Retro Television Review: Fantasy Island 1.1 “Escape” / “Cinderella Girls”

Posted on September 13, 2022 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 1996. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

Smiles, smiles, everyone….

Episode 1.1 “Escape/Cinderalla Girls”

(Directed by Don Weis, originally aired on January 28th, 1978)

Last week, while reviewing the Fantasy Island pilot, I commented on the fact that Mr. Roarke seemed to be a bit sinister, almost as if he took delight in the idea of mortals discovering that their fantasies weren’t as wonderful as they were expecting.

In the first regular episode of Fantasy Island, it’s made clear that, while Mr. Roarke may occasionally act like he doesn’t care, it’s only to teach a lesson.

When internationally renowned stage musician Gregory Udall (Bert Convy) requests that he be allowed to perform the world’s greatest escape, Mr. Roarke doesn’t appear to be the least bit concerned when Udall is transported to Devil’s Island, the infamous French island prison. Devil’s Island was known for being escape proof. It was also known for being harsh even by the prison standards. 75% of the people sentenced to Devil’s Island died before their sentence ended. When Udall reaches the island, he discovers that the Warden (Reggie Nadler, best-known for playing the vampire in Salem’s Lost) doesn’t care whether he lives or dies. He’s also told, by another prisoner named Ipsy Dauphin (Robert Clary), that Mr. Roarke regularly abandons people at the prison!

After Udall’s first escape fails, he is visited in the island’s infirmary by Mr. Roarke himself. Udall says that he’s ready to give up and opt out of the fantasy. Mr. Roarke informs him that failure is not an option. He also suggests that Udall enjoy his cigarette because….

Agck!

Fear not, though, Mr. Roarke is not evil. Instead, he’s just giving Udall the extra push that he needs to not only successfully escape from the prison but to take Ipsy with him as well. Udall not only gets his confidence back but he also saves another human being. Mr. Roarke may have seemed harsh but it was only to make sure that everyone got something out of the fantasy. As well, it’s revealed that Ipsy was not actually prisoner but was instead Fantasy Island’s head chef.

Mr. Roarke is far more cheerful in the episode’s other fantasy. Georgia Engel and Diana Canova want to know what it’s like to be wealthy so they not only get makeovers but they also get a lot of new clothes. Of course, being wealthy also means that they’ll be expected to bid at a charity auction that is being held on Fantasy Island. (Apparently, Fantasy Island also doubles as a resort for people who don’t have fantasies but just want to spend the weekend hanging out by the pool.) Georgia Engel ends up running away with a prince. Diana Canova falls in love with an idealistic doctor who is played by John Saxon. Does the doctor care that she doesn’t actually have any money? Fortunately, it turns out that the doctor is poor himself. Yay!

As you may have guessed, the first episode was a strange mismash of tones. On the one hand, you had a silly but sweet story about two friends who wanted to pretend to be rich. On the other hand, you’ve got a harsh prison story featuring Reggie Nadler as a desiccated villain and uber-70s actor Bert Convy as a stage musician. It really shouldn’t work but it does, largely because the idea of the island is so appealing and Ricardo Montalban seems to be having fun in the role of Mr. Roarke. Plus, who can resist John Saxon pretending to be from Texas?

The premiere episode got Fantasy Island off to a good start! Would that continue next week?

Here’s The Trailer for Babylon!

Posted on September 13, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Finally! We have a trailer for Damien Chazelle’s Babylon!

Who would have thought that 2022 would have been the year that would have produced three flamboyant films about the decadence of the entertainment industry? Elvis has already been released. Blonde will be available by the end of the month. And Babylon will coming out just as the year ends. Judging from this trailer, it appears to be a film that will either be brilliant or a total disaster. I’m hoping for the former. America could use a really good movie about cocaine and pool parties.

Scenes I Love: The “Madison” Dance Scene From Bande à part

Posted on September 13, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Jean-Luc and Anna

It’s probably not great shock to anyone that my favorite scene from a Jean-Luc Godard film would involve dancing.

