Hi, everyone! Tonight, on Mastodon, I will be hosting the #TubiThursday watch party! Join us for a true classic, 1986’s Pretty In Pink!
You can find the movie on Tubi and YouTube and you can join us on Mastodon at 9 pm central time! (That’s 10 pm for you folks on the East Coast.) We will be using #TubiThursday hashtag! See you then!
Isaac Hayes would have been 84 years old today. Today’s song of the day is an instrumental track that Hayes wrote for the Tough Guys soundtrack. Quentin Tarantino later reused the track in Kill Bill.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to my fellow redhead, Amy Adams!
Amy gave one of the best performances to not be nominated for an Oscar in 2016’s Arrival. Today, my scene that I love is the poignant and thought-provoking ending of that film.
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.
This edition of 4 Shots From 4 Films is dedicated to H.P. Lovecraft, on the occasion of his 136th birthday.
4 Shots From 4 Films
The Dunwich Horror (1970, directed by Daniel Haller)
Dagon (2001, directed by Stuart Gordon)
The Call of Cthulhu (2005, directed by Andrew Leman)
The Whisperer in Darkness (2011, directed by Sean Branney)
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 undefeated season continues!
Episode 4.13 “The High and Mighty”
(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on December 28th, 1988)
In this week’s episode, we watch as the Bulls fly to and then from their latest game.
On the flight to the game, Denardo worries about whether or not he has what it takes to eventually win the Championship game. (That’s this show’s equivalent of the Super Bowl.) On the flight back, Denardo’s confidence has been restored and he can’t wait to start planning for the big game.
TD Parker (played by OJ Simpson) spends the flight back flirting with a flight attendant. OJ Simpson’s performance in this episode is perhaps the worst that he’s given since he first joined the cast. I think the problem is that Parker is supposed to be drunk and Simpson was incapable of playing any emotion or condition beyond bland amiability.
Bubba is terrified of flying and has a nightmare that Mad Dog is flying the plane.
Zagrib and a ringer (James Hampton) hustle all of the players in a poker game on the first flight. On the return flight, Zagrib loses all of the money he won and then begs Mad Dog not to kill him. Mad Dog says that he won’t hurt Zagrib because the team needs a good kicker.
Executives Gail (Shanna Reed) and Michael (Paul Tuerpe) argue over where the new Bulls Stadium should be located. Michael thinks that he has found the perfect spot but, on the flight back, Gail lies to him and tells him that the spot used to be a toxic waste dump. Michael calls the head of the Dodds Corporation and tries to take credit for finding the location where Gail wants to put the stadium. This storyline would have been more effective if Michael and Gail were interesting characters.
Finally, Doug falls for an obsessive flight attendant who later tells him that she poisoned his coffee. Doug panics, though he doesn’t actually die or anything so I think she was just lying to him.
I actually kind of liked this episode because I thought it was interesting to see how the members of the team distracted themselves before the game and how they celebrated after they won. This episode was all about big personalities in a confined location and, with the exception of OJ, it featured some fine ensemble work from the cast. Considering how much this show has struggled with finding a consistent tone from not only episode-to-episode but also from scene-to-scene, this was an unusually disciplined episode.
Next week, we finish up the fourth season!
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!
It’s love! Welcome aboard, it’s love!
Episode 8.7 “And One to Grow On/Seems Like Old Times/I’ll Never Forget What’s Her Name”
(Dir by Jack Arnold, originally aired on October 27th, 1984)
Ruth Justin (Morgan Brittany) boards the ship with her ex-fiancée, Arthur (Richard Kline). Arthur has been suffering from amnesia ever since Ruth ended their engagement and Ruth hopes that she can help cure his condition by taking a cruise with him. But what if Arthur is just faking his condition because he wants to get back together with Ruth?
Private detective Johnny Bonilla (Alex Rocco) boards the ship with his client, Deborah Marshall (Joan Van Ark). Deborah hired Johnny to help her tack down Larry Peters (Robert Reed), a man who she once had a crush on. But what if Larry is just an overage playboy and Johnny is the one who truly loves Deborah?
Those two stories, while handled competently, were pretty much just standard Love Boat plotlines. The story that one truly remembers from this episode belongs to Vicki and Captain Stubing. Vicki is finally turning 18 and the Captain throws her a big surprise party on the boat. Vicki is happy and the Captain is proud …. or, at least, he is until he catches Vicki with a bottle of champagne. The Captain ends up yelling at Vicki. Vicki runs off, with tears in her eyes. Doc Bricker suggests that it’s time that the Captain tell Vicki the truth about his alcoholism.
Captain Stubing is scared to do so. He fears that, if he tells Vicki that he was an angry drunk who once nearly hit a kid while driving while intoxicated, she’ll lose all respect for him. But, in a wonderfully-acted scene, Stubing does tell her. And, once the shock wears off, Vicki comes to see her father as being more of a hero than ever. She now understands why the Captain doesn’t drink and, importantly, the Captain himself understands why he overreacted to seeing Vicki tipsy.
In the past, I’ve always wondered about whether or not Vicki had a life outside of the ship and, to be honest, I still wonder that. Even when she celebrates her 18th birthday, there’s no one her own age around. Instead, she celebrates with the much older crew and a bunch of elderly passengers. That doesn’t seem quite fair to Vicki. Because The Love Boat is …. well, the Love Boat, it’s easy to ignore the fact that Vicki pretty much gave up her childhood to work on a cruise ship.
