Category Archives: TV Review

Late Night Retro Television Review: Monsters 2.13 “Habitat”

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 Wednesdays, I will be reviewing Monsters, which aired in syndication from 1988 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on YouTube.

This week’s episode is an experiment that doesn’t quite work.

Episode 2.13 “Habitat”

(Dir by Bette Gordon, originally aired on January 14th, 1990)

Jamie Neal (a young Lili Taylor) is 23 years-old and newly single.  She’s been offered an opportunity that could earn her enough money that she will never have to work another day in her life.  She has to spend 9 months in an enclosed space.  She’ll be given food to eat.  She requested to be given a guitar to play.  All she has to do is spend nine months in the room and react every time that she hears an annoying buzzing sound.  Of course, she can’t go outside or have any contact with anyone else.  The entire time, someone will be watching her.

Jamie starts the experiment feeling confident and almost cocky.  She carefully reads over the contract, commenting on how easy it will be to handle all of the requirements, before signing it.  Jamie brags that her ex-boyfriend was an attorney (though he preferred to be called a “litigator,” — hey, I know the type, Jamie!) and she knows exactly how to read a contract as a result.

The story jumps forward a few weeks.  Jamie is in isolation, still reacting to every buzz and eating the pizza that’s randomly sent down to her.  However, she is no longer cocky and confident.  She’s grown tired of being trapped in one room and not even her guitar brings her joy anymore.  She wanders around the room, demanding to be set free.

There’s a twist to this episode and I bet you already guessed it.  That twist is that Jamie is a part of an experiment that is being conducted by a bunch of aliens.  As they watch Jamie lose her mind and eventually her life in the small room, the aliens dispassionately discuss how strange humans are.  They hate to be confined and yet they have no problem confining the animals that live with them.  Jamie may have viewed herself as being a prisoner with no freedom but the aliens viewed her as being a pet.  One alien (and I should note that the rubber alien costumes are absolutely ludicrous) says that he thinks he might be feeling an emotion that humans call “grief.”  Someone was obviously hoping to play a half human/half whatever science offer on a Star Trek spin-off.

(“What is this thing you humans call joy?”  Bleh.)

This episode was pretty dull.  Obviously, Lili Taylor is a talented actress but in this one, she gets stuck with some really less-than-impressive dialogue.  Not even the scenes where she’s losing her mind are particularly interesting.  There’s nothing shocking about discovering that she’s had a breakdown.  One can see that it’s going to happen from the minute that she steps into the chamber.  By that same token, there’s nothing at all surprising about the big twist.  Even though who haven’t read Slaughterhouse-Five will easily guess that Jamie is being put on display.

This was a rather forgettable experiment.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 4.22 “Sally’s Paradise/I Love You, Too, Smith/Mama and Me”

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 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, Gopher finds love!

Episode 4.22 “Sally’s Paradise/I Love You, Too, Smith/Mama and Me”

(Dir by Earl Bellamy, originally aired on March 7th, 1981)

Occasionally, on The Love Boat, a member of the crew would happen to find love.

It seemed to happen most often to Julie.  Having watched three and three-quarters seasons of The Love Boat, I’ve lost track of the number of times that I’ve seen Julie tear up while saying goodbye to a passenger with whom she had fallen in love.  Isaac also seems to have had his share of shipboard romances.  Doc is almost always seen escorting someone to his cabin.  The Captain is usually busy running the ship but he’s found a few opportunities to fall in love.

And then there’s Gopher.  Poor, goofy Gopher.  He’s had a handful of cruise romances but, compared to his co-workers, they tend to be few and far apart.  This week, however, Gopher finally gets to have another romance.  (Perhaps not coincidentally, the Gopher storyline was co-written by Fred Grandy.)

Angelina Blenderman (Joanna Pettet) is the by-the-book customs agent who always takes her time checking people’s luggage when they disembark from the ship.  Blenderman and Gopher have an antagonistic relationship, with her making fun of him for wearing shorts with his uniform and Gopher complaining that Blenderman is a humorless scold.  But when Blenderman boards the ship and Gopher discovers that her boyfriend, Ray (Christopher Pennock), is a total cad who is cheating on her, Gopher and Blenderman fall in love.

