Category Archives: TV Show

Retro Televison Review: Baywatch 2.9 “The Trophy: Part One”

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 Baywatch, which ran on NBC and then in syndication from 1989 to 2001.  The entire show can be viewed on Tubi.

This week, Eddie in trouble!

Episode 2.9 “The Trophy: Part 1”

(Dir by Douglas Schwartz, originally aired on November 11th, 1991)

Awkward teenager Caroline Larkin (A.J. Langer) doesn’t have any friends because her family’s poor and she’s from Ohio.  The only person on the beach who shows her any kindess is Eddie the lifeguard.  When Caroline tries to impress the rich girls on the beach by claiming to have been seduced by Eddie, the main mean girl makes sure that Caroline’s father finds out.  Eddie is shocked when he’s arrested and charged with statuatory rape …. despite the fact the fact that almost the same thing happened to Craig during the first season of the show.  

What makes thing particularly awkward is that Eddie is arrested just as he and Shauni are getting ready to go to a chairty gala.  Shauni finally got Eddie into a tux and then Eddie gets the handcuffs slapped on.

Meanwhile, parapalegic lifeguard Eric Turner (Daniel Quinn) returns.  He’s still in love with Megan (Vanessa Angel), the Australian lifeguard.  But he’s also bitter about having to use a wheelchair.  This is one of those stories that would be compelling if we had the slightest idea who Turner and Megan were before this episode aired.  This is also one of those episodes where totally new people show up and everyone acts as if they were there from the start of the series.  (In all fairness, Megan has appeared on the show before but her role has never been particularly large.)  Everyone else know who Eric Turner but we, the viewers, have never heard of him before.

Anyway, this is a two-part episode so neither storyline is resolved.  Since I’m taking next week off for America’s 250th birthday celebration, Eddie’s going to have to wait in jail for a while.  However, two weeks from now, we’ll see if Eddie can clear his name!

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 2.18 “Funhouse”

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 Fridays, I will be reviewing Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Tubi!

This week, a mansion is full of …. well, one surprise.

Episode 2.18 “Funhouse”

(Dir by Gilbert Adler, originally aired on February 11th, 1990)

Turk (Todd Allen), the moving man, is busy this week.

In our first story, Turk helps a young married couple, Emma (Robin Greer) and Robert Palmer (Clayton Landey), move into an old mansion.  Turk talks about how the previous owners came to a bad end.  Emma finds herself having dreams in which both Turk and her former lover, Colin (Joseph Brutsman), come aftter her.  She comes to realize that the house is not haunted by a ghost but instead by a man looking for revenge.  As is often the case with these type of stories, it all ends with a booby trap involving a bed of nails.  Yikes!

In our second story, Turk helps another couple move into the house, Evelyn (Valerie Wildman) and her much older husband, Victor Hall (Robert Dowdell).  This time, it’s Turk who ends up getting seduced by both Evelyn and the maid, Jillian (Laura Austin).  However, it all turns out to be an elaborate game tht Evelyn, Victor, and Jillian enjoy playing.  The bed of spikes booby trap makes yet another appearance and it’s so cool that it doesn’t even matter that Freddy’s Nightmares basically just repeated the twist from the first story in the second story.

This episode was fun.  There really wasn’t anything supernatural going on but the cast of both stories seemed to enjoy playing up the noirsh aspects of their characters and Todd Allen was amusing as the cocky but stupid Turk.  The bed of nails was an enjoyable macabre little twist.

Even at its best, Freddy’s Nightmares tended to be incredibly uneven but this was actually an enjoyable little episode.

 

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 4.1 “Remembrance Of Things Past”

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 Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988.  The show can be found on Daily Motion.

This week, we begin season 4 of St. Elsewhere!

Episode 4.1 “Remembrance of Things Past”

(Dir by Bruce Paltrow, originally aired on September 18th, 1985)

This week, we start a new season of St. Elsewhere!

Dr. Cavenero is no longer listed in the opening credits.  She’s not even mentioned in this episode, leaving her absence as a mystery.  The last time we saw her during the third season, she was suffering from a cold so maybe she died.  From what I’ve read, the real reason that she’s gone is because Cynthia Sikes, the actress who played her, objected to a season three storyline that would have featured her coming out as a lesbian.

