Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 2/19/23 — 2/25/23

Posted on February 25, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

With this being the week of Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday, I didn’t watch much but I did watch some. And here are my thoughts!

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

PESCA …. PESCA …. PESCA …. I’m not really a fan of the whole “the charter school is coming for us!” storyline but I do love the Gregory/Janine storyline. Some of Tyler James Williams’s line deliveries made me laugh so hard that I nearly fell out of my chair while watching this week’s episode.

Animal Control (Thursday Night, FOX)

I like Joel McHale and I really like animals so I was hoping that I would really, really like this new sitcom but …. eh. The first two episodes just didn’t work for me. As tired as I am of the whole mockumentary format, I do kind of feel that maybe that was the approach that should have been taken with Animal Control. Right now, the show just feels a bit forced and awkward and the frequent lowbrow humor feels cheap. Despite the presence of McHale, this is definitely not Community. I did laugh when the weasel set that guy’s house on fire, though.

The Brady Bunch Hour (YouTube)

I wrote about The Brady Bunch Hour here!

California Dreams (YouTube)

Here’s this week’s review.

City Guys (Tubi)

Here’s this week’s review!

Fantasy Island (Tubi)

Here’s this week’s review!

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

I watched last week’s episode of Law & Order on Monday night. It dealt with a shooting at a nightclub. The shooter was stalking his ex-girlfriend but the majority of the episode dealt with the cop who responded to the 911 call and who froze and sat in his police car for 3 minutes before entering the club. Obviously, this was meant to remind the viewers of both the cowardly deputy at the Parkland shooting and the cops who stayed outside of the classroom in Uvalde. The show had sympathy for the cowardly cop. I did not, just like I didn’t have any sympathy for Scott Israel’s deputies. This was another episode that ended with Price getting his conviction but still getting punched outside the court because all of the bad publicity led to the cowardly cop committing suicide. Again, the show attempted to put the blame on the tabloid press. Myself, I put the blame on the cop who let others die.

As for this week’s episode, it dealt with race as Detective Shaw filed a report on two cops who profiled him at a crime scene while the show’s defendant was a real estate guy who was spreading rumors about mostly black criminals in order to run down property values. This was one of those episodes where the person on trial was definitely a bad guy and he was probably guilty but I still didn’t think Price proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt. I think the Law & Order revival would benefit from occasionally admitting that even a good prosecutor can lose a weak case. It would make the show a bit more realistic. At this point, Price is apparently the greatest prosecutor who has ever lived because he has a 99% success rate despite the majority of his cases being noticeably weak.

What’s interesting is that, after basically spending a season and a half as a self-righteous loose cannon who did things like prosecute a pharmaceutical firm just to get revenge for his brother’s unrelated death, Price is now being portrayed as being a pragmatist while the cops are now the social justice warriors. Of course, who knows? The next episode could find Price once again tilting at windmills and Cosgrove once again acting like a reactionary. Narrative consistency is not one of this show’s strengths.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Night Court (Tuesday Night, NBC)

When Abby’s train is delayed, she annoys all of the other passengers with her upbeat personality. I have no idea to whom this show is meant to appeal. The only reason I watched it is because I needed to have something in the background for thirty minutes while I did some dusting.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 2/12/23 — 2/18/23

Posted on February 18, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week I decided to get a head start on my retro television reviews and I ended up watching and writing up reviews for three months worth of Hang Time and California Dreams. I am exhausted and I have dueling theme songs stuck in my head.

Here are some thoughts:

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

“Fire!” This week’s episode of Abbott Elementary was a classic and, after two somewhat uneven episodes, a return to form. I loved Ava’s response to the fire. I would have done the same. “Wait, you went to a spa?” Well, where else should she have gone?

Accused (Tuesday Night, FOX)

This week, the accused was a father-turned-vigilante, on trial for the murder of a man who molested his daughter. The idea had the potential to be interesting but the execution was flat. The episode’s big guest star was Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who gave a credible performance but who was also a bit on the dull side.

California Dreams (YouTube)

I watched six hours of California Dreams this weekend. I will never get the theme song out of my head.

The Devil Next Door (Netflix)

This is a Netflix docuseries about John Demjanjuk, a retired auto worker in Detroit who was accused of being Ivan the Terrible, a notorious Nazi concentration camp guard. While Demjanjuk was indeed a former camp guard, there’s still some debate over whether he was also Ivan The Terrible. It was a fascinating and disturbing story. With Demjanjuk now dead, we’ll probably never know for sure whether or not he was Ivan but that doesn’t change the fact that this rather mild-looking elderly man was a participant in the most monstrous crimes in history.