And you know what?  It’s actually really sweet.  Fred Grandy and Joanna Pettet had a lot of chemistry and they made for a cute couple.  Pettet did an especially good job of capturing the insecurity lurking beneath the abrasive surface.  My heart really broke for her when she first discovered Ray cheating on her.  (Grandy himself had a nice moment where he shyly revealed to Blenderman that his little-used first name was actually “Burl.”  “Stick with Smith,” Blenderman replies.)  I was happy to see that Blenderman and Gopher were still together at the end of the cruise.

As for the other (less interesting) stories, Sally (Juliet Mills) is the manager of the ship’s gift shop.  When Julie hears that Sally’s fiancé, Donald (Gary Conway), is boarding the ship, she is excited for Sally.  Then Sally’s other fiancé, Ricardo (Pedro Armendariz, Jr.), unexpectedly boards the ship.  And then Henry (Kenneth Kimmins) boards the ship and Julie learns that Sally has gotten engaged to a third man!  None of the men know about each other.  Sally explains to Julie that she loves something different about all three of them.  When Donald, Ricardo, and Henry all stop by the gift shop at the same time, Sally’s secret is revealed.  Realizing that she has to choose and having been assured by the men that they will respect her choice, Sally decides to remain single and continue to date all three of the men.  Good for Sally!  On the one hand, her actions are very manipulative, regardless of how much she loves each man.  On the other hand, she is right when she says she has the right to explore different things and enjoy her life.  Somehow, Juliet Mills makes Sally into a likable character.  (One can only imagine how cringey this episode would have been if Hayley had played the role.)

Finally, Natalie Corson (Sylvia Sidney) boards the ship with her son, Stanley (Eddie Mekka).  Natalie wants Stanley to marry a woman that he’s not in love with.  Stanley would rather marry his childhood friend, Jill (Joan Prather).  Natalie accuses Jill of being a nudist because she wears a bikini but eventually, Natalie comes to realize that she’s not being fair and her son deserves to be happy.  The problem with this story was that Stanley was such a wimp that you couldn’t help but feel that Jill deserved better.

With the exception of the third story, this was a fun cruise.  I’m glad Gopher found love and Sally found lust.  It was an enjoyable trip on the boat that offers something for everyone.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Baywatch Nights 2.9 “Night Whispers”

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 Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Baywatch Nights, a detective show that ran in Syndication from 1995 to 1997.  The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

This week, a vampire comes to California!

Episode 2.9 “Night Whispers”

(Dir by Reza Badiyi, originally aired on  November 24th, 1996)

The mysterious Francesca (Felicity Waterman) is being held in police custody as a suspect in the murder of a jogger.  The jogger was found with his throat slit.  Ryan, who was there when the body was found, suspects that Francesca might be vampire.

Why?  Ryan has her reasons.

  1. Francesca speaks with the same type of unplaceable Eastern European accent that all vampires tend to speak with.
  2. Francesca wears sunglasses inside and says she can’t go out during the day because her eyes are just too sensitive to the sunlight.
  3. Francesca occasionally wears a cape.
  4. Francesca wears gloves to hide her vampire hands.
  5. Francesca’s gown was splattered with the dead guy’s blood.
  6. Francesca does not cast a reflection in her apartment’s mirror.

(Why do vampires even own mirrors?)

Ryan seems like she has a pretty good case but Mitch is skeptical.  Mitch doesn’t believe in any of that supernatural stuff, despite the fact that he’s spent the past few months dealing with sea monsters, ghosts, and government conspiracies.  Just a few episodes ago, he stepped into a house and was transported through time!

I mean, don’t get me wrong.  I understand skepticism.  For the most part, I’m a skeptic too.  But the main reason that I’m such an adamant skeptic is because I haven’t ever had anything supernatural happen to me.  Now, if I started meeting ghosts and sea monsters on a regular basis, I would probably become less of a skeptic.  I would reexamine all of my prejudices and I would say, “Hey, maybe something is out there.”