From the start of this epiosde, St. Eligius seems like a happier place.  A lot of that is because Dr. Westphall is gone.  (That said, he’s still listed in the opening credits so we know, from the start, that will return.)  Doctors Craig and Aushlander are a bit overworked having to cover Westphall’s duties but still, the residents seem to be a bit more hopeful than usual in this episode.  Westphall’s perpetual glumness is no longer there to drag everyone down.

Morrison and Chandler have a conflict over a Vietnamese patient.  Morrison wants to give the patient the best care possible.  Chandler is upset because his older brother died in Vietnam and he feels like the patient doesn’t appreciate the sacrifice that Americans made during the Vietnam War.  Morrison, of course, was an anti-war teenager.  (There’s a reason why Helen Hunt calls him “boomer.”)

The whole Morrison/Chandler storyline felt a bit too heavy-handed to be effective.  While I can believe that Chandler would have his own strongly-held opinions about the war, I have a hard time believing he would be as unprofessional as he was in this episode.  Still, all of this does lead to a great scene where Morrison goes to Craig for the type of advice that he would usually get from Westphall and Craig responds by telling Morrison to get over it and concentrate on his job.

Seriously, I’ve been waiting for three seasons for someone to tell Morrison that.

Alfre Woodward joins the cast as Dr. Roxanne Turner, an OB-GYN.  In this episode, she counsels an infertile couple.  Dr. Turner wasn’t in much of the episode (and Alfre Woodard is not included in the opening credits) but I get the feeling that both she and the couple she was counseling are going to be around for a while.

The episode’s main storyline featured an amnesiac known as Joe Doe No. 6 (Oliver Clark).  After John Doe escapes from the psychiatric ward and steals a suit, he’s mistaken for Dr. Jonas Wisner, who has beent sent to St. Eligius to evaluate its teaching program.  John Doe No. 6 has a great time pretending to be Dr. Wisner and the doctors enjoy spending time with him.  Unfortunately, the real Dr. Wisner (Joseph Ruskin) shows up and the fun ends.

Oh, how I loved watching John Doe No. 6 interact with the staff.  Not only did it allow me to see the show’s characters through someone else’s eyes but it was also just an enjoyable storyline.  It was a reminder that the hospital can be an entertaining place when Westpall isn’t wandering around the hallways.

However, towards the end of this episode, Westphall showed up at the hospital.  Craig and Auschlander were happy to see him.  Westphall asked if he could have his old job back.  Of course, he can!  Really?  Didn’t Westphall walk off the job?  But apparently, he can just wander back into the hospital while wearing his hobo cap and all is forgiven.

The episode ends with Chandler taking an impromptu trip to Washington D.C. and visiting the Vietnam War Memorial.  As I watched this, it occuured to me that the memorial was still fairly new when this episoe aired.  Once I realized that, I understood why the show included the Morrison/Chandler storyline.  It pays to know history.

Season 4 is off to a good start!  I just hope Dr. Westphall doesn’t drag everyone back down.

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Hunter 1.10 “The Shooter”

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 Hunter, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1991.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!

This week, Hunter and a biker compete to see who has the fastest draw.

Episode 1.10 “The Shooter”

(Dir by Michael Lange, originally aired on January 4th, 1985)

Someone is gunning down motorcycle cops.  It’s a crime that both Hunter and McCall take personally.  Unfortunately, Bernie Terwiliger is in charge of the investigation and he insists that he doesn’t need any help from Hunter or “the brass cupcake.”  Considering that McCall’s husband was a police officer who was killed while doing a routine traffic stop, you would think Terwiliger would be a little bit more sensitive but nope.  That’s not the way things are done on Hunter.

Hunter and McCall conduct their own investigation, which leads them a country-western bar and a quick-draw video game.  Deke Broder (Robert Dryer) is a redneck who is very proud of having the fastest draw on the game.  The only problem is that cops keep coming in the bar and beating his time.  So, Deke stalks and kills them.

