On tonight’s episode of Ghost Story, college co-eds are being drained of their blood! Who could the culprit be? Oddly, some say that they saw a recently deceased college professor near the scene of the crime. What was that professor studying when he died? Vampirism!
This one is kind of silly but I always enjoy a vampire story. This episode aired on December 1st, 1972.
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!
We are reaching the conclusion of the first season of Hang Time and it’s time for us to ask where we’re all going with this show. What will be the ultimate conclusion of Deering’s season? Let’s get in the mood to find out with the Hang Time theme song!
Get out on that court and put it in the basket!
Episode 1.11 “The Bachelor Pad”
(Directed by Howard Murray, originally aired on November 18th, 1995)
“Great game, everyone!” Coach Fuller announces at the start of this episode, letting us know that Deering is finally having a good season. I wonder if they’ll make it to the state championship? (Of course, they will! A show would never be made about a merely adequate team. That seems a bit unfair, though. Most high school teams are merely adequate and surely, they deserve some representation as well!)
There’s trouble in paradise! Danny’s parents are out of town and, for some reason, this leads to Danny staying at Coach Fuller’s penthouse for three days. A student staying with his teacher and coach for the weekend? I remember when this happened on Degrassi. The end result was the coach getting fired and the student being traumatized for life. Seriously, Danny staying with Fuller seems massively inappropriate but I guess the 90s were a different time. Meanwhile, Sam is worried that no one takes her seriously because she’s just the equipment manager.
Anyway, you can guess what happens, can’t you? Coach Fuller goes out for the evening. Danny does the Risky Business dance in Fuller’s penthouse and then everyone from school shows up. The wild party leads to Fuller’s $3,000 chair getting damaged. The next day, during the game, Fuller learns about the party and the damage to his chair and he chases Danny out onto the court. Fuller is kicked out of the game and Sam has to take over. Sam coaches the team to victory and the team apologizes to the coach. Yay!
Oh — and due to winning that game, the team is going to the league championship! Take that, merely adequate teams!
As for the episode itself, this is another one of those episodes that drives me crazy because every problem that the characters run into is due to their own stupidity. Still, it was nice that Hillary Tuck finally got a chance to shine. The team owes their victory to a redhead. Yay, Sam!
Episode 1.12 “Poetic Justice”
(Directed by Howard Murray, originally aired on November 25th, 1995)
“Chris and I are a couple!” Julie announces at the end of this episode.
“A couple of what?” Mary Beth responds and I’ll admit right now that I laughed. Megan Parlen’s delivery was perfect on that line.
Mary Beth has reason to be upset because, just before Julie made her announcement, she was telling Chris that she wanted to get back together with him. Mary Beth may have thought that she was over Chris but Earl encouraged her to write a poem about her feelings and that led to Mary Beth realizing that she was still in love with her ex.
Earl’s a poet now? Yep.
Julie is finally ready to public with her relationship with Chris? Yep.
The championship is coming up with all of this drama going on? Yep.
Yes, it’s all kind of silly but it was worth it for that one line. “A couple of what?” It made me laugh and that really is kind of the point of the show.
Next week, it’s championship time!
On tonight’s episode of Ghost Story, a rodeo is terrorized by a series of cougar attacks. Could it have anything to do with the cat-like wife of rodeo star Doug McClure?
This episode originally aired on November 24th, 1972 and it is kind of silly but …. hey, it’s Doug McClure. It doesn’t get more early 70s than Doug McClure.
Enjoy!
Film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel were not usually thought of as being fans of the horror genre, with Gene going so far as to tell his viewers to write to Betsy Palmer to tell her how upset they were over her appearing in Friday the 13th.
Despite this, in 1988, Siskel and Ebert devoted an entire episode of their show to recommending horror films that they felt were overlooked when first released. And I have to say, they actually mentioned some good ones.
