Retro Television Reviews: T and T 2.13 “Hunted”

Posted on January 19, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing T. and T., a Canadian show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on Tubi!

This week, someone takes a contract out on T.S. Turner’s life!

Episode 2.13 “Hunted”

(Dir by Richard Oleksiak, originally aired on February 6th, 1989)

Someone has hired a hitman to take out T.S. Turner!

Fortunately, Hickson (Timothy Webber) is not a very good hitman and he somehow fails to shoot Turner despite having a high-powered rifle and, during the initial attempt on Turner’s life, the advantage of surprise. (Technically, he misses because T.S. moved to get a parking ticket off of his car’s windshield at the exact moment that Hickson fires his rile but still, it’s not like T.S. is a small target. The hitman just isn’t that good at his job.)

Despite the fact that someone has just tried to kill him, Turner doesn’t want to go to the police. This actually makes sense when you consider that Turner spent years in prison for a crime that he didn’t commit. He has every reason to distrust the police. He has personally experienced how they can screw up a case. That said, Amy decides to go to the police on her own. This leads to Detective Deakin (Matt Birmin) being assigned to keep Turner from leaving Decker’s Gym.

Turner is not happy about this and actually, it turns out that Turner’s instincts are correct. Deakin is the man who hired the hitman! It turns out that Deakin’s younger sister was an innocent bystander who was injured during a high-speed chase involving Turner and a bunch of criminals. Turner may have caught the criminals but Deakin’s sister slipped into a coma and died. Deakin has spent years obsessing on Turner and he is determined to get his revenge.

What’s interesting that, when Turner finds all of this out, he actually feel very guilty about what happened to Deakin’s sister, to the extent that he doesn’t blame Deakin for wanting him dead. One thing about action shows like this is that there are always innocent bystanders who witness every car chase or shoot-out but it’s rare that we ever hear about how they were effected by suddenly being exposed to so much violence. How does the person who witnesses a bad guy being shot just a few feet away from them react? How does it effect their lives? Myself, I would totally be freaked out and I would probably have trouble sleeping afterwards. Often times, shows like this concentrate so much on the action that they ignore the human aspect of it all. T and T deserves some credit for at least acknowledging that Turner’s actions, even when he’s fighting on the side of the law, have consequences.

That said, Deakin is still technically the bad guy and, when he and Hickson corner Turner in a water treatment plant, Turner points out that, as soon as Hickson shoots Turner, Deakin is going to shoot Hickson to cover up his involvement. This leads to Hickson turning on Deakin and the two of them end up shooting each other. Turner survives and hopefully, he’ll be a better drive from now on.

This was a surprisingly good episode. Matt Birmin gave a good performance as Deakin and the water treatment plant was a properly atmospheric location for a final stand-off. The second season of T and T has been hit-and-miss but this episode definitely worked.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Highway to Heaven 1.17 “As Difficult As ABC”

Posted on January 18, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Highway to Heaven, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1989. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!

This week, Jonathan and Mark fight drug dealers and promote literacy!

Episode 1.17 “As Difficult As ABC”

(Dir by Victor French, originally aired on January 30th, 1985)

Brian Baldwin (Glenn-Michael Jones) appears to have a great future ahead of him.

Growing up in a poor neighborhood, Brian was tempted to get involved in the gang life, like so many of his friends did. However, Brian turned out to be a great basketball player and was given a full scholarship to a major university. As long as he played basketball and led the team to victory after victory, Brian wouldn’t even have to worry about going to class. As he points out, he got an A in his French class even though he never stepped into the classroom.

However, one day, Brian has chest pains and passes out. When Brian goes to the doctor, he is told that he has a heart condition but that it can be managed. However, Brian will never be able to play basketball again. His coach stops returning Brian’s calls and, when Brian confronts him in the gym, the coach explains that he only cares about winning and Brian can no longer help him do that. The coach complains about wasting a scholarship on Brian.

Brian drops out of school and returns to his old neighborhood. It’s there that he tells his mom (played by Beah Richards) the secret that he’s been hiding. Brian is illiterate! Because he was such a good basketball player, the school system never worried about teaching him anything. Now, Brian has lost his scholarship and, it would appear, his future.

Fortunately, Jonathan and Mark roll into town. Mark gets a job working as a janitor at an adult literacy school. Jonathan gets a job working at the community center. Jonathan encourages Brian to both learn how to read and to date his teacher, Julie Reynolds (Deborah Lacey). (Fear not, they’re the same age.) Brian also gets a job as a neighborhood basketball coach and tries to keep all of his players from getting hooked on drugs.

Luckily, Jonathan and Victor are able to help with the drug situation. They go undercover and, in a rather weird scene that features Jonathan in a leather jacket and Terminator-style shades, they offer to pay the local drug dealer two million dollars in return for cocaine. The dealer agrees to meet with them at the school, where he and his associates steal the briefcase with the money and make a run for it. However, they are grabbed by the cops and suddenly, all of the money in the briefcase turns into cocaine! Off the dealers go to prison. With the dealers gone and Brian reading, it’s time for Jonathan and Mark to move on.

This was one of those well-intentioned episodes that attempted to do a bit too much. Not only did the episode feature Brian learning that he could still be an important member of his community even if he couldn’t play basketball but it also featured him learning to read and trying to clean up the neighborhood. Instead of focusing on one story, this episode focuses on three and, as a result, each story feels a bit rushed and simplistic. Brian is reading in no time and the drug dealers turn out to be pretty easy to fool. This episode is optimistic but rather unconvincing.