That said, Captain Stubing and Vicki’s father-daughter relationship has always, somewhat surprisingly, been one of the strongest elements of The Love Boat and that’s almost entirely due to the performances of Gavin MacLeod and Jill Whelan. One sees that in this episode. Gavin MacLeod was a recovering alcoholic in real life and his performance the scene in which he talks to Vicki about his struggles has an authenticity to it that keeps it from getting mawkish or preachy.
(I cried as I watched. I’m missing my dad today.)
This was a good cruise, even if Ace was strangely not on the boat this week. Where were you Ace?
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, Pacific Blue is all about the guest stars,
Episode 4.15 “Stargazer”
(Dir by Sara Rose, originally aired on January 24th, 1999)
When he was younger, Johnny Osiris (Danny Bonaduce) was a teen idol and the star of Stargazer, a show about a singing family that lived in outer space. As an adult, Johnny is a drug addict and an alcoholic who can’t pay his rent and who eventually turns to robbing stores and pharmacies. It’s difficult to be a criminal when everyone immediately recognizes you. However, when both he and Steve Gugliermo (Noah Blake) try to rob the same pharmacy at the same time, they decide to team up. Of course, Steve is hardened master criminal while Johnny is still an amateur.
This was a bit of a melancholy episode. Chris and Cory can’t say Johnny’s name without screaming but they’re still trying to put him in jail. The younger cops don’t have the slightest idea who Johnny was. As for Johnny, his criminal career makes him a celebrity again but the episode still ends with him heading off for prison. Along with Bonaduce, the episode features Susan Olsen as Johnny’s sister, Erik Estrada as Johnny’s lawyer, and Adam West as Johnny’s father. The entire thing is full of actors who probably never thought they would someday be appearing on a show about cops who rode bikes. The whole thing feels sad.
This episode also firmly establishes that Cory and Bobby are now a couple and that everyone pretty much knows about it. Hey, Victor’s dead so I guess Cory might as well move on. Still, some of the scenes of Bobby and Cory making out generated some heat. They’re a good couple so hopefully, the show won’t screw things up.
This episode also featured a discussion of sex-ceptions, i.e. celebrities that you’re allowed to fool around with even if you’re already in a relationship. For Chris, her sex-ception was Johnny Osiris, though it never actually came down to that. For Cory, it was Mel Gibson. Granger selected Winona Ryder, Bobby went with Salma Hayek, and Jamie said Denzel Washington. Myself, I have to wonder why they assumed Salma Hayek or Denzel Washington would have anything to do with a Santa Monica bicycle cop.
Anyway, this is kind of a depressing episode. Johnny was a star but then his entire life fell apart when he wasn’t. He made a few bad decisions and he never recovered. He should have auditioned for Baywatch. Live and learn.
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.
Yay! It’s the final country club episode!
Episode 2.14 “Farewell Dance”
(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 22nd, 1994)
The summer is coming to an end and so is the gang’s indentured servitude at the Palisades Country Club. The farewell dance approaches and with it comes the hope of romance and the pain of the heartbreak.
For instance, Bobby pretends to be rich so that snobby club member Michele (Ebonie Smith) will go to the dance with him. Michele loves it when Bobby talks about how his father is a millionaire who owns a private jet and hangs out with the Queen of England. But when Lindsay points out that Michele isn’t falling for the real Bobby, Bobby decides to tell Michele the truth. Michele dumps Bobby and apparently, we’re meant to see Bobby as the victim here. Bobby shouts that he wouldn’t ever go on a date with a girl who refuses to date poor people. Uhmm, Bobby, have you considered that maybe she just refuses to date liars? Anyway, as often happened on any episode where Bobby or Megan even thought about dating anyone who wasn’t listed in the opening credits, Bobby and Megan ended up going to the dance together.
Meanwhile, Screech is upset because Allison is going to be moving to New York to attend Julliard. Screech announces that he’s going to go to New York with her, even though that means he won’t get his degree. (Can’t Screech just transfer to a school in New Yor?) Allison decides that she can’t go to Julliard because it would mean Screech giving up his dreams. (“You have a future with Mr. Belding and Bayside,” Allison tells him. Uhmm ….. what?) Screech realizes that Allison has to pursue her dreams so he tells her to go to New York without him. Allison plays Screech a really bland piano piece that she wrote for him and then they share a final dance.
The main problem with this episode …. oh Hell, you know what the main problem was. The main problem’s initials are D and D. Dustin Diamond gives such a cartoonish performance that it’s hard to believe that Allison would have ever fallen for him in the first place. There are no emotional stakes when it comes to any story involving Screech because there’s nothing real about Screech. As a character, he’s the equivalent of Bobby’s father’s private jet.
All that said, at least the county club episodes are over with! Yay! Always be thankful for the little things.
Today, in celebration of the birthday of Patrick Swayze, our song of the day is one that he wrote for Dirty Dancing. Enjoy She’s Like The Wind.
Today would have been Patrick Swayze’s 74th birthday. This scene that I love comes from Swayze’s greatest film, 1989’s Road House.
Here, Swayze explains how to be a bouncer.
Through the Shattered Lens 