From 1988, Siskel and Ebert discuss “hidden horrors:”
Previous Moments In Television History:
Here’s some thoughts on what I watched this week!
Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)
Oh Lord, the Story Samurais. Seriously, I’ve known people just like that. I was cringing for them through the entire episode. Ava continues to be the best character on the show.
The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)
I wrote about the latest episode of The Amazing Race here.
Atlanta (Thursday Night, FX)
This week’s episode dealt with an enigmatic entertainment mogul known as Kirkwood Chocolate, who was a prolific and popular creator of melodramatic dramas and broad comedies. Everyone on the show acknowledged that Mr. Chocolate’s shows were not necessarily good but they also wanted to support black art. Mr. Chocolate, himself, turned out to be a somewhat crazed megalomaniac who also claimed to have no control over his shows. Lottie briefly became Mr. Chocolate’s biggest star. It was a funny and thought-provoking episode and it made no attempt to hide that Kirkwood Chocolate was basically Tyler Perry.
Bachelor In Paradise (Monday and Tuesday Nights, ABC)
I just watched it for the scenery. It is kind of interesting that everyone who has been eliminated so far came from Clayton’s season. It’s like someone put a curse on that season and the people involved will never find peace.
Beyond The Headlines (Sunday Morning, Lifetime)
This was a one-hour discussion of the Gabby Petito case, which Lifetime aired as a companion to The Gabby Petito Story.
East New York (Sunday Night, CBS)
On Sunday, I watched the first episode of CBS’s newest cop show, East New York. The main reason that I watched it was because I had been inundated for commercials for the show while I was watching Big Brother last month. Much as I was expecting, East New York turned out to be a middling cop show, one that tried to walk the fine line between back the blue and defund the police. It didn’t really work but it was nice to see that the show had good roles for Richard Kind and Jimmy Smits.
Ghosts (Thursday Night, CBS)
Sam started a podcast about Hetty’s murder but, in order to get funding, she had to accept the eccentric and creepy Todd Pearlman as a co-host. This episode wasn’t quite as funny as the season premiere but it did set up what I assume will be this season’s major storyline.
Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, FOX)
Someone finally tried to serve raw chicken. It’s not really Hell’s Kitchen until that happens.
Inspector Lewis (YouTube)
I watched the end of the 8th series on Tuesday. Robbie was upset because one of his old cases was being reopened. I was upset because Hathaway had a truly terrible haircut. Hopefully, that’ll be corrected next week.
Interview With A Vampire (Sunday, AMC)
I watched the premiere on Monday and I was bored out of my mind.
Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)
Anti-Asian hate crimes have been on the rise in New York City so, of course, Law & Order decided to do an episode about it in which they blamed it all on a generic right-wing gun nut who was upset over COVID. The U.S. government wanted to prosecute the criminal but they also wanted to see the death penalty. “I don’t know if I can set my personal beliefs aside,” Price said. When has Price ever been able to set aside his personal beliefs? Seriously, we’re only to seasons into this season and I’m already sick of Price talking about his personal beliefs.
Law & Order: Organized Crime (Thursday Night, NBC)
I did watch Organized Crime but seriously, don’t even ask me what happened on this week’s episode. I got bored and kind of zoned out. All I know is that Stabler needs to relax. Maybe try yoga or something.
Law & Order: SVU (Thursday Night, NBC)
SVU took a heavy-handed swipe at influencer culture this week. It was a bit of a generic story but the episode was somewhat redeemed by Killi Giddish’s performance as Amanda Rollins, who is still struggling to put being shot behind her.
Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head (Paramount Plus)
Never will I forget the horror of Beavis putting on Yoga pants. The season came to an end this week with an appropriately hilarious episode. First, Beavis and Butt-Head were thrilled to discover their employer reserved the right to refuse service to customers who created an unsafe work environment. And then Beavis decided that he would “look really sexy” in yoga pants. Needless to say it didn’t go well. As for the overall season, I liked it. I perhaps would have done a bit less with Old Beavis and Old Butt-Head but otherwise, this was a really funny and sharply satiric show.