Not Mitch, though!  Mitch listens to Ryan explain why she thinks Francesca is a vampire and he laughs it off.  What’s odd is that it takes Ryan forever to get around to mentioning that Francesca does not cast a reflection.  Instead, she fixates on Francesca wearing gloves in California.  Trust me, the whole mirror thing is a lot more convincing than the glove thing.  Some people wear gloves and some people don’t but everyone (except for the undead) casts a reflection.  Ryan also points out that Francesca doesn’t have a birth certificate and ….. SHE’S NOT REGISTERED TO VOTE!

A trip to the police station to visit Francesca goes terribly wrong when Francesca gets out of her cell and proceeds to stalk Mitch, Ryan, a detective, a pimp, and two prostitutes through the building.  Though Francesca is willing to drink anyone’s blood, it becomes obvious that she’s obsessed with capturing the Hoff and really, who can blame her?  I imagine she would be quite popular with her co-workers if she was the one who turned the Hoff into a vampire.

This is a deeply silly episode but the same can be said of just about every episode of Baywatch Nights.  There’s no reason to take this show seriously.  The important thing is that the action movies fairly quickly, Felicity Waterman appears to be having a ball as the vampire, and the Hoff and Angie Harmon get to show off the chemistry that made Baywatch Nights a lot more fun than it had any right being.  This may not be a classic vampire tale but it’s an entertaining one.

Retro Television Review: Fantasy Island 5.8 “Lillian Russell/The Lagoon”

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 Tuesdays, I will be reviewing the original Fantasy Island, which ran on ABC from 1977 to 1984.  Unfortunately, the show has been removed from most streaming sites.  Fortunately, I’ve got nearly every episode on my DVR.

Episode 5.8 “Lillian Russell/The Lagoon”

(Dir by Don Weis, originally aired on November 28th, 1981)

Tattoo is in this episode, which means that Julie only appears long enough to tell Mr. Roarke that she’s going to busy exploring the island with a bunch of hunky professors.  (It says a lot about how poorly the Julie character has been developed that I couldn’t tell if Julie was supposed to be naive or clever when it came to going off with the men.) 

At this point, it’s obvious that Julie was only added to the show to act as insurance in case Herve Villechaize walked off the set.  Early on in the season, when Herve was apparently negotiating for a better contract, Julie had a few episodes where she was Roarke’s main assistant while Tattoo was described as being elsewhere on the island.  But in the episodes where Tattoo is present, Julie always has to go do something else for the weekend.  Ironically, Julie is such a bland and unnecessary character that it actually proves Herve Villechaize’s point about how important Tattoo was to the success of the show.  By having Julie always leave whenever Tattoo is present, the show really only reminds the viewer that Roarke only needs on assistant and it’s Tattoo.

As for this week’s fantasies, they both have to do with the past.

Calvin Pearson (Claude Akin) has just spent years in prison for a crime that he didn’t commit.  He’s finally been released and, understandably, he really doesn’t want to have much to do with the rest of the world.  When he was a child, he spent a summer on a nearby island with his father.  His father was fisherman and Calvin claims that he once caught a fish that could sing.  Calvin wants to spend the weekend on the Island and he wants to catch the same serenading fish.

Sound like a pretty simple fantasy, right?  Well, Calvin is not happy to discover that the he’s not alone on “my island.”  There’s now a trading post, run by Jake Dutton (Broderick Crawford) and his daughter, Mira (Pamela Susan Shoop).  Even worse, there are some recently escaped convicts (led by Glenn Corbett) who want to kidnap Mira!  At first, Calvin refuses to get involved.  He just wants to fish.  But, in the end, he finally does the right thing and saves the Duttons.  

What about the “serenading fish?”  Calvin may not have caught a fish but he did capture the heart of Mira, who hums a tune that she says she once heard out on the lagoon.  Calvin leaves the Island alone but he tells Roarke that he plans to return so that he can work at the trading post with the Duttons.