From 1964’s Bande à part:

8 Shots From 8 Films: Rest in Peace, Jean-Luc Godard

Posted on September 13, 2022 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!

One of the last of the French New Wave directors has passed away. RIP, to the uncompromising Jean-Luc Godard.

8 Shots From 8 Jean-Luc Godard Films

Breathless (1960, dir by Jean-Luc Godard, DP: Raoul Coutard)

Band of Outsiders (1964, dir by Jean-Luc Godard, DP: Raoul Coutard)

Alphaville (1965, dir by Jean-Luc Godard, DP: Raoul Coutard)

Made in USA (1966, directed by Jean-Luc Godard, DP: Raoul Coutard)

Week-end (1967, directed by Jean-Luc Godard, DP: Raoul Coutard)

Number Two (1975, dir by Jean-Luc Godard)

Detective (1985, dir by Jean-Luc Godard, DP: Louis Bihi)

Goodbye to Language (2014, dir by Jean-Luc Godard, DP: Fabrice Aragno)

Here Are The 2021–2022 Emmy Winners

Posted on September 12, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Emmys were handed out tonight. With a few exceptions, the voters and I don’t quite agree. Oh well. At least Amanda Seyfried won.

Here are the winners!

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Colin Firth, The Staircase
Andrew Garfield, Under the Banner of Heaven
Oscar Isaac, Scenes From a Marriage
WINNER: Michael Keaton, Dopesick
Himesh Patel, Station Eleven
Sebastian Stan, Pam & Tommy

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

WINNER: Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus
Jake Lacy, The White Lotus
Will Poulter, Dopesick
Seth Rogen, Pam & Tommy
Peter Sarsgaard, Dopesick
Michael Stuhlbarg, Dopesick
Steve Zahn, The White Lotus

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Nicholas Braun, Succession
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Park Hae-soo, Squid Game
WINNER: Matthew Macfayden, Succession
John Turturro, Severance
Christopher Walken, Severance
Oh Yeong-su, Squid Game

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Patricia Arquette, Severance
WINNER: Julia Garner, Ozark
Jung Ho-yeon, Squid Game
Christina Ricci, Yellowjackets
J. Smith Cameron, Succession
Sarah Snook, Succession
Sydney Sweeney, Euphoria
Rhea Seehorn, Better Call Saul

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Sarah Niles, Ted Lasso
WINNER: Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary
Juno Temple, Ted Lasso
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Carrigan, Barry
WINNER: Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso
Toheeb Jimoh, Ted Lasso
Nick Mohammed, Ted Lasso
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary
Henry Winkler, Barry
Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series

A Black Lady Sketch Show
WINNER: Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
Jimmy Kimmel Live
WINNER: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Late Night With Seth Meyers
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Connie Britton, The White Lotus
WINNER: Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus
Alexandra Daddario, The White Lotus
Kaitlyn Dever, Dopesick
Natasha Rothwell, The White Lotus
Sydney Sweeney, The White Lotus
Mare Winningham, Dopesick

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Toni Collette, The Staircase
Julia Garner, Inventing Anna
Lily James, Pam & Tommy
Sarah Paulson, Impeachment: American Crime Story
Margaret Qualley, Maid
WINNER: Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout

Outstanding Competition Program

The Amazing Race
WINNER: Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls
Nailed It!
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice

Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie

Dopesick, Danny Strong
The Dropout, Michael Showalter
The Dropout, Francesca Gregorini
Maid, John Wells
Station Eleven, Hiro Murai
WINNER: The White Lotus, Mike White

Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series or Movie

Dopesick, Danny Strong
The Dropout, Elizabeth Meriwether
Impeachment: American Crime Story, Sarah Burgess
Maid, Molly Smith Metzler
Station Eleven, Patrick Sommerville
WINNER: The White Lotus, Mike White