Fantasy Island (Tubi)

I reviewed Fantasy Island here!

Hang Time (YouTube)

I watched and wrote up reviews for 15 hours worth of Hang Time episodes this week. I’m exhausted but, on the plus side, I won’t have to watch the show again until June.

The Love Boat (Paramount+)

I wrote up the first season finale of The Love Boat here!

Night Court (Tuesday, NBC)

In this week’s episode, a bunch of children led a protest in Abbie’s courtroom. My goodness, it was truly an embarrassing episode. Night Court doesn’t know if it wants to be goofy or edgy and the lack of focus is really becoming an issue.

Night Music (YouTube)

This was a live music program from the 80s. The episode that I watched on Friday night featured Stevie Ray Vaughn, Van Dyke Parks, and David Sanborn. The music was great!

The Super Bowl (Sunday Night, FOX)

I watched it for the commercials, as the game didn’t really interest me and I didn’t have any real feelings about either one of the two teams playing. However, I will say that everyone that I know is pretty happy that the Eagles lost. And while I don’t have anything against the Eagles as a group of individual athletes, I do kind of resent the Philadelphia Parking Authority, as a result of having watched too many episodes of Parking Wars.

The Watchers (Netflix)

I watched the first four episodes of this Netflix miniseries on Tuesday night. The mystery was intriguing but, like so many Ryan Murphy-produced programs, it felt like there was way too much padding and I kind of started to lose interest in it all as the story progressed. Fortunately, both Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale were well-cast.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 2/5/23 — 2/11/23

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I had a cold for most of this week. Actually, I still do. Somehow, this did not lead to me watching more TV than usual.

Here’s some thoughts on what I did watch this week!

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

It’s Valentine’s Day and we all totally know that Janine and Gregory totally belong together. The show wasn’t particularly subtle about it as Maurice gave Janine an empty bag while Gregory’s girlfriend was downright rude about Gregory’s present! While this was going on, Ava was discovering the joy of learning and Jacob was teaching black history. All in all, it was a good episode. I always worry that Abbott Elementary is going to be overshadowed by the whole Office-style mockumentary format but the show has definitely established its own identity.

The Bachelor (Monday Night, ABC)

Good Lord, Zach is boring. I think that’s going to be my review of every episode this season.

The Brady Bunch Hour (YouTube)

I wrote about The Brady Bunch Hour here!

California Dreams (YouTube)

I wrote about California Dreams here!

Fantasy Island (Tubi)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Future Quest (Nightflight Plus)

Future Quest was a show that aired on PBS in 1994. Hosted by Jeff Goldblum, it took a look at the “future.” I watched the first episode on Saturday morning with Jeff and our friend Pat McCurry. It was full of people talking about what they expected the 21st Century would be like and amazingly, they weren’t that far off. Quite a few of them predicted that we would eventually end up watching movies on our phone, for instance. Only one person said that email’s popularity would fade and people would go back to hand-written letters. Sadly, an even larger group of people thought that the future would usher in an era of peace as we moved away from geographic conflicts, political unrest, and terrorism. With the benefit of hindsight, it was interesting to see what people got right and what people got wrong. And, of course, Jeff Goldblum was totally charming.

Hang Time (YouTube)

I wrote about Hang Time here!

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, FOX)

I was not at all surprised when Alex won this season, as he was clearly not only the best chef but the best leader as well. Still, it was very emotionally satisfying to see him walk through that door. Alex was one of the many business owners to have their lives upended by the COVID lockdowns. From the minute this latest season began, he just seemed destined to win. It just felt right,

The Love Boat (Paramount+)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Night Flight (NightFlight Plus)

I watched two episodes of this old entertainment digest on Friday night. Both of the episodes were from 1990. The first one was a profile of the band, The Art of Noise, which I liked quite a bit. The second was a look at some films that were coming out that weekend. None of the films looked particularly memorable.

South Park (Comedy Central)

South Park is back. Cupid Ye not only satirized Kanye West but it also showed why his rantings are so dangerous. At a time when so many people are still treating Kanye West like he’s just some sort of kooky eccentric as opposed to someone using his huge platform to spread destructive conspiracies, South Park has more guts than almost every other show on television combined.

Stolen Youth (Hulu)

I watched this creepy documentary on Saturday morning. A middle-aged man named Larry Ray stayed with his daughter at Sarah Lawrence College and started a sex cult! The documentary featured interviews with some of the students who fell under his malevolent sway. As opposed to the unlikable people in The Vow, the interviewees in Stolen Youth were all sympathetic victims who were preyed upon by someone who knew how to take advantage of their naivety.