Night Flight (NightFlight+)
I watched two episodes of this old 80s show on Friday night. One dealt with songs about drugs. The other was a profile of Depeche Mode.
The Real Love Boat (Wednesday Night, CBS)
Basically, this is just Paradise Hotel on a boat. Who knows? Maybe everyone will find love before the season ends.
So Help Me Todd (Wednesday Night, CBS)
This is a new show about a lawyer and her son, the private investigator. Guess what the son’s name is! CBS advertised the Hell out of this during Big Brother, so I watched the first episode when it was re-aired on Sunday. It was not quite as bad as I was expecting but it’s still very much a middle-of-the-road, safe to watch with your middle-aged relatives sort of show. Marcia Gay Harden plays the lawyer and it’s nice to see her playing someone who isn’t a half-crazed victim for once.
Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)
I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor here.
Talking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)
I still like Talking Dead but it’s hard not to feel that everything that can be said about The Walking Dead already has been said. Even Chris Hardwicke seemed to be kind of bored with it all.
The Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)
The Walking Dead returned with a boring episode. Let’s hope things pick up next week.
Tonight’s episode of Ghost Story is full of stars!
Evil grandpa comes to visit his family and, with the help of voodoo cookies (you read that right), he tries to manipulate his deaf and mute granddaughter into helping him kill everyone! Grandpa is played by Melvyn Douglas. His granddaughter is played by Jodie Foster! And the script was written by none other than Robert Bloch and Richard Matheson!
This episode originally aired on November 10th, 1972.
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 California Dreams, which ran on NBC from 1992 to 1996. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
The story of California’s blandest garage band continues. Last week was all about Tiffani getting mad at her mom and surfing. What will this week be about?
Let’s just lie here in the sun until these dreams are done. Actually, how do those lyrics go? I don’t really feel like relistening to theme song to find out.
Episode 1.11 “They Shoot Videos, Don’t They?”
(Directed by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 21st, 1992)
Remember Randi-Jo? Randi-Jo was Matt’s girlfriend. She was incredibly boring but so was Matt. On the show, Randi-Jo appeared in the pilot and then she appeared in the 3rd episode and then she vanished and the viewers even saw Matt dating (or at least trying to date) other women.
In episode 11, Randi-Jo suddenly shows up again! She and Matt are so in love that she gets upset when Matt is supposed to be kissed by a girl in a music video that the Dreams is filming for a music video contest. Randi-Jo ends up dumping Matt’s boring ass and Matt gets all mopey and writes a depressing song. The Dreams then go on to film a music video that looks like every student film ever made. Check out that dark lighting! Check out that emotional close-up! It looks like every bad indie film to ever come out of Austin.
This episode might have been better if Matt and Randi-Jo weren’t such boring characters and if maybe Matt was a little bit less whiny. (“I just need to be alone, okay?” Shut up, Matt.) We do get watch the process by which Matt turns heartbreak into a song and it’s not very impressive. (“Maybe I’m crazy,” Matt sings and I have to admit that I kind of groaned at the realization that Matt Garrison was essentially a 16 year-old version of Michael Bolton.) To be honest, though, Randi-Jo was being a bit unreasonable. People kiss in music videos. Calm down.
Episode 1.12 “The Time”
(Directed by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 28th, 1992)
The Dreams need a tour bus so that they can get to a show that’s several miles away. Sly buys an old VW van, one that is covered with 60s era graffiti and bumper stickers about making love and not war. Jenny freaks out when she finds a Partridge Family cassette in the van. I don’t blame her.
Jenny has other problems, though. She’s gotten back together with her jerky ex-boyfriend, Eric. Eric is charming but self-centered and he doesn’t believe in the Dreams! Soon, Jenny is blowing off rehearsals and actually having a life separate from hanging out with her brother’s band. However, Eric soon proves himself to still be a cad and Jenny returns to the band. Yay, I guess.
