Lisa Marie’s Week In Television — 12/26/21 — 1/1/22

Posted on January 1, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy 2022! I spent most of this holiday week visiting my sister Megan and her family. That’s been a bit of a Bowman holiday tradition since 2008. We watched a lot of TV. We both love Saved By The Bell and California Dreams so that shouldn’t be too much of surprise. Anyway, there’s much to share this week so let’s get right into what I watched during the final week of 2021!

The Bold and the Beautiful (Weekday afternoons, CBS)

This used to be my show! Of course, it’s been a while since I’ve regularly watched The Bold and the Beautiful but, on Wednesday, I decided to tune in just to see what was happening. People were discussing their relationships and talking about fashion while getting ready for New Year’s. Brooke is still on the show. I might start setting the DVR in 2022.

The Brady Bunch (Sunday Morning, MeTV)

I watched two episodes. First, Greg wanted to drop out of high school to pursue a career as a major league pitcher. He was talked out of it. Is there nothing that the Brady kids weren’t good at? What an annoying family! This was followed by an episode in which Marcia promised she could get Davy Jones to play her high school dance and somehow, she pulled it off because everything always worked out for Marcia. Jan, on the other hand….

California Dreams (DVD)

Megan and I watched a few episodes of this classic 90s NBC sitcom on Friday morning. It’s kind of our New Year’s tradition. We both agreed that Lorena and I have a lot in common. We also watched Tony perform that “Next big thing” song of his. He’s so funky!

Dance Moms (Wednesday, LRW)

LRW did a Dance Moms marathon on Wednesday. I watched a few episodes that morning and it made me realize how much I miss this show. It also brought back a lot of memories for me personally, though my mom was never as crazy as the moms on this show. I wonder if Maddie ever returns Abby’s calls.

Since the show aired on LRW, I got to see all those old “real women” commercials that Lifetime used to air, like the one with the woman talking about the time she scolded her mom for saying she needed a man to explain something to her. “You know, that was her generation, ha ha ha.” All I know is that you just made fun of your mother on national television.

Days of Our Lives (Weekday Afternoons, NBC)

It’s been a while since I’ve watched any of the daytime dramas but my sister Megan informed me that a character on Days of Our Lives had been possessed by the devil since September so, on Tuesday, I decided to watch to see what that was like. From what I saw of it, it looked like a lot of fun. With Marlena tied to her bed and speaking in a gravelly demon voice, everyone was getting ready for the exorcism. “We’re not dealing with your mom,” one character explain, “We’re dealing with …. it.” “You shut your mouth or you’re going to get a face full of holy water!” someone else declared. A priest entered the bedroom and Marlena’s daughter said, “You’re a priest again?” Meanwhile, Patch dressed up as Santa Claus, which was charming in its own weird way. Fortunately, everything worked out in the end. These are indeed the days of our lives.

Dexter: New Blood (Showtime, Sunday Night)

I wrote about the latest episode of Dexter here!

Football Game: Bills vs. Patriots (Sunday Afternoon, CBS)

I watched this on Sunday morning with my sisters. I have to admit that I didn’t pay much attention but I do remember that everyone wanted the Bills to win so I felt obligated to cheer for the Patriots. I don’t remember who actually won, though. Football games are really, really long.

Football Game: Cowboys vs. Football Team (Sunday Night, NBC)

I watched this game with my sister Megan and her husband, John. They got really excited whenever the Cowboys scored. I felt bad for Football Team. I figure that it has to suck to be a member of Football Team because everyone they meet is probably like, “Who do you play for?” and when the player says, “Football team,” everyone probably replies, “I know, but which one?” What I’m saying here is that these guys need a real name if they’re going to succeed. For example, the Cowboys pretty much destroyed Football Team on Sunday. I thought the Cowboys were seriously going to score a 100 points before the game ended. Poor generic Football Team.

General Hospital (Weekday Afternoons, ABC)

I watched an episode on Wednesday. Too much talk, not enough hospital.

Hang Time (YouTube)

Hang Time was basically Saved By The Bell except it centered around a high school basketball team in Indiana. It aired from 1995 to 2000 on NBC and it was never that good but it lives on because every episode has been uploaded to YouTube. NBC is pretty aggressive about taking down unauthorized SBTB uploads but they don’t seem to care much about Hang Time.

Anyway, early Wednesday morning, I forced Megan to watch an episode because I wanted her to hear one line that always amused me. The episode opened, as they often did, with a basketball game. However, for this game, the main characters (including a very young Anthony Anderson) were forced to spend the entire game on the bench while the backup players hit the court and …. uhm, lost. In fact, they lost bad. It turned out the main characters were being punished for getting fake IDs and driving drunk.

About 15 minutes into the episode, one of the backup players is injured but when he limps over to the baseline or the sideline or whatever they call it in basketball, he yells at the coach that he wants to keep playing because, unlike some people, “I CARE ABOUT THE TEAM!” And then coach sends him back into the game despite the fact that the he can barely walk! For some reason, that’s always made me laugh. The coach taught his players a lesson by forcing someone who did nothing wrong to play injured. What a guy!

The Love Boat (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

The Love Boat and another ship traveled to Alaska, where the captains competed to see who was the best. Apparently, it was a promotional gimmick but the competition turned personal when the son of the rival captain decided that he would rather work on the super mellow Love Boat as opposed to his father’s boat. Anyway, it was silly but Alaska looked lovely. Plus, Sonny Bono was on the episode as some sort of hyper corporate guy.

The Office (Weekdays, Comedy Central)

Comedy Central did an Office marathon this week. On Monday, I watched a few episodes from season 2. They kept me happy as I wrote 2,300 words on Monster, one of the most depressing movies ever made. (Look for that review on Monday!) Then, on Tuesday, I watched a few episodes from season 3 while I was writing another 2,000 words about the making of The Godfather Part III. (Look for that post on Monday as well!)

By the time Wednesday rolled around, Comedy Central had started on season 5, which is when the show started to get uneven and, not coincidentally, Ed Helms’s role started to get larger. However, there were still some classic episodes during season 5, like the Golden Ticket episode and The Michael Scott Paper Company arc. Those also just happened to be the episodes that I watched.

By Thursday, we were into season six and …. eh. Season six is when Jim and Pam started to get a bit insufferable in their smugness and there was that whole weird thing where Jim was briefly co-manager. Megan and I watched the Gossip episode and The Meeting episode and we both agreed it was actually kind of rude of Jim to go behind Michael’s back with his whole co-manager idea. We then did a little shopping. When we came back, we caught my two favorite episodes of that season — Scott’s Tots and The Shareholder’s Meeting.

Hey there, Mr. Scott, whatcha going to do? Whatcha going to do? Make our dreams come true!

Parking Wars (Weekday Mornings, A&E)

On Thursday morning, I forced Megan to watch an episode of Parking Wars with me, just so she could understand what I’m always complaining about. For 30 minutes, as we watched the action in Detroit and Philadelphia, I said, “See? This is totally how fascism comes to be accepted!” Megan said she agreed with me, though I think she may have just been saying that …. which is fine! Just as long everyone agrees.