This fantasy was a bit predictable and you really do have to wonder why Roarke insists on nearly getting his guests killed every week.  It seems like that would lead to a lawsuit.  But the fantasy does feature a good performance from Claude Akin as a man who manages to conquer his own bitterness.

As for the other fantasy, it features Phyllis Davis as a writer named Lilly Martin who wants to write a book about the singer Lillian Russell.  Roarke sends her back to 1890s New York and literally transforms Lilly into Lillian Russell, complete with singing talent and two notorious suitors, “Diamond Jim” Brady (Gene Barry) and Peter Whiting (Craig Stevens).  This fantasy was enjoyable eye candy, with Lilly getting to dress up as Lillian Russell and getting to wear all sorts of jewels.  Unfortunately, it’s also a fantasy that ends with a poker game.  I’ve never been able to follow poker and I always groan a little whenever the plot of a show hinges on the outcome.  Whenever people start talking about “bluffing” and “royal flushes,” and all that, my eyes just glaze over and that was the case here.

That said, at least Mr. Roarke got to take part in Lilly’s fantasy, popping up not once but three times to see how everything was going!  In fact, Mr. Roarke and Tattoo also popped up in Calvin’s fantasy.  It’s always fun when Roarke drops in.

The poker game aside, this was an enjoyable trip to the Island.  Season 5 has been a bit uneven but this was one of the better episodes.

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 2.11 “Supercycle”

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 Mondays, I will be reviewing CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983.  The entire show is currently streaming on Freevee!

A daredevil motorcyclist known as the Phantom is making the street dangerous in Los Angeles!  Can Ponch and Baker catch him before it’s too late?

Episode 2.11 “Supercycle”

(Dir by Phil Bondelli, originally aired on December 2nd, 1978)

From what I’ve read, Larry Wilcox was apparently often unhappy on the set of CHiPs and, watching this week’s episode, I can see why.

This week’s episode follows only one storyline.  A motorcycle-riding daredevil known as the Phantom (George O’Hanlon, Jr.) is driving around Los Angeles and doing stunts.  It’s all a part of a promotion that’s being run by the unscrupulous Fred Gesslin (Jason Evers).  When Ponch and Baker chase the Phantom and end up losing him, footage ends up on the news and totally humiliates the Highway Patrol.  Getraer is even less amused than usual.

Luckily, Harlan has a supercycle in the garage.  Ponch and Baker decide to take the Supercycle out so that they can use it to capture the Phantom.  Ponch and Baker both get a chance to test the Supercycle on the test track.  Ponch is a natural.  Baker crashes.  So, of course, Ponch is the one who gets to ride the Supercycle….

AND THAT’S THE WAY IT ALWAYS IS ON THIS SHOW!

Seriously, if there’s anything cool to do, Ponch is going to be the one to do it.  If there’s an exciting story, it’s going to center around Ponch.  Despite the fact that Larry Wilcox looks a hundred times more comfortable on a motorcycle than Erik Estrada, Baker is always going to take a back seat to Ponch.  Seriously, that would bother anyone!  In this case, it means that Ponch is the one who gets to use the Supercycle.  Baker can just stand in the background and force himself to smile.  Poor Baker!

Now, Baker does get a small measure of revenge.  He’s the one who gets a date with Sheila Martin (Karen Carlson).  Sheila owns the advertising company that Fred is working with to promote the Phantom.  Since Sheila knew about the Phantom and didn’t immediately share that information with Ponch and Baker, it really seems like she should have gotten in as much trouble as Fred.  But Baker needs a date so Sheila’s off the hook.  Oddly enough, the Phantom is let off the hook too.  It turns out that he’s just an innocent guy from the country who was led astray by Fred.  Never mind the Phantom could have killed multiple people with his reckless driving.

No matter, though!  The stunts are spectacular in this episode and who doesn’t like the idea of owning a supercycle?  That’s really the only thing that matters as far as this episode is concerned.  Ponch may have gotten to ride it but, ultimately, the Supercycle has a place in everyone’s heart.