Deke — it’s just a game!

Soon, Hunter is playing the video game and Deke has a new target.

Now, this is a good episode!  It’s everything that you could want from an episode of Hunter.  It’s violent.  It’s fast-paced.  It’s got enough atmosphere to hold the viewer’s interest and it features a bad guy who is more interesting than the run-of-the-mill cop show villain.  Deke and Hunter have a lot in common.  They’re both cocky.  They’re both convinced their the best.  And they both really like to shoot their guns.  Between the motorcycles and Deke’s leather kill suit, this episode was pure style.

This is exactly what an episode of Hunter should be like.

Retro Television Review: Decoy 1.36 “Blind Date”

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 Thursdays, I will be reviewing Decoy, which aired in Syndication in 1957 and 1958.  The show can be viewed on Tubi!

This week, Casey goes undercover …. again!

Episode 1.36 “Blind Date”

(Dir by Stuart Rosenberg, originally aired on June 16th, 1958)

When Gladys (Mary Finney) and her niece Millie (Irene Dailey) are involved in a car accident, the police discover that they are transporting a large amount of stolen money.  Millie, who has been transporting drugs, had a meeting with a money launderer to exchange the money for clean bills.  Casey goes undercover, pretending to be Millie when she and Gladys meet with the launderer.  However, when Millie’s boyfriend (Elliott Sullivan) shows up, the entire operation falls apart.  Can Casey convince Millie’s boyfriend to turn on the criminals?

This is yet another episode where Casey’s carefully constructed cover is destroyed by something that the police should have been prepared for.  Not only is Casey pretending to be a real person (which increases the risk that she’ll run into someone who actually knows the person that Casey is pretending to be) but she’s also accompanied by the increasingly hysterical Gladys.  Usually, Casey is at least convincing when she goes undercover.  This time, she comes across as way to calm and collected to be believable as someone committing her first crime.

To be honest, after 36 of these episodes, I’m amazed that Casey has survived for as long as she has.  The New York police department seems to be truly incompetent.

Despite all of that, this was a good episode.  There was plenty of on-location New York footage and Beverly Garland did a good job of portraying Casey’s growing realization that 1) she was in over her head and 2) it was a mistake to bring Aunt Gladys along.  Lou Polan was also well-cast as the avuncular but still menacing money launderer.  He may have been a criminal but he was also very proud of his boat.  Who can blame him?

This episode ended up on vaguely upbeat note, one that really didn’t feel as it had been earned.  Decoy was always at its best when it was downbeat and realistic.  New York was a tough city, even back in 1958.

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 4.6 “The Dark Side”

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 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.

This week, who cares about a concussion?

Episode 4.6 “The Dark Side”

(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on November 9th, 1988)

Going into the half, the Bulls are in danger of losing their first game of the season.  Dodds Company executive Michael Westwood (Paul Tuerpe) has suspended Bubba and Jethro for refusing to sell their bar.  “They draw a criminal element,” Michael said.  “They’re just football players!” TD Parker (OJ Simpson) snaps back.  Because Bubba and Jethro aren’t there to protect him, quarterback Doug Clayton (Scott Geyer) has been sacked and is now playing with a concussion.

During the coach’s locker room talk, Doug suddenly imagines that he’s in a Vietnam war film and that he and the team are soldiers on a mission to rescue Bubba and Jethro from a POW camp.  OJ Simpson dresses up like Rambo and leads the assault.  OJ kills a lot of people in this episode!

His fantasy over, the still dazed Doug heads back out to play the second half, this time with Bubba and Jethro once again blocking for him.

So, to make clear, Doug is playing with a severe concussion.  That’s really the entire plot of this episode.  The Vietnam stuff is occasionally amusing if overly broad.  Bubba and Jethro recreate The Deer Hunter’s Russian Roulette scene.  OJ Simpson still comes across as being oddly mild-mannered, even while firing a machine gun.  That said, it’s hard not to feel that Doug, who gave up a Rhodes scholarship to play professional football, is basically sacrificing his life for one game.