Sabrina, The Teenage Witch (Fuse, Monday Morning)

Sabrina felt that all of her academic accomplishments were being taken for granted so she cast a spell which caused everyone to go crazy over every little thing she did. Needless to say, an important lesson about humility was learned.

As far as I’m concerned, this is the only show about Sabrina, The Teenage Witch that matters. Talking Salem for the win!

Saved By The Bell: The Junior High Years (a.k.a. Good Morning Miss Bliss) (Netflix)

At December 26th, at midnight, my sister Megan and I sat down and watched six episodes of Saved By The Bell. Well, we didn’t actually just spend 2 and a half hours watching them. We were talking and cleaning and laughing and doing other things. But still, we had the show on and we did occasionally pause long enough in all of our other activities to see what was going on.

The episodes that we watched were from the infamous Junior High years. That was when the show aired on the Disney Channel and it was set in Indiana and Slater, Kelly, and Jessie were not on the show. Instead, the show centered around Miss Bliss (Hayley Mills), a British widow who somehow ended up teaching social studies at a junior high in Indiana. At the time, the show was called Good Morning, Miss Bliss. Good Morning, Miss Bliss was canceled after 13 episodes but was then relaunched on NBC, with Zack, Screech, Lisa, and Mr. Belding all somehow relocating to California. The Miss Bliss episodes could probably be written off as non-canon, if not for the fact that many of them were re-aired as episodes of Saved By The Bell, with special introductions in which Zack would say, “This is from when we were in junior high.” It didn’t make any sense but Saved By The Bell just didn’t care.

Anyway, the first episode of Good Morning, Miss Bliss featured Zack lying to a girl about the fact that he was only in the 8th Grade. The girl was played by a very young Carla Gugino, who went on to do much better things with her career. Anyway, Zack learned an important lesson about lying but apparently not important enough to inspire Zack to actually be honest in any future episodes.

The 2nd episode that we watched featured a love letter that kept getting read by the wrong people. Mr. Belding thought Miss Bliss was in love with him. Miss Bliss thought Belding loved her. Lisa thought …. ugh, I’m getting a headache just thinking about it. The most interesting thing about this episode is that the whole stupid plot was later reused in one of the Tori episodes of regular Saved By The Bell.

The third episode that we watched was one of my favorites of the Miss Bliss episodes. Miss Bliss teaches her students about the stock market by investing some of her own money in a stock of their choosing. However, Zack desperately needs money so he invests the money in potatoes. Miss Bliss is furious when she finds out and yells at everyone, which was fun because Miss Bliss was always a bit too perfect to be believed so it was nice to see that, deep down, she was a neurotic mess. Fortunately, she forgave everyone by the end of the episode.

Episode #4 features Zack’s friend Nikki refusing to dissect a frog. Miss Bliss took Nikki’s side but was still upset when Nikki stole all of the frogs. Meanwhile, Mr. Belding was panicking because he thought another school was trying to recruit Miss Bliss so he let Miss Bliss have anything that she wanted. However, Mr. Belding soon realized he was mistaken and promptly took everything back. TAKE THAT, MISS BLISS!

Episode #5 left Megan and I totally confused. Zack was upset because Miss Bliss was dating his father. The divorce of the Morrises had been hard on Zack and, as a result, Zack was totally acting out. What’s weird is that Zack’s parents were NOT divorced in the high school episodes of Saved By The Bell. It’s almost as if the writers just didn’t care.

Finally, Episode #6 featured Screech getting targeted by the school bully. However, it turned out that the bully was just upset because he was illiterate. That would have upset me too. Having learned a valuable lesson about bullying, Megan and I decided we had watched enough Saved By The Bell for that morning.

On Monday morning, we watched the remaining 7 Miss Bliss episodes. Again, we didn’t just watch. We talked and laughed and made plans while the show played in the background. To be honest, we probably paid even less attention on Monday than we did on Sunday. By this point, we’ve both got every episode of this stupid show memorized so it’s not like we really had to focus to know what was going on.

Episode #7 was a school dance episode. I guess, technically, it was the first ever SBTB dance episode. Mr. Belding was worried about a fight breaking out at the dance. A first actually did break out at the dance between Zack and his loser friend, Mickey. Mickey liked a girl but she liked Zack. Fortunately, Miss Bliss was there to save the day.

In Episode #8, Zack got out of taking a midterm by releasing Screech’s pet rats in the school. Megan and I found the idea of a school closing down because of rats to be hilarious. Seriously, I’ve seen rodents running around college campuses, ducking from classroom to classroom. Anyway, due to Zack’s selfishness, it appeared that Miss Bliss would miss out on her chance to be named Teacher of the Year. Fortunately, everyone teamed up to help her because, of course, the entire school revolved around keeping her happy.

In Episode #9, Zack and his other other loser friend, Nikki, teamed up for a class project but Zack expected her to do all the work. (Boooo!) It led to a rift in their friendship but Zack fixed it all by apologizing in front of the entire class. Megan and I both agreed that was probably an awkward experience for all the other students who were forced to sit through it.

Episode #10 found the junior high in the midst of a prank war. Who pranked Miss Bliss and ruined her ugly sweater!? Everyone thought it was Screech and the class held a mock trial as opposed to just burning him at the stake. Screech was acquitted and it turned out that he was actually framed by Miss Bliss, who wanted to teach the class about the jury system. Neither Megan nor I cared much for this episode and we agreed that it was proof that Miss Bliss was a terrible teacher who didn’t really consider what being forced through a mock trial could do to a young student’s psyche.

Episode #11 was the silliest episode of all. It turned out that Miss Bliss’s former student, Colleen Morton, was now a pop star named …. STEVIE! Zack made a bet with everyone that he could get a kiss from Stevie. He did get a kiss, but it was from Colleen. It was only later that Zack figured out that Colleen and Stevie were one in the same! Zack lost the bet, even though he was being honest about having been kissed by her. So, I guess the lesson here is that Saved By The Bell took place in a post-truth world.

Episode #12 featured Zack pledging to some sort of weird ninth grade fraternity. The frat demanded that Zack mistreat all of his friends and then, after Zack had lost everyone’s friendship, they revealed they were just playing a joke on him. For some weird reason, Miss Bliss was the principal while Mr. Belding taught home room. At first, everyone thought that Miss Bliss was both the perfect principal and the perfect teacher but then it turned out that Miss Bliss didn’t actually bother to get permission from the school board for any of the “good” things that she did and all of her solutions backfired. TAKE THAT, MISS BLISS!

Finally, we ended things with the 13th and final episode of the Miss Bliss years. Miss Bliss’s mentor showed up at the school and helped to teach her class. His unorthodox methods were frowned upon by Mr. Belding. Personally, I think Belding had a point but whatever. The important thing is that Megan and I survived all 13 episodes.

Silk Stalkings (Tubi)

I decided to binge all 8 seasons of the stylish 90s crime show, Silk Stalkings. This show also airs on one of the retro channels, ZLiving. It was a stylish show about rich people doing bad things, often while undressed. The first few seasons starred Rob Estes and Mitzi Kapture as Chris and Rita, two detectives who worked together to solve crimes and who generated endless amounts of sexual tension.