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 2.21 “Free Verse”

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 Mondays, I will be reviewing Miami Vice, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.  The entire show can be purchased on Prime!

This week, the Vice Squad gets a big assignment.

Episode 2.21 “Free Verse”

(Dir by John Nicollela, originally aired on April 4th, 1986)

The wheelchair-bound poet, Hector Sandoval (played by Byrne Piven), is coming to Miami so that he can testify before a Congressional committee about the human rights abuses that are occurring in his home country, abuses that Hector claims have been partially funded by American interests.  Hector is a world-famous poet but his history as an outspoken political dissident has made him politically important as well.  He’s been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.  Meanwhile, the right-wing death squads from his own country want him dead.  Because Sandoval is equally critical of his country’s rebels, the left wants him dead as well.  They feel he has more value as a martyr than as a living dissident.

With so many people trying to kill this important, world-famous person, his safety in America is the government’s top-most concern.  So, naturally, the task of protecting Sandoval is assigned not to the FBI, the CIA, or the Secret Service.  Instead, it’s given to the Miami Vice Squad.  You read that correctly.  A bunch of undercover cops are assigned to protect one of the most important men in the world.  They meet him when he lands in the airport and their pictures are immediately taken by the horde of reporters waiting for Sandoval’s arrival.  I guess everyone’s cover is blown now.

This is not a particularly interesting episode.  Obviously, the show was looking to make a point about not only the political situation in Central America but also the role of the U.S. government in propping up various dictators and turning a blind eye to human rights abuses.  That’s fine.  Indeed, watching an episode like this today serves as a good reminder that Chavez and Maduro were hardly the first dictators to take power in South and Central America.  But this episode gets so caught up in making its political points that it forgets to be interesting.

A huge part of the problem is that the members of the Vice Squad spend a lot of this episode in the background.  The emphasis is on Hector Sandoval and his daughter, Bianca (Yamil Borges).  Unfortunately, Byrne Piven goes so over-the-top as Sandoval that it’s impossible to take the character seriously.  It’s a genuinely bad performance and it makes the episode a bit of a chore to sit through.  (Admittedly, it is entertaining watching Edward James Olmos refuse to show a hint of emotion while Sandoval devours all of the scenery in their scenes together.)

For celebrity watchers, Bianca Jagger shows up as an assassin but she doesn’t really get to do much.  Luis Guzman and future director Michael Bay play the imaginatively named “Goon #1” and “Goon #3.”  Otherwise — and especially when compared to the episodes that came before it — this is a surprisingly forgettable episode of Miami Vice.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 3.7 “The Whole Truth”

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 Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

Finally, it’s time to wake up in the morning and return to Degrassi….

Episode 3.7 “The Whole Truth”

(Dir by Eleanore Lindo, originally aired on January 16th, 1989)

Caitlin is super-excited!  She is the editor of the Degrassi Digest and she is convinced that the upcoming edition will be the best ever.  The only problem is that Kathleen has written an editorial in favor a school dress code.  Caitlin doesn’t want to publish Kathleen’s article but what could she replace it with?

When Caitlin sees that Liz and Spike are putting up posters featuring a monkey being tortured, she asks them what’s going on.  Liz explains that there’s a big animal rights protest march coming up.  Caitlin asks Liz to write an article about it but Liz says she doesn’t like to write.  Instead, she invites Caitlin over to her house and shows Caitlin several grotesque videos of different animals being experiment edupon.  Caitlin writes an editorial calling for the Degrassi student body to boycott any company that tests on animals.

Woo hoo!  Way to go, Caitlin, right?  Well, not quite. Kathleen is not happy that her editorial was cut.  She informs Caitlin that a lot of important medical breakthroughs were the result of scientists testing on animals.  Caitlin does some research and discovers that some animal research has to do with treating neurological conditions, like epilepsy.  Being an epileptic, Caitlin no longer feels that she can go to the protest march with Liz and Spike.  Liz accuses Caitlin of not caring about animals.  Meanwhile, one of Caitlin’s assistant editors resigns from the Digest because her father works for a company that tests on animals.

