston Knight mask.  Of course, the truth of the matter is that Winston is using a cursed camera to take a picture of himself.  The picture then turns into a doppelganger of Winston.  The Doppelganger commits a murder, Winston reports on the tragedy, and then, after five hours, Winston sets the negative on fire and the Doppelganger is destroyed.  If Winston doesn’t destroy the negative after five hours, Winston will be the one who is destroyed and the Doppelganger will become human.  It all sounds a bit complicated, to be honest.  You have to wonder how Winston managed to figure all of this out.

Anyway, the important thing is that Winston is eventually exposed as the murderer.  While trying to kill Ryan at the antique store, the Doppelganger is stabbed by Ryan.  It doesn’t hurt the Doppelganger until Winston fails to burn the negative and vanishes from existence.  The Doppelganger becomes human and then promptly drops dead of his wound.  Ryan conquers another cursed antique but, unfortunately, not before the Doppelganger murders Cathy.  The episode ends not on a note of triumph but instead with Ryan looking at a picture of Cathy and tearing up.

Wow, what a dark episode!  Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that, on this show, Ryan is basically a very naive and very earnest teenager.  He falls in love easily, he always believes that things will turn out for the best, and his heart is broken nearly every time he has to retrieve an antique.  Jack is used to the pain and Micki is a bit of a cynic but Ryan is still trying to balance happiness with the psychological damage that comes from seeing the worst things possible on a weekly basis.  John D. LeMay and Catherine Disher were adorable together and it was hard not to get a bit upset when Cathy fell victim to the Doppelganger.  This episode was sad but undeniably effective.

Poor Ryan!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special David Cronenberg 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!

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to one of our favorite directors, David Cronenberg!  No one has done more to change the way that the world views Canada than David Cronenberg.  In honor of the man, his films, his country, and his legacy, here are….

4 Shots From 4 David Cronenberg Films

The Brood (1979, dir by David Cronenberg, DP: Mark Irwin)

Scanners (1981, dir by David Cronenberg, DP: Mark Iwrin)

Videodrome (1983, dir by David Cronenberg, DP: Mark Irwin)

A History of Violence (2005, dir by David Cronenberg, DP: Peter Suschitzky)

Retro Television Review: T and T 2.20 “A Natural Death”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing T. and T., a Canadian show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990.  The show can be found on Tubi!

This week, the second season comes to an end!

Episode 2.20 “A Natural Death”

(Dir by Patrick Loubert, originally aired on May 22nd, 1989)

When a patient nearly dies at a hospital, the blame is placed on a nurse named Eloise (Elizabeth Hanna).  Eloise is accused of falling asleep at her station.  However, Eloise has never fallen asleep at her station in the past and she has a reputation for being a good nurse.  Eloise retain Amy Taler to defend her at a board hearing and Amy sends T.S. to the hospital to investigate.

T.S. discovers that the patient is a retired gangster and he starts to suspect that maybe Eloise was set up by someone who wants him dead.  But when Eloise herself announces that she no longer wants to to work at the hospital, T.S. comes to suspect that there’s even more to the story.

Oddly enough, there isn’t more to the story.  A doctor who owes money to the mob drugged Eloise’s coffee and caused Eloise to fall asleep.  The doctor then agreed to help Eloise find work at another hospital in return for dropping her appeal.  When the gangsters shows up and demand that the doctor personally kill the patient, he agrees but — surprise! — he was just pretending to agree until T.S., Amy, and the cops could show up.

What a weird episode with which to end the second season.  The mystery isn’t much of a mystery.  T.S. Turner doesn’t beat anyone up.  For whatever reason, both Amy and T.S. appear to be annoyed with the world in general for much of this episode.  Amy rolls her eyes when Decker says that he wants to become a better businessman so his gym doesn’t go bankrupt.  Turner rolls his eyes when Amy tells him that she wants him to investigate the hospital.  Joe, the orphan who Amy and Turner more-or-less adopted at the start of the second season, is nowhere to be seen.  This does not, in any way, feel like a season finale and it wouldn’t surprise me to discover that it had been meant to air earlier in the season.