Oh well.  The Bulls win.  That’s the important thing.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat Boat 7.25 and 7.26 “”Dreamboat/Gopher, Isaac & the Starlet/The Parents/The Importance of Being Johnny/Julie and the Producer”

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, everyone’s singing!

Episodes 7.25 and 7.26 “Dreamboat/Gopher, Isaac & the Starlet/The Parents/The Importance of Being Johnny/Julie and the Producer”

(Dir by Robert Scheerer, originally aired on May 5th, 1984)

A Hollywood film crew is setting sail on The Love Boat.  They’ll be shooting a movie called Dreamboat and the passengers and the crew will be acting as extras!  Dreamboat is a musical which means that, for the next two hours, everyone on the Pacific Princess is going to be randomly breaking out into song.

From what I’ve seen online, there’s a tendency to dismiss the musical episodes of The Love Boat but I have to admit that I kind of enjoy them.  Our Love Boat crew may not have been the most musically talented group of people but they all seemed to be enjoying the chance to show off and try to hit those high notes.  The songs themselves are nothing special.  It really is more of a community theater production than a Broadway show.  But I like community theater productions.  It’s always nice to see everyone trying their hardest and doing their best.

What’s happening on the ship in between songs?  A lot!

  • Star Faye Marsh (Juliet Prowse), who is insecure about her struggling career, holds up shooting with her demands.  The only time she’s truly happy is when she’s spending time with Doc Bricker, who is a longtime fan.
  • Gopher and Isaac try to get a role in the film.  When they fail to impress director Bennett Barton (Ben Vereen), they then team up to try to help a passenger named Shelley Rush (Melba Moore) get a role.
  • Julie is shocked to discover that the film’s producer, Marty Chenault (Dean Jones), is the brother of her former fiancé.  (Julie’s former fiancé was previously played by Tony Roberts so it was apparently decided to give Dean Jones a perm so that he could look more like Roberts.  It doesn’t really work)  Julie and Marty seem to be falling in love but is it Marty that Julie likes or is she just missing the former lover of her life?
  • Vicki has a crush on singer Johnny Lovett (Jimmy Osmond), who is nervous about making his film debut in Dreamboat.  Johnny sings Spinning Wheel while Vicki snaps her fingers.
  • Captain Stubing falls for Johnny’s mother, Angela (Alexis Smith).

There’s a lot of people to keep track of in this episode but ultimately, the stories don’t matter.  This episode is about singing and dancing and having a good time.  Everyone seems to be having fun.  I felt happy while watching them.

That said, I know what you’re wondering.

On a scale of 0 to 10, Julies scores a perfect ten this week.  When she first sees Marty, her eyes flash with an energy that is generated by more than just love.  This week, Julie never stop smiling and she often seems to be sniffing whenever she’s in the background.

And you know what?  As long as Julie’s happy, I’m happy for her.  This was a very happy episode.

Next week, we reach the end of the seventh season!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 4.8 “Heat In The Hole”

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 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, Chris is finally sent to prison.

Episode 4.8 “Heat In The Hole”

(Dir by Terence H. Winkless, originally aired on October 11th, 1998)

This is the dumbest episode of Pacific Blue yet and that’s really saying something.

The incarcerated are being murdered at the local women’s prison so, of course, a bicycle cop is sent in undercover.  Actually, two bicycle cops are sent in.  The homicide squad wants Chris to go in and pretend to be a prisoner.  TC gets jealous of the hunky homicide detective who is in charge of the case so he assigns Bobby to go undercover as a prison guard and keep an eye on Chris.

This is one of those women’s prisons where everyone is young and attractive (no meth addicts here!) and apparently the official uniform is a tank top.  It doesn’t take long for Chris to establish herself as being tough and willing to fight.  Every prisoner comes to respect her, which is important because, when a riot breaks out, Chris reveals she’s a cop and that she needs the help of the prisoners.

And the prisoners are cool with that.

Seriously.

“Ignore the cop part,” someone says, “Think of how she’s treated us!”

That’s the power of being a bicycle cop.  You can show up in a prison, beat people up for two days, betray everyone’s confidence, and the prisoners will still forgive you for …. reasons, I guess.