My sister Megan and I watched the pilot on Monday. Chris and Rita investigated the murder of a model. Not surprisingly, the pilot was mostly about introducing Chris and Rita and establishing that they were attractive people who would be worth watching. The pilot did a good job of just that. Estes and Kapture had obvious chemistry from the start. Even overly cutesy things — like calling each other “Sam” — were charming when they did it. A good deal of time was devoted to Rita recovering from an aneurism, with gave the audiences a chance to see just how much Chris cared about his partner. It was sweet, even if I have to agree with Rita that Chris was being a bit overprotective. After the pilot, Megan and I watched two more episodes. Chris and Rita investigate an old rich man who was shooting snuff films in his private sex dungeon and Rita came to terms with the tragic details of her father’s death. And then, a rich car salesman was found floating in the ocean. Fortunately, Chris and Rita were able to bring his very attractive killers to justice!

On Tuesday, we watched an episode in which Chris and Rita solved the murder of a wealthy (naturally) man who was killed on a golf course by an assailant who wielding a meat hook! AGCK! It was a grisly case but the important thing is that everyone involved was attractive. Rita got shot towards the end of the episode. She survived but Megan and I were still like, “Awwwwww!” when Chris got all worried about it. This was followed by a fun episode in which Chris and Rita investigated the murder of a Congressman. You might be surprised to learn that investigating the death of a politician involves talking to a lot of half-naked people. Chris and Rita (especially Chris) were up for the job! This episode also featured a cute little subplot where Chris tried to help Rita deal with her insomnia. Rita had a big poster that simply read, “ART!” in her bedroom.

The first episode that we watched on Wednesday featured Chris and Rita investigating the murder of a half-naked,rich woman. This led to a scene in which they arrested a naked man who, standing in his hot tub, announced that “I heard you would need a semen sample. I was just getting warmed up for you.” Meanwhile, Chris reconnected with an ex-girlfriend who was now working as a stripper. Reconnecting, in this case, meant spending a lot of time at the beach. It was a fun episode. The second episode found Chris and Rita investigating the murder of a sleazy tabloid publisher. Of course, if this show had been made today, he would have just owned a clickbait factory and his death would have been live-streamed. Chis was also upset that Rita had a date with a guy that she barely knew. The date, of course, led to wild limo sex because seriously, what else are you going to do in a limo?

We got things started on Thursday with an episode about a decadent socialite who was drowned in her own pool. Chris and Rita eventually discovered that the killer was a psycho named James who, ironically enough, also ended up dying in a pool. Of course, James killed himself by jumping into the water while holding a sander. We then watched an episode featuring Chris and Rita investigating a murder that had been committed by a bunch of frat boys. Megan and I both agreed that frat boys were the worst!

The Steve Wilkos Show (Weekday Morning, Channel 33)

Hey, Steve Wilkos! Giving lie detector tests and changing lives! Good for you, Steve! I watched your show on Wednesday morning because I was waking up and getting ready for my day and I was basically too busy to change the channel! Get the Hell off my stage!

The Tribe (Pluto TV)

The Tribe is a British/New Zealand co-production that ran for five seasons in the last 90s and the early aughts. It takes place in a future in which all of the adults have been killed by a mysterious virus, leaving behind only children and teenagers who have all formed “tribes,” and who are having to grow up in a world ruled by fear and anarchy. A friend of mine has been recommending this show to me for a while. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to finally check it out!

And that’s what I did. On Saturday morning, around 2 a.m., I watched the first episode on Pluto. It was pretty good. It quickly set up the premise and introduced the characters. Actually, it did quite a bit in just 25 minutes. After meeting in an abandoned city, the main tribe took refuge in a mall. Meanwhile, on the outside, a group of teenagers drove around in a cop car, the siren wailing ominously. It was was an intriguing opening and, after watching the first episode, I decided that The Tribe would be one of the shows that I would binge over the course of 2022.

The Twilight Zone (Saturday and Sunday, SyFy)

I got a few episodes of SyFy’s annual Twilight Zone marathon. On Saturday, I saw Burgess Meredith break his glasses. I saw the one with the hitch-hiker who kept saying, “Going my way?” And I saw one of my absolute favorite episodes, The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street. On Sunday, the highlight included Twenty-Two (“Room for one more!”), Peter Falk playing Castro in The Mirror, The Hunt (in which a man realizes that only Hell would refuse to allow dogs), The Bard (in which Shakespeare met Burt Reynolds), and The Changing of the Guard with the great Donald Pleasence!

The Young and the Restless (Weekday mornings, CBS)

Because I had so much fun with Days of Our Lives on Tuesday, I decided to watch The Young and The Restless on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the episode of Y&R that I saw was a bit dry, with a lot of scenes of people standing around and talking about a lawsuit. It was kind of boring but at least everyone looked good!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Televison: 12/19/21 — 12/25/21

Posted on December 25, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Merry Christmas! Here’s what I watched this holiday week! It’s a short list because it’s the holidays. Next week, I’m planning on getting caught up on a few shows before the start of 2022.

A Very Boy Band Holiday (Thursday Night, ABC)

Erin and I watched this two weeks ago. On Thursday night, we watched it with our other two sisters, Megan and Melissa. It was fun. How can’t you love Joey Fatone holding a bunch of boy banders hostage in a Christmas cabin?

A Charlie Brown Christmas (Sunday Night, PBS)

I watched this with my sister. It’s a tradition! Be sure to read what Erin wrote about this special and why it’s still important.

Dexter (Sunday Night, Showtime)

It was a good episode this week. I wrote about it here!

Kelly Clarkson Presents: When Christmas Comes Around (Thursday Night, NBC)

I like Kelly Clarkson. She’s from Texas and she’s got a helluva voice.

The Love Boat (Sunday Night, MeTV)

On yet another Christmas cruise, there was love and there were laughs. This time, the overly eager crew hired three separate Santa Clauses. It cause a bit of trouble but, in the end, everything worked out for the best because there’s always room for multiple Santas! The other plotline of this episode dealt with a down-on-his-luck comedian who ended up sharing his cabin with an adorable dog, who he adopted at the end of the cruise. Awwwwwww!

The Office (Friday Morning, Comedy Central)

On Friday morning, my sister Megan and I watched the first three of The Office Christmas episodes. My favorite is still the first, the one where Michael ruins Secret Santa. Benihana Christmas is pretty funny as well, though I do think Karen could have tried hard to work with Angela before forming her own rival Party Planning Committee.

Santa Claus is Coming To Town (Thursday Night, ABC)

I watched this classic 1970 animated special with my sisters on Thursday night. It had actually been a few years since I had last watched this and I was surprised to discover that it was a lot better than I remembered. The animation was adorable and the voice acting of Mickey Rooney and Fred Astaire holds up surprisingly well. I’m glad I watched it and I’m even happier that I watched it with my family.

Seinfeld (Weeknights, Comedy Central & Netflix)

A chicken place with a bright red neon sign turned Kramer’s apartment in the Angry Red Planet. This was followed by an episode in which Kramer got the wrong personalized license plates and suddenly became very popular. The 90s were a wild time.

On Thursday morning, Jeff & I watched the episode where Kramer returned to his old job making bagels, Elaine tried to get back a card that she could use to get a free submarine sandwich, Jerry dated a woman whose appearance kept changing, and — most importantly — the Constanzas once again celebrated Festivus!