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special

Ali Wong: Don Wong, Ali Wong
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Globe — Hungary for Democracy, Ian Berger, Devin Delliquanti, Jennifer Flanz, Jordan Klepper, Zhubin Parang, Scott Sherman
WINNER: Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel, Jerrod Carmichael
Nicole Byer, BBW (Big Beautiful Weirdo), Nicole Byer
Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special, Norm Macdonald

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Donald Glover, Atlanta
Bill Hader, Barry
Nicholas Hoult, The Great
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
WINNER: Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

WINNER: Abbott Elementary, “Pilot,” Quinta Brunson
Barry, “710N,” Duffy Boudreau
Barry, “starting now,” Alec Berg and Bill Hader
Hacks, “The One, the Only,” Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky
Only Murders in the Building, “True Crime,” Steve Martin and John Hoffman
Ted Lasso, “No Weddings and a Funeral,” Jane Becker
What We Do in the Shadows, “The Casino,” Sarah Naftalis
What We Do in the Shadows, “The Wellness Center,” Stefani Robinson

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

Ozark, “A Hard Way to Go,” Jason Bateman
Severance, “The We We Are,” Ben Stiller
WINNER: Squid Game, “Red Light, Green Light,” Hwang Dong-hyuk
Succession, “All the Bells Say,” Mark Mylod
Succession, “The Disruption,” Cathy Yan
Succession, “Too Much Birthday,” Lorene Scarfaria
Yellowjackets, “Pilot,” Karen Kusama

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
WINNER: Zendaya, Euphoria

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
Elle Fanning, The Great
Issa Rae, Insecure
WINNER: Jean Smart, Hacks

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series

Atlanta, “New Jazz,” Hiro Murai
Barry, “710N,” Bill Hader
Hacks, “There Will Be Blood,” Lucia Aniello
The Ms. Pat Show, “Baby Daddy Groundhog Day,” Mary Lou Belli
Only Murders in the Building, “The Boy from 6B,” Cherien Dabis
Only Murders in the Building, “True Crime,” Jamie Babbit
WINNER: Ted Lasso, “No Weddings and a Funeral,” MJ Delaney

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series

Better Call Saul, “Plan and Execution,” Thomas Schnauz
Ozark, “A Hard Way to Go,” Chris Mundy
Severance, “The We We Are,” Dan Erickson
Squid Game, “One Lucky Day,” Hwang Dong-hyuk
WINNER: Succession, “All the Bells Say,” Jesse Armstrong
Yellowjackets, “F Sharp,” Jonathan Lisco, Ashley Lyle, and Bart Nickerson
Yellowjackets, “Pilot,” Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Jason Bateman, Ozark
Brian Cox, Succession
WINNER: Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Adam Scott, Severance
Jeremy Strong, Succession

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

Dopesick, Hulu
The Dropout, Hulu
Inventing Anna, Netflix
Pam & Tommy, Hulu
WINNER: The White Lotus, HBO

Outstanding Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary
Barry
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Hacks
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Only Murders in the Building
WINNER: Ted Lasso
What We Do in the Shadows

Outstanding Drama Series

Better Call Saul
Euphoria
Ozark
Severance
Squid Game
Stranger Things
WINNER: Succession
Yellowjackets

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Adrien Brody, Succession
James Cromwell, Succession
WINNER: Colman Domingo, Euphoria
Arian Moayed, Succession
Tom Pelphrey, Ozark
Alexander Skarsgard, Succession

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Hope Davis, Succession
Marcia Gay Harden, The Morning Show
Martha Kelly, Euphoria
Sanaa Lathan, Succession
Harriet Walter, Succession
WINNER: Lee You-mi, Squid Game

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

Jane Adams, Hacks
Harriet Sansom Harris, Hacks
Jane Lynch, Only Murders in the Building
WINNER: Laurie Metcalf, Hacks
Kaitlin Olson, Hacks
Harriet Walter, Ted Lasso

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

Jerrod Carmichael, Saturday Night Live
Bill Hader, Curb Your Enthusiasm
James Lance, Ted Lasso
WINNER: Nathan Lane, Only Murders in the Building
Christopher McDonald, Hacks
Sam Richardson, Ted Lasso

Outstanding Television Movie

WINNER: Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers
Ray Donovan: The Movie
Reno 911: The Hunt for QAnon
The SurvivorZoey’s Extraordinary Christmas

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program

Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, Queer Eye
Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Making It
Nicole Byer, Nailed It!
Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, Kevin O’Leary, Shark Tank
Padma Lakshmi, Top Chef
WINNER: RuPaul, RuPaul’s Drag Race

Outstanding Variety Special (Live)
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes
The Oscars
WINNER: Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent
Tony Awards Presents: Broadway’s Back!

Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-recorded)

WINNER: Adele: One Night Only
Dave Chappelle: The Closer
Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts
Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special
One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga

Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman
The Problem With Jon Stewart
WINNER: Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy
VICE
The World According to Jeff Goldblum

Retro Television Review: Hang Time 1.3 “Full Court Press” and 1.4 “Will The Real Michael Maxwell Please Stand Up?”

Posted on September 12, 2022 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 Mondays, I will be reviewing Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

Finally! It’s time for the Deering Tornadoes to actually play a game! Will Julie and the rest of the team live up to the hype? And when will the show realize that they need a better theme song?

I’ll always remember me and my friends at Hang Time!

Episode 1.3 “Full Court Press”

(Directed by Howard Murray, originally aired on September 23rd, 1995)

The season is about to begin and the press are invading Deering High, all so they can report on Julie Connor, the first girl to ever play basketball in high school. (At least, that’s the way the story is reported.) The press is only interested in talking about Julie. All of the fans are only interested in getting Julie’s autograph. Julie has strangers walking up to her and telling her that she’s going to be a huge star. The rest of the team starts to get jealous. Coach Fuller is forced to close the practices to the public. “Connor, get the stars out of your eyes!” he says. He also reminds her to always mention her teammates while being interviewed.

Unfortunately, the fame starts to go to Julie’s head. “Big decision,” she says, “do I go on Leno or Letterman?” On the day of the first game, she’s late because she has to go to a photoshoot. Coach Fuller punishes her by putting her on the bench. “Ohhhhh!” the audience says.

Julie is forced to sit on the bench until the third quarter or half or whatever it is that they play in basketball. However, when the Tornadoes start to lose, Fuller puts Julie in the game. At first, the team still snubs her but then Julie calls a timeout and apologizes. Then the boys call another timeout to apologize to Julie. Then Danny calls a third timeout to apologize personally. Despite all of the timeouts, the team goes on to win by one point. That point was scored by Julie. So, apparently, Julie was totally correct about thinking that she was the most important player on the team.

Meanwhile, Mary Beth saved Earl from choking to death so Earl gives her a pig.

Episode 1.4 “Will The Real Michael Maxwell Please Stand Up”

(Directed by Howard Murray, originally aired on October 7th, 1995)

Deering High won their first game, by one point, thanks to Julie. However, they lose their second game, again by one point, thanks to Michael Maxwell. Michael misses not one but two free throws! He then makes the mistake of saying, “I choked” while in the presence of reporters. The next day, guess what the headline on the front page of the newspaper is!

Anyway, Michael loses his confidence but then he’s given a pep talk by his idol, Grant Hill, who I guess was a real basketball player at the time.

Meanwhile, Danny is still trying to work up the courage to ask out Julie. Samantha tries to help him out, mostly because Samantha likes him. At first, Danny is too stupid to understand this but, by the end of the episode, he and Samantha are a seriously cute couple.

My thoughts on these two episodes is that I don’t know a thing about basketball and the first season was all about basketball. As a result, the first season was uneven (for me, at least) but the show would eventually develop its own weird charm. At this point, I’m just waiting for the theme song to change and for the Tornadoes to actually win or lose a game by more than one point.

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For Flight 93 and Seven!

Posted on September 12, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting 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, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 2006’s Flight 93! Selected and hosted by @Titus88Titus, Flight 93 is a docudrama about one of the planes that was hijacked on September 11th, 2001 and the heroic passengers who bravely fought back. The movie starts at 8 pm et and it is available on YouTube.