Needless to say, if you’re an undercover cop in prison, do not reveal the truth in the middle of a prison riot.  That might work on Pacific Blue but it’s probably the dumbest thing you can do in real life.

While TC is sitting around at home worried, Monica sees this as her chance to make a move on him.  Considering that TC and Chris haven’t stopped arguing since they impulsively got married in Vegas, maybe Monica isn’t really the problem here.  I know that we’re supposed to be rooting for TC and Chris but neither one of them is particularly likable.  I would not want to go out on a couples date with them.

At the end of this episode, two corrupt prison guards are arrested.  Chris leaves the prison.  TC pretends to be happy about it.

This was a dumb episode.

 

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.7 “The People’s Choice”

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

This week, Screech becomes a crusading editor.

Episode 2.7 “The People’s Choice”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 1st, 1994)

Feeling underappreciated at the high school, Screech asks to be made faculty advisor of the school paper.  With a staff made up of the Gang, Screech rejuvenates the paper.  Soon, he is directing an investigation into why there’s no money in the school’s athletic budget for the girl’s swim team to go to state.  Could it be because the misogynistic football coach (Brian Reddy) is a embezzling the money so the football team can go on a trip?

Unfortunately, everyone gets so involved in pursuing the story that they neglect their studies and they skip Mr. Belding’s college entrance exam review session!  Honestly, college entrance exams are incredibly easy and anyone who needs a review session to do well on them wasn’t going to get into a decent college anyways.  Seriously,  just blow all that off and go to a party school like I did.  GO MEAN GREEN!

Anyway, Screech realizes the error of his ways and puts the newspaper staff through a grueling review session.  Everyone does well on their exam.  And Screech disguises himself as an old man and tricks the coach into confessing his embezzlement!  The coach presumably works with Screech every day so how did he fall for a wig and a fake mustache?  Seriously, what is the deal with this show and disguises?

Despite the rather stupid plot, this episode wasn’t that bad.  Dustin Diamond actually gave a fairly believable performance as Screech and the ensemble had a good chemistry.  I’ll admit that I laughed at Tommy D’s attempts to be a food critic.  I bet we never hear about the newspaper again.

 

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.24 “Ice Cream Man”

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 Prime!

This week, a cop-turned-criminal tries to prove that he’s gone straight.  Will he able to convince Ponch?

Episode 5.24 “Ice Cream Man”

(Dir by Leslie H. Martinson, originally aired on April 18th, 1982)

Tom Corey (Robert Walker, Jr.) used to be a top member of the Highway Patrol until he was caught breaking the law himself.  Tom Corey was a car thief, not because he needed the money but just because he needed the thrill.  Tom was sent to prison.  His wife (Karen Jennings) divorced him.  His son (Noah Hathaway) was told that Tom had died shortly after he was born.  Now, nearly six years later, Tom is out of prison and he’s working as an ice cream man.  He insists that he’s gone straight and all he cares about now is keeping a distant eye on the son who doesn’t know who he is.

Baker is willing to give Tom the benefit of the doubt but not Ponch.  When a rash of vehicle thefts break out, Ponch suspects that Tom is involved.  To an extent, Ponch is right.  The ringleader of the thieves is a businessman named Reno Hale (James Wainwright).  Hale wants Tom to work for him.  Tom sees an opportunity to redeem himself by taking Reno down.

This was an interesting episode, in that the focus was not on Ponch or Baker but instead on Tom and his efforts to prove that he had gone straight.  In fact, this episode almost felt like a backdoor pilot for a series that would have focused on Tom’s life outside of prison.  It’s easy to imagine Tom spending each week foiling criminals while trying not to violate the terms of his parole.  Robert Walker, Jr. gave a strong performance as Tom and the scenes between him and the cops were filled with an energy that reminded me of the first two seasons of CHiPs, before the whole thing became the Ponch Show.

This was a good episode.  Tom was an interesting character and there was one spectacular accident that actually made me jump a little.  (It looked like Randi Oakes barely avoid getting seriously injured.)  This was a nice throwback to what the show used to be.