Lisa Marie’s Week in Television: 1/29/23 — 2/4/23

Posted on February 4, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I watched quite a bit. Let’s see what I can remember about it.

Accused (Tuesday Night, FOX)

This week’s episode was actually pretty good. It has an enjoyably macabre ending and was well-directed by Jonathan Mostow.

The Amazing Race 5 (Netflix)

The fifth season of The Amazing Race is on Netflix! I watched a few episodes this week. I’m glad that Colin and Christie were given a second chance to compete on the show because they really were the strongest competitors during the fifth season. After getting used to the mellow Colin who appeared the second time, it was interesting to be reminded just how intense and ultra-competitive he was the first time he appeared on the show. I know that Colin and Christie were meant to be the fifth season’s “villains” but, honestly, it’s impossible not to like them. I respect the fact that they consistently refused to yield or U-turn anyone.

American Auto (Tuesday Night, NBC)

Anna Gasteyer’s character went on the Seth Meyers show to try to soften her image and convince everyone that she really wasn’t the country’s most hated CEO. I understand that the whole point here was to reunite Gasteyer and Meyers, as I assume they were on Saturday Night Live at the same time. But I don’t know. Gasteyer had a few funny moments but Meyers has never really appealed to me a a talk show host. And really, if you were a CEO trying to improve your image by appearing on a talk show, would you go on the one that most people don’t watch? She should have held out for Fallon.

The Bachelor (Monday Night, ABC)

Boring!

The Brady Bunch Hour (YouTube)

I wrote about The Brady Bunch Hour here!

California Dreams (YouTube)

I wrote about California Dreams here!

City Guys (Tubi)

Uh-oh! It looks like Tubi has removed a few episodes of City Guys! Fortunately, I think I can find them all on YouTube. Anyway, click here to see what I wrote this week!

Football Game: Bengals vs Chiefs (Sunday Evening, CBS)

I watched this game with Jeff and Erin. I guess I’m glad the Chiefs won. The Bengals uniforms were a kind of silly looking.

Football Game: Eagles vs 49ers (Sunday Afternoon, FOX)

Was it on FOX? I honestly can’t remember. Anyway, I watched this game with Jeff and Erin and they were a lot more into it than I was. I decided that I would root for the 49ers because Philadelphia is the city of Parking Wars but I changed my mind once it became obvious that the 49ers weren’t going to win.

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, FOX)

I’m not sure if I agree with Chef Ramsey’s decision to keep Dafne over Sommer. Sommer may have been abrasive when she was put in charge of the Kitchen but she was still a lot less scatter-brained and more effective than Dafne was. That said, we all know that Alex is going to win this season.

Kids Behind Bars: Life or Parole? (Hulu)

This show originally aired on A&E. I watched an episode on Monday morning and I was immediately reminded of why I never particularly cared for this show. Not only does it exploit real-life tragedy but it’s also so biased and heavy-handed that it’s not really worth watching as a work of journalism.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

This week, the murderer was a prosperity preacher. Nolan Price used a bunch of shady legal tricks to convince a judge to force a minister to break his sacred oath. This show is always at its most cringey when it tries to deal with religion. As I watched this week, I noticed that the show is now playing up the whole “relationship” angle between Price and Maroun. They’re a cute couple but I kind of want to see Maroun handle a case without Price hovering over her shoulder.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Night Court (Tuesday Night, NBC)

I know I watched the episode because I jotted it down in my notes for the week but I can’t remember a thing about it. That’s kind of a recurring problem with Night Court. I’ve seen every episode so far and I still can’t really tell you anything about the show or its characters.

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

I watched an episode from the 80s. It was all about the use of animation in music videos.

Survivor: Philippines (Hulu)

There are several old seasons of Survivor on Hulu. I watched a bit of the Philippines season, which featured the unbelievably hot Malcolm and the unbelievably obnoxious Abi-Maria. Along with Penner, RC, Russell, and a few others, this season featured some of the least likable castaways ever but it also featured Malcolm so it all worked out.

TV Party (Nightflight Plus)

I watched an old episode of this 80s public access program on Friday night. Chris Stein, of the band Blondie, led a small band in playing medieval music. Then a bunch of drunk people called the studio and threatened to beat him up.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 1/22/23 — 1/28/23

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here are some thoughts on what I watched this week!

(I’ve got a headache coming on so excuse the bland intro.)

Accused (Tuesday Night, FOX)

The latest new legal show is Accused. Based on a BBC series, Accused is an anthology series in which, each week, a different person is accused of a crime and, through the use of flashbacks, we see how they came to be accused. Anthology series tend to be rather uneven and I have a feeling that’s going to be the case with Accused.