What to say about the second season?  It definitely wasn’t as good as the first season.  If the first season was fun and energetic, the second season often felt dour.  The cast often seemed to just be going through the motions and there was little of the intentional humor that occasionally distinguished the first season.  Turner’s quips were a bit less amusing and the show didn’t seem to have the slightest idea what to do with Amy.

Speaking of Amy, this episode was also the finale for her character.  Season 3 finds Tuner working for a new lawyer.  We’ll find out more next week when we start looking at the final season of T and T.

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix For Stay Tuned!

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, we’ve got the goofy comedy classic, 1992’s Stay Tuned!

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

Stay Tuned is available on Prime and Tubi!  See you there!

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 1.24 & 1.25 “Thoroughbreds”

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 Thursdays, I will be reviewing Highway to Heaven, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1989.  The entire show is currently streaming on Freevee and several other services!

This week, season one concludes with a two-part episode.

Episodes 1.24 and 1.25 “Thoroughbreds”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on May 1st and 8th, 1985)

For their last assignment of the first season, Jonathan and Mark are sent to work at a stable owned by the wealthy Mr. Armstong (Stephen Elliott).  Lizzy MacGill (a young Helen Hunt) is the daughter of one of Amrstrong’s employees (Noble Willingham) and has practically grown up at the stables.  She loves horses and, as the first episode progresses, she also falls in love with Mr. Armstrong’s spoiled son, Garth (John Hammond).

Garth falls in love with Lizzie as well, learning how to be both a better horseman and just a better man from his interactions with her.  Despite his father’s threat to disown him, Garth breaks off his engagement to Ms. Richy McSnobby Snob (that may not have been her actual name) and he elopes with Lizzie.

Yay!

Except …. Lizzie has cancer and she doesn’t know it!  The test comes back on the exact same day that she runs off with Garth.  Part one ends with two fathers in tears, though each for different reasons.

At the start of Part Two, Jonathan tracks down Lizzie and informs her of her diagnosis.  Without telling Garth what’s going on, she returns home and is informed that 1) she must start chemotherapy immediately and 2) she’s pregnant.  Her doctor (Richard Bull) tells Lizzie that she’ll have to have an abortion if she wants to start treatment.  Lizzie runs from the hospital.

As for Garth, he naturally wants to know what’s going on.  Lizzie lies to him and tells him that she only wanted him for his father’s money and since he’s now cut-off, they might as well just call off the marriage as well.  Heart-broken, Garth decides to marry RIchy McSnobby Snob.

Worst ending ever, right?  Well, don’t worry, it’s not over yet.  Jonathan and Mark crash the wedding (and Jonathan tells a lie to get into the church, which I thought was a no-no for angels) and Jonathan causes A FIRE TO BREAK OUT IN THE CHURCH’S BASEMENT!  Again, this does not seem like good angel behavior.  Anyway, all the smoke gives Garth time to realize that he actually does love Lizzie and, after Mark informs him about why Lizzie actually left him, Garth rushes back to Lizzie and they go to the local Justice of the Peace to get married.  Fortunately, Jonathan is able to convince Mr. Elliott to come to that wedding as well.

The episode ends with a flashforward,  in which we see Lizzie and Garth’s toddler son playing outside while an apparently healthy Lizzie watches.

Yay!

It’s not a bad way to end the first season, though I do think the story could have just as easily been told in one episode as opposed to two.  (The first episode especially feels padded out.)  Helen Hunt and John Hammond made for a perfectly adorable couple and their chemistry ensured that the show’s signature mix of sentimentality and melodrama never felt too cloying.  All in all, this was a good ending to a fairly strong first season.

Next week, season 2 begins!

Scenes That I Love: Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Caine in Inception

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 91st birthday to Sir Michael Caine.

Today’s scene that I love comes from 2010’s Inception, a film that featured Caine in a small but key role.  Caine shares this scene with Leonardo DiCaprio and, as good an actor as DiCaprio may be, Caine dominates from the moment he first looks up.