It was a Festivus miracle!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/12/21 — 12/18/21

Posted on December 18, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Again, I didn’t watch much this week. I was busy getting ready for Christmas and my boyfriend’s birthday and watching and writing reviews for 2022. So, not much television this week! However, here’s a few notes on what little I did watch.

Boxing (ESN, Sunday Night)

Yikes! I’m not sure who was fighting who but everyone certainly did seem angry. I have to admit that I do have an odd weakness for the spectacle of men hitting each other but I also cringe whenever the blood starts flowing. The best thing about boxing is when everyone hugs after the match and you realize that none of it was personal. Awwwwwww!

Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO, Sunday Night)

Larry David annoyed a lot of people. It’s what he’s good at. Now, I haven’t really been keeping up with this season but, as far as I can tell from watching Sunday’s episode, Larry is sleeping with a really annoying local politician because he’s hoping she’ll change the zoning laws and this somehow will allow Larry to fire an actor who he dislikes. And apparently, someone drowned in Larry’s pool and now Larry is being blackmailed or something. (Actually, I kind of got the feeling that maybe Larry killed whoever it was.) I don’t know. It was confusing but it was funny just because Larry doesn’t know when to stop.

Dexter: New Blood (Showtime, Sunday Night)

I wrote about the latest episode of Dexter: New Blood here!

The Love Boat (MeTV, Sunday Night)

There was a definitely lack of Christmas cheer on the Christmas cruise but luckily, Mickey Rooney played an angel who brought everyone together, taught the children how to sing, and saved the marriage of Donnie Osmond and Maureen McCormick.

Mom (Friday Afternoon, Paramount)

I swear, have the people on this show ever met anyone who they didn’t automatically accuse of being an alcoholic? On Friday, Paramount showed a quartet of depressing Christmas episodes. Yikes!

Seinfeld (Comedy Central, Sunday Night)

I watched three episodes on Sunday night. Jerry learned how to express his emotions and George sold computers. George lost his keys in a pothole and Jerry had a panic attack after a toothbrush fell in a toilet. (Ewwwwww! I don’t blame him.) And then George killed his fiancée with toxic envelopes. Unfortunately, Jerry had just gotten engaged so the tragic end of George’s engagement was a bit awkward for all involved. Line of the episode: “I can’t be with someone who reminds me of me! I HATE MYSELF!”

The 70th Miss Universe Pageant (Fox, Sunday Night)

Miss Paraguay should have won. Also, Steve Harvey needs to get some new material. I mean, Steve — we know you announced the wrong winner a few years ago. We’ve moved on. The only person who keeps bringing this up is you.

SERIOUSLY, STEVE, IT’S OKAY!

Survivor (CBS, Wednesday Night)

I wrote about the season finale of Survivor here! This was an okay season. I was happy to have Survivor back but Jeff Probt’s new happy and enthusiastic persona didn’t really work for me. Of the final three, Xander probably should have won but the jury was a bit bitter so congrats to Erika on her victory!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/5/21 — 12/11/21

Posted on December 11, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’ve been busy Christmas shopping and getting ready for 2022 so not much TV for me this week. That’s a good thing, right?

A Very Boy Band Christmas (Monday Night, ABC)

Merry Christmas, Joey Fatone! I watched this with my sister Erin and neither one of us makes any apologies.

The Bachelorette (Monday Night, ABC)

I lost interest in this season a few weeks ago but I did watch The Men Tell All on Monday. It was messy and yet somehow dull at the same time. Some of the men were earnest and some them were sleazy and some of them were just dumb but none of them were particularly interesting and the show really needs to get a real host because Tayshia and Kaitlyn have no idea how to lead an interview. At one point, one of the men served another one of them with a defamation lawsuit. “It’s getting heated here,” Tayshiya announced, “so let’s take a break to cool down.” Uhmm …. no, don’t cool down. NO ONE WANTS TO SEE ANYONE COOL DOWN! That’s not what the Men Tell All is all about. Later, Olu (rightfully) called out Chris for accusing him of having a low IQ. It was a dramatic moment but again, the two hosts has no idea how to capitalize on it. Instead, it was just time to bring out sleazy old Jamie. And don’t even get me started on the obviously staged bit with the streaker.

Anyway, I haven’t really been following this season but, judging from the Men Tell All, Michelle made the right decisions about who to send home.

Dexter: New Blood (Sunday Night, Showtime)

I reviewed the latest episode of Dexter: New Blood here!

Fear The Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I wrote about the mid-season finale here!

King of the Hill (Thursday Afternoon, FXX)

I watched several episodes of this classic sitcom while doing a little Christmas shopping. Some people feel that the show went downhill after Tom Petty joined the cast as Lucky the redneck but I always found Lucky to be funny. What can I say? I’m a Texas girl.

Parking Wars (Weekday Mornings, A&E)

I watched a few episodes on Monday. Everyone wanted to make sure the viewers knew that they were doing their jobs. It reminded me a bit of Frances McDormand in Fargo. “There’s no need to get snippy, I’m just doing my job.”

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor here!

Talking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

Happy holidays, Chris! Thank you for your service.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond (Sunday Night, AMC)

I guess it’s over. I watched the series finale and I enjoyed it about as much as I could reasonably expect to enjoy that finale for any show to which I haven’t paid much attention. Annoyingly, the story didn’t really end. Yes, a few characters died and a few escaped to live a new life but the walking dead are still wandering about, the paramilitary folks are still doing their thing, and the scientists are still trying to figure out what’s going on. The episode ended with hints that the zombie virus is evolving. That’s an interesting idea but it’s hard not to regret that the show itself didn’t do much with it when the show has the chance.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/28/21 — 12/4/21

Posted on December 4, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I spent most of this week working on Christmas stuff but I did watch a few shows.

Bar Rescue (Weekday Mornings, Paramount)

I watched three episodes while I was trying to wake up on Wednesday. Jon Taffer and “the experts” yelled at a lot of owners and reduced their employees to tears but I guess it’s all worth it in order to make sure that alcoholics have a fun place to hang out. The third episode that I watched was actually filmed in my hometown and I totally recognized the bar that Jon was rescuing. (I don’t drink so I’m usually the girl at the bar who gets weird looks for asking for a glass of water.) Jon described my hometown as being upper middle class. Thanks, Jon!

Baywatch Hawaii (Prime)

On Friday, I watched episode 14 of this show. There were three subplots, all of which were repeats of storyline that had previously happened on the original Baywatch. An all-nude protest went wrong. Sean flirted with the new boss. JD and Jessie bickered about their relationship. Despite being top-billed in the credits, David Hasselhoff was only in the show for a minute, boarding a plane back to Los Angeles. It’s hard not to feel that the Hoff just wasn’t that invested in Baywatch Hawaii. For that matter, neither am I. This show only lasted two seasons and it’s still taken me a month and a half to even make it through the first half of the first season.

I then watched Episode 15, which was weird. Basically, it started with Jessie getting lost in an underwater maze. Once she was rescued, suddenly it become about Jason and Allie working together on the beach and Jason being haunted by the death of a previous lifeguard. And then Dawn went on a date with some strange guy who insulted her by assuming that he knew everything about her. I know where Dawn’s coming from but still, none of these random stories really seemed to go together. One gets the feeling that this episode’s script was a combination of scenes that had been cut out of previous episodes. Again, it’s hard not to suspect that the people in charge of the show just didn’t care.