And so, Caitlin learns that there are two sides to every story!  Of course, that’s a lesson that Caitlin will have forgotten by the time Degrassi: The Next Generation rolls around but we’ll get to that later.

While Caitlin learns an important lesson about journalism, Joey continues to try to get someone at CRAZ-E radio to listen to the Zit Remedy demo tape.  He even get a job working at the place as a janitor.  He does such bad job that he gets fired after three days.  But radio sex therapist Dr. Sally (Sue Johanson) listens to the tape and tells Joey that he’s very talented.  Joey is super-excited.  As for the other Zits, Snake seems to be largely indifferent and Wheels is still too depressed to care about anything.

Finally, Scooter and Bart order some “sea monkeys” from the back of a comic book and are shocked to discover that the ad was rip-off.  I understand that Scooter and Bart were probably added to the show so that it could still appeal to kids even as the main cast became teenagers.  But seriously, Degrassi Junior High is a show that deals with teen pregnancy, drugs, eating disorders, journalistic ethics, and family conflict.  Nobody has time for any of this sea monkey nonsense.

Despite the sea monkeys, I thought this was a pretty good episode.  Caitlin’s shock upon discovering that an issue was more complicated than just right or wrong was something to which I could relate.  That there are two sides to every story may sound like a simple lesson but it’s one that people often need to be reminded of, perhaps now more than ever.  As for Joey, my heart broke for him in this episode.  He really doesn’t seem to get that his friends just aren’t as enthusiastic about the band as he is.  Poor guy.

Next week, it appears that the episode will be about the Farrell Twins, who are my least favorite characters on the show.  Oh well.  I know I can make it through.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out 2.10 “Edna Displays Talent”

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 the Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

After a two month break, it’s time to return to Canada’s favorite grocery store.

Episode 2.10 “Edna Displays Talent”

(Dir by Alan Ehrlich, originally aired on December 19th, 1986)

The tagline for the second season of Check It Out might as well, “Continuity: Who Needs It?”

After spending the previous few episodes as a hypercompetent manager and a great boyfriend, Howard is back to being an idiot in this week’s episode.  Not only does he not appear to be capable of managing a lemonade stand (let alone a supermarket) but he is again so dense that he doesn’t realize that Edna is feeling stuck in a rut.  Edna begs Howard to assign her the job of designing a display for a new barbecue sauce.  Howard, of course, gives the job to Christian.

Christian has no idea what to do so he gets Edna to do it for him.  Edna, recalling a romantic camping trip that she took with Howard when they first started dating, creates perhaps the ugliest display that I’ve ever seen.  Seriously, look at this:

Not only it an eyesore but how is anyone going to be able to reach the front registers with all of that stuff sitting in the way?  Plus, what exactly is the display for?  It’s supposed to be for barbecue sauce but it looks like it’s for red tents and Styrofoam trees.

That said, Howard is really impressed by the display.  He assumes that Christian is the one who did it.  Even after Edna shames Christian into telling the truth, Howard continues to assume that Christian is the one who built the display.  I’m not sure why Howard is so stupid in this episode but it certainly makes the company’s decision to fire him in the previous episode easier to understand.

Meanwhile, Murray is desperately trying to lose his virginity.  When he asks Howard for advice, Howard tells him about the time he and Edna went on a romantic camping trip and …. suddenly, Howard recognizes the display!  He apologizes to Edna and asks her to join him in the tent.

“In the store?” Edna says, surprised.

(Like, seriously, they’ve been together for seven years and they’ve never had sex in the store before?)

Uh-oh, turns out Murray’s busy losing his virginity in the tent.  Sorry, Howard and Edna!

This episode was an odd one, in that it required Howard and Edna to behave in ways that went against everything that the show had previously established about their characters.  But I laughed more than I thought I would.  The truth of the matter is that Don Adams was always funnier when he played Howard as a buffoon than as a nice guy.  As well, Jeff Pustil always makes me laugh as the cowardly but sneaky Jack Christian.  Pustil was very good at making desperation funny and Christian is desperate for the majority of this episode.