Following #MondayActionMovie, Brad and Sierra will be hosting the #MondayMuggers live tweet. We will be watching 1995’s Seven, the trend-setting and still disturbing horror film that established David Fincher as a director and which starred Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Richard Roundtree. (Yes, Shaft is in the movie.) The film is available on Netflix. It starts at 10 pm et.

It should make for a night of intense viewing and I invite all of you to join in. If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto twitter, start Flight 93 at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag! Then, at 10 pm et, start Seven and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag! The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy. And reviews of these films will probably end up on this site at some point over the next few weeks.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 9/5/22 — 9/11/22

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Some weeks, it seems like time is standing still.

And then other weeks, the entire world changes in a day. Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday and all I can say is that it’s remarkable how all the self-described contrarians on twitter had the exact same response and often used the exact same words to express that response.

As for me, I continue to prepare for October. Here’s what I watched, read, and listened to this week!

Films I Watched:

A Little Game (1971)
The China Lake Murders (1990)
The City (1977)
The Death of Richie (1977)
Downdraft (1996)
Last Shift (2014)
Long Journey Back (1978)
Night of the Comet (1984)
The Principal (1987)
Quarterback Princess (1983)
Rollerball (1975)
Scream of the Wolf (1974)
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver (1977)
Teenage Caveman (1958)
They Call Me Trinity (1971)
The Who — Under Review: 1964 — 1968 (2005)
Who Is The Black Dahlia (1975)

Television Shows I Watched:

The Bachelorette
Big Brother
The Challenge
Fantasy Island
Full House
Hang Time
Inspector Lewis
The Love Boat
Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head
Night Flight

Books I Read:

Crash (1973) by J.G. Ballard

Music To Which I Listened:

Adi Ulmansky
Avril Lavigne
Britney Spears
The Chemical Brothers
Duran Duran
Goblin
Gwen Stefani
Hilary Duff
The Human League
Jessica Simpson
John Carpenter
Kylie Minogue
Lorde
Moby
Muse
The Prodigy
Saint Motel
Taking Back Sunday

Inferno (1980, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Romana Albano)

Live Tweets:

Awards Season:

Here Are The Winners From Venice

News From Last Week:

Links From Last Week:

Links From The Site:

Erin shared the ultimate Labor Day scene, the covers of Smashing Detective Stories and Carrying the Flag!
Erin shared Man and Machine, Lights Out, Enter, Possum, Bubba’s Bridge, Alley, Possum, and Our Flag!
Jeff shared music videos from Dead Kennedys, Souixsie and the Banshees, Scorpions, Anthrax, INXS, Queensryche, and Staind!
I reviewed The Death of Richie, California Dreams, Gang Boy, One World, City Guys, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Hang Time!
I shared my week in television and an amv of the day!
I shared a scene from A Face In The Crowd!
I paid tribute to Brian De Palma, Dario Argento, and Werner Herzog!

More From Us:

At her photography site, Erin shared 11, Tower, Clouds Above, Jake and Max, Vase, Spring Creek, and Peace In Black and White!
At Pop Politics, Jeff shared Congratulations to Liz Truss, Self-Sabotage in Arizona, Self-Sabotage in Alaska, The Queen’s Health, The Queen Has Died, More On Alaska, The King’s Speech, and No Day Shall Erase You From The Memory Of Time!
I reviewed Big Brother for the Big Brother Blog!
At Reality TV Chat Blog, I shared Back From The Holiday, It’s Time To Open Up The Diary Room Week 9, About Tonight’s Double Eviction, Week 10 Nominations, and Week 10 Veto Comp!
At my music site, I shared songs from Jessica Simpson, Kylie Minogue, Gwen Stefani, The Prodigy, Hilary Duff, Britney Spears, and Taking Back Sunday!
At my dream journal, I shared Last Night’s Orient Express Dream, Last Night’s Art Show Dream, Last Night’s Kidnapping Dream, Last Night’s Work Dream, Last Night’s British Vacation Dream, Last Night’s Fort Smith Dream, and Last Night’s Dream About Amy’s Wedding Shower!