Dexter: New Blood (Sunday Night, Showtime)

I reviewed Dexter here!

Dude, You’re Screwed (Friday Morning, Discovery)

So, I guess the idea behind this show is that three ex-military guys toss some someone in a hostile environment and then they watch to see if that person can make it back to civilization without dying in the process. On the episode that I watched, they stranded some guy in Tanzania and then watched as he spent two days being chased by lions and trying to run in 98-degree heat. Luckily, the guy did make it back to civilization. He met some local hunters who were on the verge of killing him for trespassing before the hosts showed up to whisk him away.

It was kind of a fun show actually.

Fear The Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I wrote about the latest episode here!

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Wednesday Night, FXX)

Yay! The Gang’s back and they’re as terrible as ever! Two new episodes aired on Wednesday, featuring the gang fearlessly taking on the brave new world of the 2020s. In the first episode, they discussed what they did during 2020 and what they spent their PPP money on. In the second episode, they made Lethal Weapon 7, while trying to avoid remaking the mistakes that they made with Lethal Weapon 5 and Lethal Weapon 6. They’re a terrible group of people and I love them. They’re what this country needs right now.

Killer Cases (Wednesday Night, A&E)

The latest episode of this A&E true crime series took a look at the murder of Mollie Tibbets. On the one hand, I feel like shows like this are terribly exploitive and insensitive. On the other hand, I always end up watching. So, I’m as much of a hypocrite as anyone.

The Office (Everyday, Comedy Central)

I watched two episodes from season 3 on Thursday night. The thing is …. Jim knew that Andy had anger issues so hiding his phone and then repeatedly calling it through the day was really a dick move on his part. Bullying is never cool, Jim!

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about Survivor here!

Talking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

Oh, hey, this is back! Chris Hardwicke did his best to try to make Walking Dead: World Beyond sound interesting. I respected him for trying.

Upstart Crow (Sunday Night, PBS)

After being absent from PBS for a few months, Upstart Crow returned on Sunday. PBS aired the show’s three Christmas specials, though not in chronological order.

As such, the first Christmas special that was aired was actually the show’s third, from December of 2020. In this special, Will and Kate were stuck in Will’s London home, under quarantine due to the Bubonic Plague. As Will tried to write a “Scottish play,” they discussed how the world had changed due to the plague. Needless to say, it was a pretty obvious and heavy-handed commentary on the UK during the Coronavirus lockdowns. The episode was both hopeful and angry. It had its funny moments but overall, it was a rather dark episode. Then again, December of 2020 was a rather dark time for many people.

This was followed by “A Christmas Crow,” which was the show’s fist Christmas Special. Airing long before COVID (or, for that matter, the episode the featured the death of Will’s son), A Christmas Crow was an enjoyably light-hearted “look” at how Eighth Night became Twelfth Night. Emma Thompson appeared as Queen Elizabeth I and was funny, sympathetic, and somewhat terrifying.

The final Christmas special shown was “A Crow Christmas Carol.” Still mourning the death of his son, Shakespeare met a mysterious stranger (Kenneth Branagh) who told him a story about a miser who changed his ways after being visited by three ghosts. Shakespeare and his friends attempted to pull the same thing on the villainous Robert Greene in an attempt to get Greene to change his ways. The highlight of this episode was, not surprisingly, Kenneth Branagh’s effectively creepy cameo as the Stranger.

Walking Dead: World Beyond (Sunday Night, AMC)

Eh. Who knows? There was a lot of death and paramilitary stuff going on. The show briefly had my attention a few weeks ago but the last few episode have just been kind of dull. It’s nearly over.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/21/21 — 11/27/21

Posted on November 27, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Between my sister’s birthday, Thanksgiving, and my attempts to get caught up on my Lifetime movie viewing, I didn’t watch much TV this week. Here’s some thoughts on what did I see:

Allo Allo (Sunday Night, PBS)

With the long-distance duck making its way (very slowly) to London, Rene and the Resistance disguised themselves as doctors and nurses so that they could rescue Monsieur Alphonse from the hospital. Meanwhile, the German colonels plotted to assassinate Alphonse with an exploding bedpan. It was a bit of an odd episode but I still laughed.

Baywatch Hawaii (Prime)

On Friday, I continued my binge of the first season of Baywatch Hawaii, watching three episodes.

Episode 11 featured a bit of tragedy for the Baywatch Hawaii team. No sooner had Allie declared her love for Nick, the hunky coast guard helicopter pilot, than Nick ended up sacrificing his life so that two dummies trapped in a mini-sub could live. David Hasselhoff made a brief appearance so that he could presumably collect his a paycheck and also so that Mitch could declare, “Nick wasn’t a lifeguard but he died being one.” That’s actually probably why he died.

Episode 12 featured some JD/Jessie relationship drama, as it was revealed that JD and Dawn had previously worked together and had a relationship in Florida. I’m assuming that JD and Jessie broke up over the fact that JD kept it a secret, though the ending of this episode kind of left things in the air. There was also an odd subplot about JD inventing a new type of wet suit that allowed lifeguard to swim faster than dolphins. It was an oddly disjointed episode (and I haven’t even gotten into the subplots about the missing child and Dawn getting named in a wrongful death suit) but it did end with a nicely surreal scene of the lifeguards relaxing underwater while fireworks exploded in the sky above.

Speaking of surreal, that’s the only way to describe Episode 13. A man was recovered after drowning. Despite having been underwater and medically dead for 20 minutes, he was still revived with absolutely no brain damage or any other injuries. This led to Dawn and Sean exploring an underwater meditation technique that Dawn learned in India. Sean was freaked out by a vision that he had in which Dawn appeared to be trying to drown him. MEANWHILE, Jessie, Allie, and Kekoa went shopping! Yay! This led to them getting invited to a party on a boat and it also led to them having to strip down to their newly-purchased lingerie (in slow motion, of course) in order to save a group of stranded swimmers. It was weird mix of philosophy and prurience and, to be honest, it was kind of brilliant in a Baywatch sort of way.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (Sunday Night, PBS)

A few years ago, my sister wrote about why this special is something to give thanks for.

Cowboys vs. Raiders (Thursday Afternoon, CBS)

Because it was Thanksgiving, I kind of watched this football game with my family. Most of my cousins really got into it. Myself, I’m just hoping that no one suffered any permanent injuries and that both teams had a nice Thanksgiving meal after the game ended. I was a little bit disappointed when the game went into overtime. I mean, they already had the tie. There was no need to hurt anyone’s feelings! Still, with their enthusiastic spirit and their can-do attitude, both teams were winners!

Dexter: New Blood (Sunday Night, Showtime)

I wrote about the latest episode of Dexter here!

Fear the Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I wrote about the latest episode here!

King of the Hill (Sunday Afternoon, FXX)

I watched three classic episodes on Sunday afternoon. Khannie and the Dale Gribble Bluegrass Experience went to Branson. (“She’s good …. she’s Branson good!”) Peggy was conned by the president of the fictitious Genius Institute but she got her money back by pulling a con of her own. Finally, Hank tried to convince his father to allow the local Vietnam vets to join the local VFW.