Finally, check out Marlene’s hair this episode:

This episode was dumb but it made me laugh.  That’s good enough for me.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 9/1/24 — 9/7/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’ve been getting ready for our annual October horrorthon so, this week, I binged a few of the shows that I review for the Shattered Lens and I wrote up several weeks’s worth of reviews.  If nothing else, I can proudly say that I’ve got reviews of CHiPs, Degrassi Junior High, Malibu CA, and Highway to Heaven all ready to go for the next two months.

On Friday night, I watched an episode of Night Flight that featured music videos from David Bowie.  The music was great.  Though it wasn’t featured on the episode, I found myself singing Heroes while I watched it.

On Saturday morning, Jeff and I watched an episode of Homicide: Life on the Streets, which is currently streaming on Peacock.  The episode featured Robin Williams as a man whose wife was gunned down in front of him and who found himself disgusted by the seemingly callous attitude of the detective investigating the crime.  This is a show that I’ve heard a lot about and one which I’ve been told I should consider reviewing for this site.  The episode that I saw was really good so I might have to do just that.

I haven’t really watched that much television over the past few months.  In fact, I went a few weeks without watching a single thing, which is one reason why there’s been a few weeks where I didn’t even have a reason to post a Week In Television. All of my focus was on taking care of my father.  I have a lot that I now need to get caught up on and I shall.  It might take a while but as James Bond told Tracy at their wedding, “We have all the time in the world.”

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 3.25 “Horshack and the Madame X!”

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!

I guess it’s time to get back to reviewing those Sweathog antics!

Episode 3.25 “Horshack and the Madame X!”

(Dir by Al Schwartz, originally aired on February 23rd, 1978)

So, I’m finally ready to start reviewing Welcome Back, Kotter again and …. OH NO!  It’s a Horshack episode!

Listen, don’t get me wrong.  Ron Pallilo, despite what some critics have said, did not give a bad performance as Arnold Horshack.  Consistently, he gave the best performance that he could with the material that he was given.  It’s just that, as the series progressed, the character was written in a way that was more and more cartoonish.  By the time the third season rolled around, a little bit of Horshack went a long way.  If the first season present Horshack as being a relatively believable class clown, the third season Horshack was the type of weirdo who made you want to take out a restraining order.

This episode finds Horshack depressed because he can’t get a girlfriend.  The Sweathogs try to help but the truth of the matter is that no one wants to date Horshack.  (Not be mean but would you want to date Horshack?  Especially when Barbarino, Epstein, and Washington are right there?)  When Gabe mentions that he’s going to be teaching a night class at NYU, the Sweathogs announce that they’ll go over to his apartment to keep an eye on Julie.  Gabe agrees to this, mostly because he secretly hates Julie.

At the apartment, Julie tries to give Horshack some encouragement and makes the mistake of allowing him to show her how he asks a girl out on a date.  Horshack falls in love with Julie and he decides that she’s in love with him.  As I said, restraining order time!

The next night, Julie invites Horshack to dinner so she can let him down easy.  Unfortunately, Horshack shows up early and Julie has to try to talk to him with wet hair and wearing a bathrobe.  Then the other Sweathogs shows up and assume that Julie is leading Horshack on.  This episode did the impossible, in that it made me feel sorry for Julie.  Usually, Julie comes across like someone who is just permanently in a bad mood but this episode really drove home just how unfair it is that she has to continually play hostess to her husband’s students.  To be honest, Julie has the patience of a saint in this episode.

Travolta made me laugh a few times but otherwise, this was one of those episodes where I just wanted the Sweathogs to leave the apartment and leave the Kotter family alone.  Probably the most interesting thing about this episode is that Gabe was barely in it.  Reportedly, Gabe Kaplan and Marcia Strassman did not get along and it’s easy to sense that during the third season.

As for this episode’s opening joke, Gabe told Julie about his uncle who became a mailman and then bit himself because he thought he was a dog.  Gabe’s family is just wacky!