The first episode featured Michael Chiklis as a wimpy Dad who went from plotting to kill his son to giving his son a lot of money so his son could go on a trip to Iceland. Of course, it turned out that his son was lying and he instead used that money to buy a bunch of guns and shoot up his school. Chiklis was found to be irresponsible but not legally liable. It was a bit of a bland episode but, reportedly, it set a record for the number of people who watched. (Of course, it also aired right after the Cowboys/49ers game.) Michael Chiklis was miscast as a father who was too meek to stand up to his obviously unstable son. And even if the role had been perfectly cast, the father was still too much of wimp to generate much sympathy.

The second episode was directed by actress Marlee Matlin and it was a little bit on improvement over the first episode. It dealt with a couple who discovered that their newborn was deaf and their surrogate, who was also deaf and felt that she had to intervene to keep the parents from subjecting the child to a surgical procedure. Matlin’s direction elevated the episode, especially the opening scene in which Matlin showed the viewer what it was like to live in a world without sound. That said, the anthology format still left me feeling as if the episode was a bit inconsistent. Basically, an entire season’s worth of information was crammed into 45 minutes. I didn’t quite buy the episode’s ending, either.

As far as the show as a whole is concerned, we’ll see. I’ll probably watch the next few episodes, just to see if I’m correct in my assumptions. Hopefully, the season will shape up to be better than I’m currently expecting.

American Auto (Tuesday Night, NBC)

I think that Tuesday night was the first time that I’ve ever watched American Auto and I hate to say it but I was so busy cleaning the house that I mostly just used it for background noise. So, I really don’t have any thoughts on this show beyond the fact that Ana Gasteyer is funny.

The Bachelor (Monday Night, ABC)

Zach is the new bachelor and oh my God is he bland. Zach met the women vying to become his wife and he also got some advice from former bachelor Sean Lowe. The show is always happy to bring back Sean because, after 26 seasons, he is the sole Bachelor success story. Anyway, Zach assured us that he is on the show for the right reasons and hopefully, he will find his future wife amongst the bachelorettes.

The Brady Bunch Hour (YouTube)

I wrote about the 2nd episode of the Brady Bunch Hour here!

Customer Wars (Wednesday Morning, A&E)

This show features footage of customers getting into fights with other customers and yelling at the employees of the stores where they shop. Ugh. A&E did a mini-marathon on Wednesday morning and I watched a few episodes because I was waiting for the new episode of Accused to drop on Hulu. It was hella depressing. There’s a lot of trashy people out there.

Personally, I’d rather see a show called Costumer Wars.

Football Game: Cowboys vs 49ers (Sunday Night, FOX)

I watched this game with Erin. The Cowboys lost so I guess winter is going to last for another six months or something. In the past, whenever the Cowboys lost, everyone in Dallas would be depressed for weeks afterwards but this year, no one seems to really care. I guess everyone’s used to it.

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, FOX)

The first Black Jacket dinner service turned out to be an utter disaster as the Fab Five totally fell apart in the kitchen. When Chef Ramsay kicks everyone out of the kitchen, does that mean all of the diners just have to go home without getting any food? I’ve always wondered this.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, FOX)

I didn’t pay much attention to Law & Order this week. I mostly just had it in for background noise while I was doing some stuff around the house. I noticed that it was a murder trial and the accused was a teenager so I’m guessing the internet was to blame. I also noticed that the judge really got into banging down that gavel. Seriously, I jumped every time that I heard it.

The Most Comfortable Bra You Will Ever Own (Monday Night, Infomercial)

I’m pretty sure that I already have the most comfortable bra that I will ever own.

Neighborhood Wars (Tuesday Night, A&E)

This is a show about feuding neighbors. Like most of A&E’s other true crime shows, it makes heavy use of footage taken from drones, cell phones, and home security cameras. The episode that I saw was a look at the “ten most memorable moments of Neighborhood Wars.” To be honest, it was kind of a depressing show to watch. All of the people featured were trashy, stupid, ugly, and inarticulate. “Get your fucking bitch ass out here!” one pregnant woman yelled at her neighbor. Ugh.

Night Court (Tuesday Night, NBC)

Eh. Is it really necessary for Abbi to be a recovering alcoholic? Do people watch sitcoms to be depressed?

Parking Wars (Weekday Morning, A&E)

I watched two episodes on Tuesday morning while I was waiting for the Oscar nominations to be announced and, not surprisingly, Parking Wars was just as obnoxious as I remembered. I know the show is over ten years old now and I hope that means that the Philadelphia Parking Authority finally did something about the ugly décor of the majority of their buildings. If you don’t want people to think they’re living in an authoritarian nightmare, try not to work out of offices decorated in the mid-50s communist style.