Open All Hours (Sunday Night, PBS)

Arkwright tried to impress Nurse Gladys Emmanuel while Granville bitterly considered the pointlessness of his life.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor here!

The Walking Dead: World Beyond (Sunday Night, AMC)

This week brought us another slowly paced episode of Walking Dead: World Beyond. I guess the scientists and the main family are trying to break out of the paramilitary compound now? Well, that’s probably a good idea.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/14/21 — 11/20/21

Posted on November 20, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s that time again. Here’s some thoughts on what I watched over the past seven days:

Allo Allo (Sunday Night, PBS)

Finally! It was time for the long-distance duck to fly from France to London, carrying with it the plans for the German invasion of England. Unfortunately, the duck itself really didn’t feel like flying, which led to Rene and Edith having to chase it around the courtyard while Michelle and the two airmen watched from a balcony above. Meanwhile, everyone was trying to figure out what to do with the forged money that Rene stole from the bank. It was a funny episode. I relate to Michelle.

Baywatch Hawaii (Prime)

I had a really tough day on Tuesday so I decided to unwind and calm myself down by continuing my binge of the first season of Baywatch Hawaii. This, of course, was the sequel to Baywatch, in which the Hoff moved to Hawaii and helped to train a new group of lifeguards.

I started things off with watching the 9th episode of the series, which was called The Hunt. It featured Jessie investigating a case of shark poaching and Jason trying to come to terms with his Hawaiian heritage. In the end, the poaches were defeated, Jessie was rescued after her jet ski sank, and Jason proved himself to be worthy of the islands by having some sort of weird mind-meld with a shark. “The shark is my brother,” Jason explained. Yay! Incidentally, the poacher’s boat was named “All She Rote,” which was kind of clever. This was followed by a treasure hunt episode, where the lifeguards mistakenly believed that they had found a long-lost treasure. I’m pretty sure this was a remake an old Baywatch episode, with gold instead of doubloons.

Cold Case (Weekday, Afternoons, Start TV)

On Tuesday’s episode, Lily and the gang investigated the 1967 murder of a brush salesman. Speaking of brushes, Lily could have used one because her hair was a mess. I will never understand why Lily never did anything about that.

Court Cam (Wednesday, A&E)

A&E always airs several episodes of Court Cam on Wednesday and they do tend to blend together. For some reason, this week, there were a lot of clips of defendants cussing out their judges. That’s never a good courtroom strategy. One fellow got 360 days for contempt of court, though it was later reduced to 90 days. Ironically, he only served 5 days for the crime that he was initially charged with. Seriously, be polite when talking to a judge.

Crossing Jordan (Weekday Afternoons, Start TV)

I watched two episodes on Tuesday. Jordan was cranky while Bugs was again being targeted by bigots and Homeland Security. That was pretty much the plot of every single episode of Crossing Jordan, yet somehow everyone on the show always acted as if the same thing didn’t keep happening over and over again.

Dexter: New Blood (Sunday Night, Showtime)

I wrote about the latest episode of Dexter here!

Fear The Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I wrote about the latest episode of Fear the Walking Dead here!

Monty Python’s Flying Circus (Monday Morning, BBC America)

I watched two of my favorite episodes on Monday morning, Mr. Pither’s Cycling Tour and The Ministry of Silly Walks. I especially love Mr. Pither, if just because Michael Palin did such a wonderful job playing the well-meaning but utterly clueless cyclist. “My lack of God, it’s Trotsky!”

Open All Hours (Sunday Night, PBS)

Arkwright cheated his customers by pretending to be blind. Granville took a heap of abuse. They both attempted to provide better customer service at their little shop. It didn’t go well.

Shipping Wars (Tuesday Morning, A&E)

It amazes me that everyone who ever appeared on this show — whether they were a regular or just a customer — was a complete and total jerk. I watched several episodes of Tuesday morning and I can’t think of one episode that featured anyone who was the least bit likable.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about Survivor here!

Three’s Company (Weekday Afternoons, Antenna TV)

I watched two episodes on Tuesday. Believe it or not, both of them revolved around simple misunderstandings that could have been solved in a matter of minutes if all of the characters on the show weren’t so stupid.

The Walking Dead: The World Beyond (Sunday Night, AMC)

I think what’s frustrating about this show is that it works best when it focuses on the teens growing up in a world where society has collapsed but, for some reason, the show keeps getting sidetracked with all of the adults. I don’t care about the adults but sometimes, the majority of the show seems to be made up of scenes of them sitting around and having hushed conversations. It gets boring!

Yes, Minister (PBS, Monday Morning)

I rewatched the episode where Jim becomes Prime Minister. Yay, Jim!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/7/21 — 11/13/21

Posted on November 13, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This was my birthday week and I’m happy to say that I spent a lot more time celebrating than watching television. Here’s what little — I do mean very little — I did watch.

Allo Allo (Sunday Night, PBS)

With the colonels now free from the Communist Resistance, it was up to Rene and the café residents to figure out what to do with all of the stolen money. Of course, in typical Allo Allo fashion, it turned out that hiding money was much more complicated than stealing it, especially with Herr Flick determined to catch the culprits. Officer Crabtree showed up to show everyone a picture of the, “sispoocts,” which turned out to be his way of saying, “suspects.”

Dexter: New Blood (Sunday Night, Showtime)

I wrote about the first episode of Dexter: New Blood here!

Fear The Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I reviewed the latest episode of Fear The Walking Dead here.

The Office (Comedy Central)

On Saturday morning, I watched the “Did I Stutter” episode of The Office, which features not only one of Steve Carrel’s best performances from Michael but also great work from Leslie David Baker as Stanley. I also related to Pam and her total blindness without her contacts or her glasses.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

You can read my thoughts on the latest episode here!

The Walking Dead: World Beyond (Sunday Night, AMC)

Apparently, I was just not in a Walking Dead mood this week. I didn’t care much for Fear The Walking Dead‘s latest episode and the latest episode of The Walking Dead: World Beyond was boring as well. I may just be bored with zombies, who knows?

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 10/31/21 — 11/6/21

Posted on November 6, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I spent the first week after Halloween in a state of exhaustion. That’s the way it usually is after a successful horrorthon. I got a lot of work done at the office. I had the TV on for background noise for quite a bit of the time. Here’s what I watched:

Allo Allo (Sunday Night, PBS)

With the colonels being held hostage by the Communist Resistance, Michelle came up with a great plan to solve the problem! Rene could simply rob a bank! After all, Michelle said, they had access to the greatest safe cracker in all of France. LeClerc looked confused until he realized she was talking about him. Rene attempted to refuse but soon found himself in a bank, holding a torch while LeClerc attempted to break into the safe. It all led, of course, to an explosion. Monsieur Alphonse was upset that some of his money was set on fire to provide light in the vault. Who can blame him? Meanwhile, Officer Crabtree kept asking Michelle and Rene if there done “ribbing the bonk.” I laughed.