This one was okay, if just because every woman has known and dated someone like Eric and it’s good to be reminded that we deserve better. Plus, Jenny got to star in her own black-and-white music video, which was far superior to the video that Matt starred in with his little break-up song.
These two episodes left me feeling mellow.
On tonight’s episode of Ghost Story, Pamela Franklin plays two roles. She plays both Christina Burgess and Lisa (hey!), the twin sister who Christina has never met. When Lisa mysteriously dies (boooo!), Christina finds herself haunted by her sister’s ghost. But is the ghost benevolent or is the ghost seeking revenge?
Co-written by Richard Matheson, this episode originally aired on November 3rd, 1972.
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing One World, which ran on NBC from 1998 to 2001. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
The Cast of One World
When we last checked in with One World, Jane was dating Ben’s no good brother and Ben was dating a recovering alcoholic named Alex. How much drama will this all lead to? Let’s find out. After all, we’re living in one world….
Episode 1.11 “The Thanksgiving Show”
(Directed by Chuck Vinson, originally aired on November 28th, 1998)
The holidays are approaching and the Blakes are a family divided.
Cray is heading to Disneyland with a previously unmentioned friend, “Bobby DeVito.” (I assume he’s a mix of Robert De Niro and Danny De Vito.) Ben and Marci are throwing a charity benefit for the homeless at Miami’s hottest under-21 club, The Warehouse. Offended that Ben is only using his benefit to promote his music career, Neal is planning on giving out food to the homeless on his own. Meanwhile, Sui is waiting to hear whether or not she’s gotten a try-out with the U.S. Olympic team and Jane is worrying that the Blakes won’t have the type of big, traditional Thanksgiving that she’s always secretly wanted.
Sui’s an Olympic-class athlete? Where did that come from? And Jane is secretly obsessed with turkey and yams? Again, it kind of comes out of nowhere. But you know what? This was actually a pretty effective episode and both Michelle Krusiec (as Sui) and Arroyn Lloyd (as Jane) gave good performances that convinced the viewer that yes, Sui could go to the Olympics and yes, under her tough exterior, Jane actually could be a lover of big family holidays. And even if the benefit storyline was a bit heavy-handed, it was still heartfelt and sincere. Sitcoms are kind of notorious for bad holiday episodes but One World did a pretty good job as far as Thanksgiving was concerned.
This episode ended with a cliffhanger as Sui was injured in an auto accident. How would this effect her Olympics dreams? The answer was in the very next episode.
Episode 1.12 “The One Where Sui and Alex Walk”
(Directed by Chuck Vinson, originally aired on December 5th, 1998)
Sui returns from the hospital and, saying that rehab hurts too much, she abandons her Olympics dreams. But then, for some odd reason, Cray decides that he wants to play the harp and Sui figure that if Cray can handle everyone in the world laughing at him, she can handle the pain.
Actually, I know that sounds like I’m being snarky but this was a pretty good episode and the entire cast really delivered, even when the dialogue got a bit heavy-handed. Speaking as someone who has broken her ankle more than a few times, this episode did a very good job of capturing the fear and uncertainty that comes from recovering from a major injury.
Meanwhile, Alex left Ben because it was totally obvious that he’s in love with Jane. And Jane left Bryan because it was totally obvious that Jane only liked Bryan because he shared Ben’s DNA. Now that they’re both single, will Ben and Jane get together?
We’ll find out next week!
In tonight’s episode of Ghost Story, a sickly child is upset when he becomes to ill to continue going to school. Luckily, his doppelganger shows up and starts going to school for him! Unfortunately, it turns out that the doppelganger isn’t quite as benevolent as one might hope.
This episode co-stars Oscar-winner Helen Hayes and was co-written by Richard Matheson. It originally aired on October 27th, 1972.
Through the Shattered Lens 