Survivor: Redemption Island (Hulu)

This old season of Survivor, featuring Boston Rob and Russell Hantz and introducing the concept of Redemption Island, is now on Hulu. I watched the first episode and it was kind of nice to be reminded of how much fun Survivor was before its post-COVID facelift.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 1/8/23 — 1/14/23

Posted on January 14, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week did not leave much time for television watching. I had a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday. I drove my father to and from a doctor’s appointment on Friday. And I had a lot of movies to watch!

Here’s some notes on the five (yes, only five) television programs that I watched this week!

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

“FIGHT!”

What a wonderful episode, this was. Sometimes, kid just don’t get along and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, FOX)

It’s time for the blind taste test! The blind taste test is an annual Hell’s Kitchen tradition but it’s hard for me to think of another season where the chefs failed quite as dramatically as they did during this season. It was a bit odd because, for the most part, the chefs have been pretty strong this season. Last night proved that anyone can have an off-day.

Brett was sent out of Hell’s Kitchen as the end of this week. To be honest, I don’t think anyone was surprised, as it was obvious that Brett will be a great head chef once he gets more experience but he wasn’t quite ready just yet. Still, it was kind of sad to see Brett go. He was always entertaining and he definitely always seemed like he was doing his best to improve with each dinner service. Brett also seems like the type who will be back whenever the show does another all-star season.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

For the second week in a row, Samantha Maroun actually got to do something more than just gaze lovingly Price. This week, she led the prosecution of a rich teenager who was arrested for beating an ex-con to death. The teenager’s defense was that he had been driven temporarily mad by super-strong marijuana. (Yes, I can hear everyone rolling their eyes. Look, I’m just reviewing. I didn’t write the episode.) Maroun was determined to get a murder conviction until Price told her that she was taking the case personally and that she needed to set aside her personal feelings and her own guilt about the death of her sister.

To which I have to say, really? Like, who is Price to tell anyone not to take a case personally? Price takes every case personally. Price put a pharmaceutical CEO in prison because Price has never gotten over the death of his junkie brother. Price may have been correct about Maroun but it still feels a bit hypocritical on his part. That said, I think the writers may have figured out that having two prosecutors who take everything personally doesn’t always work dramatically. Ever since the show returned from its holiday break, Price has suddenly been a lot more pragmatic.

There’s a lot of people online who, after last night’s episode, are convinced that Price and Maroun are in love with each other. They’re probably right. McCoy’s not in any position to forbid it, either. (It’s kind of funny how McCoy has gone from being a self-destructive, alcoholic womanizer to being the voice of wisdom.)

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

This week, we finished up watching Night Flight’s 1982 New Year’s Eve special. Most of it was made up of footage of Grace Jones performing and being interviewed. It was weird but entertaining. Apparently, 1983 got off to a very trippy start.

Project Greenlight (YouTube)

On Wednesday night, I watched three episodes of the third season of Project Greenlight. This is the season that aired on Bravo and which detailed John Gulager’s efforts to direct Feast. No one had any faith in Gulager but he did a pretty good job with Feast and he’s the only one of the Project Greenlight winners to go on to have a notable career. The episodes that I watched deal with the casting of the film and it was once again infuriating to watch as the film’s casting director went out of her way to undercut Gulager and cast her best friend in the film. The third season of Project Greenlight is the one that really makes the viewer hate Hollywood.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 1/1/23 — 1/7/23

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As the first week of January comes to a close, here’s some thoughts on what I watched!

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

Abbott Elementary returned this week with a sweet episode in which we got to see that Melissa actually is a really good teacher and that Jacob has no idea how to do a podcast. I have to admit that I cheered a little when, at the end of the episode, Melissa revealed that, due to the contest rules being poorly written, her “classroom” had indeed won the reading competition.

The Circle (Netflix)

The Circle was back with four more episodes on Wednesday. Marvin destroyed his game by trying to be a player while Billie-Jean and Shubham ended up getting eliminated. (Shubham did not help himself by losing his temper while answering a “savage question.”) I want to like Raven but the whole “everything about Raven is perfect” narrative makes it difficult. At this point, my favorites are Tom and Xanthi & Brett. I also have to say that I found Sam to be a lot more likable this week than I did last week.