The Bachelorette (Tuesday Night, ABC)

Michelle sent Jamie home, which was good. But then she canceled the Cocktail Party, which …. eh. The whole “I’m going to cancel the cocktail party and go straight to the Rose Ceremony” thing has become the biggest Bachelorette cliché move. It’s right up there with questioning whether someone is on the show for the right reasons.

Baywatch Hawaii (Prime)

Running for two seasons, from 1999 to 2001 (wow, two centuries!), Baywatch Hawaii was an attempt to reenergize the fading popularity of Baywatch by moving all of the lifeguard action to a new state. Mitch (David “The Hoff” Hasselhoff) left California for Hawaii, where he started a new branch of Baywatch. JD (Michael Bergin), Jessie (Brooke Burns), and Newman (MICHAEL NEWMAN!) came with him and were joined by a group of new lifeguard trainees. Of the new cast members, a very young Jason Mamoa played an impetuous lifeguard named …. Jason.

Having binged the original Baywatch earlier this year, I figured that I might as well watch the two seasons of Baywatch Hawaii, just so I could get the complete story. Luckily, both seasons are on Prime.

On Thursday, I watched the first four episode and they weren’t particularly good. The Hoff looked extremely bored and really wasn’t in much of the show. Instead, most of the action revolved around Sean (Jason Brooks), the hardass instructor brought in to train the new lifegaurds and turn them into a team. Every episode, Sean threatened to send someone back to the mainland and, each time, the lifeguards proved themselves at the last minute. The first episode opened with the Hoff having an existential crisis in Hawaii, one that was solved when he saved a little girl from drowning. The second episode featured Sean yelling at the new recruits while the Hoff saved the exact same little girl from suffering a case of secondary drowning at her birthday party. This was followed by an episode where a new lifeguard named Dawn joined the team and immediately started scheming to seal JD away from from Jessie. Finally, in episode #4, Jason was nearly sent home for being too “self-reliant,” which didn’t make much sense to me but whatever. In all four episodes, the Hawiiaian scenery was lovely and everyone had an aesthetically pleasing body and really, that’s the main concern with a show like this.

On Friday, I watched episodes 4 through 8. Sean yelled at the lifeguards. Jason struggled to learn how to work as a member of a team. Dawn kept trying to steal everyone’s boyfriend. So far, this has been a pretty repetitive show. The same could be said of the original Baywatch but that show often seemed to be cheerfully aware of how silly it was whereas Baywatch Hawaii took itself a bit too seriously. The 8th episode did feature the return of Hobie. The Hoff was upset when he discovered that 1) Hobie was marrying a girl that the Hoff had never met and 2) Hobie was apparently embarrassed to introduce the Hoff to the wealthy parents of his wife-to-be. Embarrassed by the Hoff!? Say it ain’t so, Hobie! It all worked out in the end, though. The Hoff saved a wedding photographer who fell in the ocean and Hobie and his girlfriend decided to put off getting married and instead just decided to live together in sin. My aunt would be very disappointed in them.

Classic Concentration (Weekday Afternoons, Buzzr)

This was an old game show, in which contestants tried to match the pictures that were hiding under the squares. I watched two episodes on Wednesday and it was actually kind of a fun show.

Cold Case (Weekday Afternoons, Start TV)

On Monday’s episode, the Cold Case Squad investigated why Lilly never seemed to wash her hair. No, actually, they investigated a 1962 murder that had been disguised to look like a murder. Seriously, though, what was up with Lilly’s hair?

Court Cam (Wednesday Evening, A&E)

I watched two episodes on Wednesday evening. One featured a defendant who told the judge to go “<bleep> yourself” and I have to say that the A&E censorship beeps are so loud that they can actually give you a headache after a while.

Crossing Jordan (Weekday Afternoons, Start TV)

I watched two episodes on Monday but, for the most part, I just had the show on for background noise. In the first episode, Jordan and her team of quirky coroners were outraged over prison conditions. In the second episode, Jordan and the gang were outraged over a religious cult. There was a lot of quirky outrage.

Day of the Dead (Friday Night, SyFy)

Eh. It’s not really a bad show but, after watching three episodes this week to get caught up, I kind of feel that Day of the Dead is just not going to be for me. It’s hard to say why I don’t particularly care for it. The anti-fracking stuff is a bit too on-the-nose but, then again, George Romero wasn’t exactly subtle when it came to making his political points in the latter Dead films either. I think my main problem is that we’re four episodes in and it’s still doesn’t seem as if the show has established any sort of narrative momentum. So, I think I’m done with Day of the Dead for now.

Dennis The Menace (Weekday Mornings, Antenna TV)

I kind of watched two episodes of this show on Tuesday morning. I say “kind of” because I only had the TV on in the office for background noise and Dennis was such a sociopathic little brat that I really couldn’t bring myself to pay that much attention to him. Poor Mr. Wilson!

Fear the Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

Read my thoughts here!

Ghost Whisperer (Weekday morning, Start TV)

I watched an episode at Monday while I was at work. After a college student was scared into a coma, Melinda had to determine if it was the work of Bloody Mary or if it was just a ghost who needed help crossing over. This episode was from the Jay Mohr years so it had all of this weird sexual tension between Rick and Melinda, despite Melinda being married to Jim.

Hazel (Weekday Mornings, Antenna TV)

On Tuesday, I used two episodes of this maid-centered, old sitcom for background noise. In one, Hazel raised money to repair a broken vase. In the next one, she helped out a gardener who was in danger of getting fired. Hazel really needed to get a life outside of work.

I Dream of Jeannie (Weekday Afternoons, Antenna TV)

On Tuesday, I had two episodes on for background noise. One featured Jeannie’s dog causing chaos. The other featured Jeannie ruining the marriage of Major Nelson’s commanding officer. How many lives did Jeannie ruin during her reign of terror?

The Love Boat (Sunday Evening, MeTV)

I wrote about the special Halloween episode of The Love Boat here!

Match Game ’76 (Weekday Mornings, Buzzr)

I watched two episodes of this old game show on Wednesday. Two contestants tried to match answers with a group of angry-looking alcholics. The entire set looked like it reeked of gin, cigarettes, and skunk weed.

Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour (Weekday Mornings, Buzzr)

This was a weird game show from the 80s. Basically, it’s 30 minutes of the Match Game, followed by 30 minutes of Hollywood Squares with the same contestants and minor celebs taking part in both. I kind of watched an episode of Wednesday morning but, to be honest, the show was mostly just background noise while I organized the office.

Medium (Weekday Mornings, Start TV)

I caught an episode on Monday, while I was at work. Alison solved the case of a young woman who was pushed off a cliff. Alison and her incredibly understanding husband also wondered whether they should warn a friend that Alison had foreseen him having a fatal heart attack. The low-key and serious approach of Medium provided a clear contrast to the more sensationalistic approach of Ghost Whisperer. But Ghost Whisperer was a much more fun show to watch.

The Office (Sunday Night, Comedy Central)

Jim and Pam badgered Danny Cordray over why Danny didn’t ask Pam on a second date. This episode is a good example of how unlikable Jim and Pam became after they got married.

One Step Beyond (YouTube)

Check out the episode that I watched here.

Open All Hours (Sunday Night, PBS)

Granville sadly wondered if he would ever marry. Arkwright told him he was too young to worry about such things, despite the fact that Granville appears to be nearly 50. No wonder Granville is losing his grip on reality.