Heart of Glass (1976, dir by Werner Herzog, DP: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein)

Want to check out last week? Click here!

Retro Television Review: The Death of Richie (dir by Paul Wendkos)

Posted on September 11, 2022 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 Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay. Today’s film is 1977’s The Death of Richie. It can be viewed on YouTube!

It’s not a spoiler to tell you that this film ends with the death of a teenager named Richie. It’s right there in the title. We start the film knowing that Richie is going to die. The only question is how it’s going to happen and who, if anyone, is going to be held responsible for it.

Played by Robby Benson, Richie Werner is a sensitive teenager living in the suburbs. He’s painfully shy and he deals with that shyness by taking the drugs that are supplied to him by friends like Brick (Charles Fleischer) and Peanuts (Clint Howard, yes that Clint Howard). His parents, George (Ben Gazzara) and Carol (Eileen Brennan), knows that Richie is struggling with both drugs and school. However, neither one of them have a clue as to how to help him. Carol spends most of the film silently hoping that things will somehow just magically get better. Meanwhile, George can’t understand his son and, even worse, he makes no attempt to understand him. George holds back his feelings and he’s obviously uncomfortable with his emotional son. George is the type who retreats to his basement when he needs to get away from the world and yet, he can’t understand why his son needs a similar sanctuary. When he discovers that Richie has set up a mini-bedroom in his closet, George destroys it.

Throughout the film, Richie tries to get his life straightened out. He gets a job working at a restaurant but he quits after his friends laugh at his dorky uniform. He tries to date a girl named Sheila (Cindy Eilbacher) but is heartbroken when he discovers that she’s going out with someone else. When Richie tries to talk his dad, George refuses to listen. When George tries to talk to Richie, Richie tells him to get out of his room. Finally, after Richie crashes his car one last time, it leads to an act of shocking violence. After all, the film is called The Death of Richie.

It’s also based on a true story, though there’s some debate over whether or not the film gets the story correct. In real life, Richie’s named was George Richard “Richie” Diener and he lived in Long Island. (The film appears to take place in a generic California suburb.) Richie’s death inspired a magazine article and book, both of which inspired this film. While I was doing research for this review, I came across a website about Richie’s death, one that argued that both the film and the book were too sympathetic to George’s version of what happened the day that Richie died. The site has comments from many of the people who knew Richie and I recommend it to anyone who watches this film and want to know the other side of the story.

As for the film itself, it’s well-directed, intense, and, at times, rather heart-breaking. As portrayed in the film, Richie is so desperate for some sort of approval that your heart just goes out to him. Robby Benson is one of those actors who you come across in a lot of 70s films. I’ve always found his performances to be a bit inconsistent and that’s certainly the case here. He’s good when he’s allowed a quiet moment or two but there are other times when he gets so shrill that it takes you out of the reality of the film. Ben Gazarra does a good job playing George as someone who loves his family but who is incapable of understanding his son’s pain. Gazarra adds just a hint of ambiguity to his anger toward Richie. Is he upset because Richie keeps getting trouble or has he reached the point where he’s just looking for an excuse to get Richie out of the family’s life? According to the comments that I read at the blog mentioned above, both the film and the subsequent book based solely their portrayal of the last minutes of Richie’s life on George’s account. Many people felt that there was more to what happened.

The film is a bit quick to blame all of Richie’s problems on the drugs. While the drugs probably didn’t help, there are times when the film seems to suggesting that Richie would have been a happy, go-lucky kid if he had never taken that first Seconal. Watching the film today, it’s obvious that there was a lot more going on with Richie than just weed and pills and it’s also obvious that calling the cops having them search his room while he watched was not the solution either. Richie needed someone to talk to and, in the film at least, that was apparently the one thing that he could not get. As the song says, things get a little easier once you understand.