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, FOX)

Hell’s Kitchen returned and we have finally reached my favorite part of the season, when Chef Ramsay starts to show his softer and more encouraging side and the remaining chefs finally get a chance to show how good (or bad) they can be. Abe got sent home but he also get some words of encouragement. That was nice. I actually like all of the remaining chefs but it’s hard not to feel like its pretty obvious that Alex is going to win.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

Law & Order returned with a new episode and this week and — yeesh! After several episodes that were generally intelligent, well-done, and not too heavy-handed, this week’s episode felt like a parody of Law & Order. This week’s murder victim was a undocumented immigrant who had been sent to New York City from Texas so, of course, we had to spend a lot of time listening to the cops talk about how heartless the governor of Texas was. It always amuses me how this show always features a bunch of blue collar cops suddenly talking like MSNBC analysts. I wonder if the show will do a future episode about the Democratic governor of Colorado sending people to New York? I kind of doubt it.

Anyway, it turned out the murderer was a real estate mogul who was obviously meant to be a stand-in for one of the Trump kids. In order to convict him, the prosecutors had to get testimony from a woman who worked in his office but — are you ready for this? — the woman was also an undocumented immigrant! As soon as she testified, she was deported back to Lebanon. After 20+ episodes, Sam was finally allowed to get upset about something and show a hint of personality. Whatever else you might say about this episode, it’s nice that Sam finally got some hint of a backstory. Up until last night, she was one of the most underwritten characters in the history of this show.

The show certainly tried to tug at the heart strings with this episode but it was so just so heavy-handed and clumsily written that it had the opposite effect.

Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street (Netflix)

This is Joe Berlinger’s latest Netflix true crime docuseries. Over the course of four episodes, Berlinger explores the story of Bernie Madoff. When I started watching, I was skeptical because I really didn’t feel that there was much left to be said about Bernie Madoff but both Berlinger and the show did a good job of explaining not only what Madoff did but also how he was able to get away with it for so long. Along with taking a look at Madoff’s life, the film also examined the people that he hurt (including his two sons, both of whom emerge as tragic figures).

One thing that I did learn is that, while Madoff did handle accounts for a lot of famous and rich people, the majority of his clients were just normal people who were looking for someone to handle their retirement funds. These people were victimized twice, both by Madoff and then by the government regulators. Despite the fact that none of these people knew about Madoff’s crimes, many of them lost their homes and were driven into bankruptcy when they were ordered to help pay back the money that Madoff had stolen.

The film features a lot of footage of the now-deceased Madoff being interviewed in prison. Even imprisoned and shunned by his family, Madoff still didn’t seem to feel that he had done anything wrong. This is probably the first Madoff documentary that has really convinced me that Bernie Madoff really was as evil as everyone says.

Night Flight (Night Flight+)

On Friday night and Saturday morning, I watched the Parts 3 and 4 of Night Flight’s 1983 New Year celebration. The music was good. The stand-up comedians were bad. A surprisingly coherent Ozzy Osbourne was interviewed about whether or not he had actually bitten the head off of a bat. He said it was an accident and assured the interviewer that the rabies shots were not fun.

Tough as Nails (Wednesday Night, CBS)

The blue collar reality show is back. To be honest, this show would be more interesting if it was office workers and executives being forced to do things like build buildings and unclog drains. But whatever. I like Phil Keoghan as the host. Just as with The Amazing Race, he seems to genuinely care about the people competing.

The Twilight Zone (Sunday and Monday, SyFy)

On New Year’s Day, SyFy had their annual Twilight Zone marathon! I watched a few episodes, in between watching movies and doing other things. I caught the Monsters Are Due On Maple Street and the one where Burgess Meredith breaks his reading glasses and realizes that he’ll never be able to read another book. Unfortunately, I did not catch the one with William Shatner and the Gremlin on the wing.

I watched a few more episodes on Monday. Again, I missed the Gremlin on the wing but I did see the one with the guy who was dreaming about being on death row. That’s personal favorite of mine.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/25/22 — 12/31/22

Posted on December 31, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to my final week in television for 2022! I spent most of the past week with my sister Megan and her family. We probably watched the news more than anything else, what with that guys getting arrested for committing those murders in Idaho. Here’s some thoughts on the non-news programming that we watched.

1923 (Paramount+)

On Tuesday, my sister Megan and I watched the first two episodes of the latest Yellowstone prequel. It wasn’t bad, though I do have to admit that I was only half-paying attention to it. Harrison Ford is ideally cast as an aging western icon.

California Dreams (YouTube)

Megan and I love this show and we watched several episodes this week. The reviews will be available every Saturday!

The Circle (Netflix)

I swore to myself that I was not going to allow myself to get sucked into another stupid reality show but then, on Wednesday, I decided to just take a quick peek to discover what The Circle was like. I wasn’t planning on watching much of the latest season. I just wanted to get maybe a 5-minute sample.