Saved By The Bell (Sunday Morning, MeTV)

No sooner had I recommended that people watch the Mystery Weekend episode for Halloween than MeTV aired it.

Survivor 41 (CBS, Wednesday Night)

I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor here!

Unforgettable (Weekday Afternoons, Start TV)

On Monday’s episode, Carrie and Al investigated a murder in upstate New York. It reminded Carrie of her sister’s murder, mostly because Carrie has total recall and everything reminds her of her sister’s murder. To be honest, I think if I had watched this show when it originally aired, I probably would have liked it. The photographic memory aspect is interesting and Poppy Montgomery and Dylan Walsh are likable in the lead roles.

Walking Dead: World Beyond (Sunday Night, AMC)

Saved by the Dead remains an entertaining-enough show. I’m still not sure what’s going on but I do enjoy all of the annoyed and rebellious attitudes.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 10/17/21 — 10/23/21

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here’s a few thoughts on what I watched this week!

(How’s that for a detailed intro?)

Allo Allo (Sunday Night, PBS)

This week, yet another attempt to smuggle the British airmen out of France failed. As usual, the plan was too complicated to succeed and the British airmen themselves remained cheerfully oblivious to the danger that they’re putting everyone else into. (“I say,” one of them said after missing his chance to get smuggled out on a fish truck, “When’s the next fish truck?”) This episode’s highlight was Crabtree getting to speak perfect English to all of the British airmen who had gathered in Rene’s Cafe before then switching back to his usual mangled French to speak with Rene. Episodes of Allo Allo are not particularly easy to describe but they almost always make me laugh.

The Bachelorette (Tuesday Night, ABC)

I don’t know. Going straight from one season of the Bachelorette to Bachelor in Paradise to another season of the Bachelorette is a little bit too much. It works better when there’s some downtime between the seasons. I have to admit that I was pretty bored with the premiere of the new season. I mean, the first episode wasn’t even over and already, I was having to listen to all of that crap about whether or not the men were there for “the right reasons.” The whole thing with Ryan getting kicked off the show felt very staged and pre-planned and Michelle seems like she’ll be canceling a lot of cocktail parties to get right to kicking people off the show. I think I’ve just been oversturated with this dumb show for the past few months.

Baywatch (Friday Afternoon, H&I)

H&I has changed up their schedule. Instead of daily showing of Baywatch, they now air a five-hour block on Fridays. I watched two episodes. They were both from the 2nd season and I remembered them both from when I binged the show a few months ago. The first episode featured Eddie trying to clear his name after being accused of assaulting a teenager. The 2nd was yet another episode where a mysterious woman stayed with Mitch while someone with a gun hunted for her. This seemed to happen quite frequently to Mitch but he never commented on either the strangeness or the familiarity of it all.

The Brady Bunch (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

I watched three episodes on Sunday while working on my Cry Macho review. The Brady kids were so self-centered that Alice quit. Greg conspired to make Marcia the head cheerleader. Marcia fell in love with a much older dentist and decided she was too mature to go on a date with a classmate. The Bradys were the worst.

Court Cam (Wednesday Evening, A&E)

I watched two episodes when I got home from work on Wednesday. One episode featured a loser who was arrested several times for pretending to be a traffic cop. Maybe he wanted to get on Parking Wars. Regardless of his motivation, everyone he stopped could tell he wasn’t a cop and no one treated him with the respect that he very loudly demanded. That was kind of fun to watch.

Day of the Dead (Friday Night, SyFy)

I finally watched last week’s premiere on Thursday and I reviewed it for the site.

Fear the Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I reviewed the season premiere here!

Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)

Once Horrorthon is over and I have the time, I’m going to go back and binge this entire series.

Hunter (Weekday Mornings, ZLiving)

I watched two episodes of this surprisingly violent 80s cop show on Friday. I was also working at the time so the show mostly served as background noise. (I find having the TV on helps me to focus, oddly enough.) From what I did see, it seemed like an awful lot of people ended up getting shot. In fact, Hunter’s main personality trait appears to be that he’ll shoot anyone. (The second episode featured Hunter blowing away a psycho motorcyclist played by Don Swayze.) One thing I will say about the show, though, is that I love the propulsive music that plays over the opening credits.

King of the Hill (Weekday Afternoons, FXX)

I watched two episodes of Tuesday. In the first one, Bobby became a peer counselor and quickly started to abuse his position. This is actually one of my favorite episodes, even though Bobby definitely owed Stacy an apology. The highlight of the episode was Stacy singing, “I’m your Stacy in a bottle.” The second episode featured Hank visiting the Platter Ranch in Montana and discovering that Henry Winkler was refusing to allow the ranchers to herd their cattle across his land. Yes, that Henry Winkler.

The Office (Saturday afternoon, Comedy Central)

I watched some classic episodes from season 5. Dwight and Michael conducted corporate espionage against Prince Family Paper. Pam and Michael hit the lecture circuit. Stanley had a heart attack. Michael’s golden ticket promotion blew up in his face. I always say that this show started to go downhill after the third season but Season 5 was actually pretty good.

Open All Hours (Sunday Night, PBS)

This week’s episode was actually kind of charming, as it featured Granville dancing in the rain while holding a mop. For a second, it seemed like Granville might be something other than incredibly depressed. It didn’t last long but it was still good to see him vaguely smile. Of course, once the rain stopped, it was time to go back to plotting Arkwright’s death.

Saved By The Bell (Sunday Morning, MeTV)

I watched two episodes on Sunday morning. The first one featured Zack launching a hostile takeover of the student store and then secretly photographing all of the girls for a calendar. That was kind of icky but at least Kelly got a modeling career out of it. She even went to Paris, something that was never mentioned in subsequent episodes. This was followed by the infamous Running Zack episode, in which Zack learned he was Native American and Jessie demanded that Lisa forgive her for being from a family of slave traders. The important thing is that Zack was able to compete at the track meet. So cringey!

Silk Stalkings (Weekday Afternoons, ZLiving)

Agck! Where are Chris and Rita!? It’s been over a month since I last caught any episodes of this 90s cop show. I watched two episodes on Friday and Rob Estes and Mitzi Kapture were gone! Apparently, they left the show and were replaced by two other cops who had the exact same backstory as Chris and Rita. What a coincidence! Anyway, the show still featured the same mix of murder, sex, and attractive people getting undressed but these new detectives just didn’t have the same chemistry.

That said, both of Friday’s episodes were enjoyably sordid, featuring a lot of sem-clad, attractive rich people doing a lot of very bad things. It was fun! I may have to start binging this show.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor here!

Talking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

This week’s episode was a bit by-the-numbers. Even Chris Hardwick seemed to be struggling to pretend to be interested in either Fear the Walking Dead or Walking Dead: World Beyond, which was odd since both of those shows were fairly good this week.

Walking Dead: The World Beyond (Sunday Night, AMC)

This week’s episode was actually pretty good. It still feels like Christopher Pike’s The Walking Dead (or maybe Saved By The Dead) but this week’s episode actually did a good job of capturing the contrast between wanting to be a teenager while, at the same time, having to survive in a world that leaves you with little time to actually grow up.