Of course, as soon as the show started, I discovered the Brett was on the show. Brett was a part of Big Brother 20. He was a total jerk but he was honest about it and he was frequently one of the funniest people in the house. He was the type of bad boy that I’ve always had a weakness for. As well, his betrayal of Rockstar (yes, that was the name she used in the House) led to the classic moment of Rockstar yelling about how she had been betrayed on “my daughter’s birthday!”

Anyway, Brett was one of the first people voted out of the Circle but, fortunately, he and Xanthi are still secretly playing the game. Brett and Xanthi are a cute couple and if we don’t see some sort of evidence of them hooking up by the end of next week, I can only assume that the show is hiding it from us.

Also, one of the contestants is a British comedian named Tom. He mentioned that he lived in the Tower of the London. “I’ve never heard of the Tower of London,” the other contestants said while I screamed internally. Anyway, Tom’s adorable.

Despite my best efforts, I’ve been sucked into The Circle.

Dragnet (YouTube)

I watched two episodes of this 1960s cop show on Thursday. One featured Joe Friday on a talk show, where he debated a snide hippy and a pompous professor. The other featured Friday taking a class at night school and justifying his decision to arrest one of his classmates for possessing marijuana. Welcome to the 60s!

The Love Boat (Paramount+)

I wrote about the Love Boat here! Megan and I watched several episodes this week. We both agreed that the ship looked nice.

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

Late Saturday night, I experienced New Year’s 1983! It was a bit trippy.

Upstart Crow (Sunday Night, PBS)

On Sunday night, my sister Megan and I watched all of the Upstart Crow Christmas specials. I had already seen them but I enjoyed introducing them to my sister.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/18/22 — 12/24/18

Posted on December 24, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Merry Christmas! I spent the first part of this week shopping and I’m spending the second half of the week with my family. It’s literally freezing outside! Wheeee!

Anyway, here’s a few thoughts on what I watched this week:

The Brady Bunch (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

Oh no! It’s Christmas and Carol is supposed to sing! But she’s losing her voice! Don’t worry, she gets it back.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (Apple TV+)

I watched this with my sisters on Friday night. It’s still a classic and it’s really not the Christmas season without it. Erin wrote about what this special means to her a few years ago. Read her thoughts!

Community (Netflix)

Poor Shirley. Her efforts to have a great Christmas were ruined by Jeff Winger’s need to fight a bully.

Degrassi (Tubi)

My sisters and I watched the season 3 “Holiday” episode on Friday. Actually, I kind of forced my sisters to watch it with me and, as we watched, I made sure they knew all about how Craig cheated on Ashley with Manny and how, long before that, Joey cheated on Caitlin with Tessa. I don’t know if they really cared but I had fun telling the story!

Full House (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

Uncle Jesse went on tour in Japan, where he was inexplicably popular. But he realized that he missed his family so he went home. Michelle gave Jesse a hard time for trying to find success out of the house. This was followed by Jesse trying to become a radio DJ but losing the job to Joey. Things aren’t looking good for Uncle Jesse.

King of the Hill (Tubi)

After walking in on his mother and her new boyfriend, Hank is struck blind! Still, it’s Christmas and Hank is determined to hand out the gifts like he always does. Bobby gets a nightgown. “A nightgown,” he says, “I’ll wear this when I’m older.” That line always makes me laugh.

Leave It To Beaver (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

Beaver loses the money that his father gave him to get a haircut so he gives himself a haircut. Then he asks his brother, Wally, to help him fix his new haircut. Beaver ends with a mohawk but his parents realize that they’re partially to blame for being too hard on him. It was a sweet episode.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Tubi)

Friday night, I watched the MST version of Santa Claus Conquers The Martians with Jeff and our friend Pat. Hooray for Santy Claus!

The Office (Peacock)

On Saturday morning, I watched my two favorite Christmas episodes of The Office. First, I watched as Michael destroyed Secret Santa by turning it into Yankee Swap. (“How is this better than an iPod!?”) Secondly, I watched the 3rd season episode in which Michael, Andy, and Dwight went to Benihana. I always enjoy the episodes where Andy’s evil more than the episodes where Andy is so needy for approval that it’s difficult to take. I know that one of the actresses who played a Benihana waitress has subsequently spent a lot of time condemning the episode and trying to get the outrage machine going. There’s really nothing more Twitter than signaling that you appeared in a classic TV show while, at the same time, trying to cancel it. Anyway, for the first four or five seasons, every Office Christmas episode was a classic. Secret Santa, especially, is brilliant.

Saved By The Bell (DVD)

On Saturday morning, Megan and I watched an episode in which Zack and the gang met a homeless girl and her father at the mall. Because it was Christmas, the girl and her father moved in with Zack and his mom. The girl and her father were never mentioned again.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/11/22 — 12/17/22

Posted on December 17, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I did a lot of binge watching this week so the list below probably less impressive than it actually is. Anyway, here’s some thoughts on what I watched this week:

California Dreams (YouTube)

Yay! I’ve finally reaches season 3, which is what most people consider to be the start of “classic” California Dreams. I like season 3 because it’s the season that introduces the character to whom I most relate, Lorena.

Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies (Peacock)

I finally watched the Casey Anthony documentary on Peacock. This was basically a three-episode interview with Casey and the creepy weirdos who have been supporting her since she got away with murdering her daughter. Whoops, did I just show my bias? Oh well. Casey claims that she has spent the last ten years in hiding but now, she’s finally ready to tell her story and try to get people to blame her father for Caylee’s death. Of course, as many people have pointed out, Casey has frequently been seen at bars, concerts, and protest marches over the past ten years so I’m not really sure I’m buying into her social anxiety argument. Nor am I buying that Casey suddenly decided that it was time to present her side of the story. We all know that she got paid to appear in this documentary. Time are tough, especially when your claim to fame is that you probably got away with murdering your daughter.

Here’s a few thoughts I jotted down:

Casey cries a lot but she never actually gets any tears in her eyes.

Casey does a lot of performative cursing whenever she’s trying to convince the viewer that she was treated unfairly but it all sounds forced.

If nothing else, Casey obviously understands the power of presenting yourself as being a victim in today’s society.

After her acquittal, Casey was more or less adopted by two older men and two older women who worked on her defense team. The scenes in which they all meet and tell Casey how proud they are of her are creepy. One gets the feeling that Casey played on their paternal and maternal instincts in much the same way that she tries to manipulate the people watching the show.

The documentary makes one valid point, which is that the case against Casey was made up largely of innuendo and appeals to emotion. But then, the entire third episode uses the exact same technique to smear George Anthony as being a pedophile and a murderer. The documentary mentions that neither George nor Casey’s brother chose to respond to Casey’s accusations against them but, to be honest, why should they?

A few cops are allowed to explain why they think Casey is guilty. As opposed to when Casey speaks, they don’t get the benefit of heroic music playing in the background during their interviews. As well, there are no animated recreations of the police’s theory of what happened. Casey, however, not only tells her side but is helped by animated recreations of her story.

Not mentioned during the program was the claim that lead defense attorney Jose Baez told one of his investigators that 1) he was sleeping with Casey and 2) Casey had confessed to murdering Caylee. Indeed, for all the time that the program spent detailing how the members of Casey’s defense team have “adopted” Casey, it appears that she’s no longer in contact with Jose Baez.

Also not mentioned was that a real-life woman named Zenaida Gonzalez received death threats due to Casey lying about where she had left Caylee.

I never thought I’d see a true crime documentary as one-sided and smarmy as A&E’s The Murder of Laci Peterson but Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies proved me wrong. Shame on everyone involved and shame on me for watching it.

Don’t Pick Up The Phone (Netflix)

This disturbing, 3-part documentary from Netflix took a look at the so-called Strip Search Phone Call Hoaxes of the 90s and the early aughts. For several years, someone repeatedly called fast food restaurants and, after claiming to be a cop, said that one of the female employees had been accused of theft and that it would be necessary for the managed to strip search them. A lot of managers saw through the hoax and hung up but, disturbingly, a large number of them followed the orders of the caller. (The film Compliance was based on one such call.) This was a disturbing and sad documentary but an important one. It took a look at what happens when authority is blindly trusted. There’s very little people won’t do under the pretense of “just following orders.”

Fantasy Island (Tubi)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here! And then I watched several more episodes, reviews of which will appear over the next few weeks.

Law & Order: SVU (Hulu)

After watching Don’t Pick Up The Phone, I watched a 2009 episode of Law & Order: SVU that was inspired by the Strip Search Caller. Robin Williams played the caller. It was a pretty uneven episode, as SVU tends to be sometimes. Williams had some good moments but overall, it was a bit too heavy-handed. At one point, Williams’s caller became a political activist and appeared on Morning Joe. “Did you guys catch Morning Joe?” Captain Cragen asked his detectives and I had to laugh. I’m sure blue collar New York cops schedule their entire day around catching the MSNBC lineup.

The Love Boat (Paramount)

I watched a few episodes this week. Check out my latest review here!

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I was surprised when Gabler won but the more I think about it, the happier I am with the result. I wrote about the finale of Survivor at Reality TV Chat Blog!