Retro Television Reviews: Poochinski 1.1 “Pilot”

Posted on January 18, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Poochinski, which aired on NBC in 1990. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

This week, we take a look at another one-episode wonder, Poochinski!

Episode 1.1 “Pilot”

(Dir by Will Mackenzie, originally aired on July 9th, 1990)

Detective Stanley Poochinski (Peter Boyle) is a veteran of the mean streets of Chicago. He’s rude and crude but he’s also a good cop, one who is mentioned as having once caught a mad bomber. I mean, I guess you have to be good at your job to capture someone who not only knows how to make bombs but who is also mad about it.

Poochinski shows his softer side when he comes across a bunch of teenagers taunting a stray English bulldog. Poochinski pulls his gun and threatens to kill a 12 year-old. That may sound extreme but it works! (The 12 year-old, I should mention, was also holding a switchblade.) Poochinski adopts the dog and starts to bring it to work with him, much to the consternation of Poochinski’s uptight and ambitious partner, Detective Robert McKay (George Newbern, a talented actor who somehow always seemed to turn up in stuff like this). McKay dislikes the fact that the dog is flatulent and so is Poochinski.

However, Detective Poochinski is run down by two thieves during a pursuit. As Poochinski dies, the dog runs over to him. They stare into each other’s eyes.

Cut to Poochinski’s funeral. Detective McKay attends with the dog. After everyone else leaves, the dog starts to talk to McKay in Poochinski’s voice!

That’s right …. Poochinski has been reincarnated as a dog! Except, of course, the dog was already alive when Poochinski died so I guess it’s not reincarnation. I guess Poochinski’s soul just entered the dog’s body. But what about the dog’s soul? These are the unanswered questions that haunt me.

Probably because this was only a 21-minute episode and didn’t really have much time to spare, McKay quickly accepts that his partner is inhabiting the body of a dog. McKay adopts the dog and names it Poochinski. While McKay helps Poochinski come to terms with the fact that he’s now a dog, Poochinski gives McKay advice on how to flirt with the neighbor (Amy Yasbeck). Working together, they also set out to catch the criminals responsible for Poochinski’s “death.”

Probably the creepiest thing about Poochisnki is that, half the time, the dog is played by a real dog. But whenever Poochisnki starts talking, the real dog is replace by a terrifying rubber puppet that doesn’t even look like the original dog. Watching the rubber dog talk, I couldn’t help but be reminded of that scene in Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam when the neighbor’s dog enters David Berkowitz’s house and orders him to “KILL!” while happily wagging its tail.

There was only one episode of Poochinski. The pilot was not picked up for a series but it was still aired on NBC during the dog days of summer. It’s easy to see why the pilot did not lead to more shows. Poochinski says that he only wants to do two things: catch a criminal and lick himself. He does both in the pilot so there really wasn’t much left for this devil dog to do, other than turn evil and taunt McKay into transforming into the Son of Poochinski.

(That said, I did smile at the fact that the police sergeant’s name was Sgt. Shriver. But that’s just because I’m a history nerd who has spent way too much time reading about the Kennedy family.)

Some TV shows only need one episode and Poochinski was definitely one of them.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Monsters 1.6 “Their Divided Self”

Posted on January 17, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing Monsters, which aired in syndication from 1988 to 1991. The entire show is streaming on Tubi.

This week, it’s the worst episode of Monsters yet!

Episode 1.16 “Their Divided Self”

(Dir by Frank De Palma, originally aired on February 25th, 1989)

Bleh.

James (David L. Lander) and Robert Self (Keith MacKechnie) are conjoined twins who found fame as a stand-up comedy team but who now spend all of their time isolated in their mansion and arguing with each other. They hate one another but they’re literally stuck with each other. And, since they share the same lungs and heart, they can’t really fight with each other.

James’s girlfriend (Karen Harber) hires Dr. Blackman (Rich Hall) to help the twins but even Dr. Blackman’s years of psychiatric experience can’t seem to convince the twins to stop bickering. However, when Dr. Blackman says that he wants to write a book about the twins, the twins announce that they resent being exploited and they kill the doctor. It’s a murder that brings them together as siblings.

The end.

This was a dumb and pointless episode and I’m not going to waste too much time on it. Making conjoined twins into the episode’s “monster,” just feels wrong on so many levels. What feels even more wrong is not really doing anything interesting with them. If you’re villain is going to be borderline offensive, at least find a way to make the character interesting. There’s probably an interesting story to be found in the idea of two conjoined twins hating but needing each other but this episode is not served well by either its script or its performances. (Some really shoddy FX doesn’t help either. From the minute they appear, their big, boxy suit makes it obvious that the two actors are just standing next to each other.)

Hopefully, next week’s episode will be better.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 3.26 “Vicki’s First Love/The High Cost of Living/Accident Prone”

Posted on January 17, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986! The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!

The Love Boat promises something for everyone!

Episode 3.26 “Vicki’s First Love/The High Cost of Loving/Accident Prone”

(Dir by George Tyne, originally aired on April 5th, 1980)

It’s not easy growing up on a cruise ship. That was one of the main takeaways that I took from this week’s episode of The Love Boat. Vicki is really excited when singer Mark Redding (Rex Smith) boards the ship. She has a huge crush on him and she even gets to give him a tour of the boat.

Of course, despite his teen idol status, Mark is an adult and famous and being pursued by almost every woman on the ship. Vicki feels insecure compared to the other women who are pursuing Mark. (Of course, those women are all in their 20s while Vicki is 12.) Eventually, Captain Stubing has one of his fatherly conversations with her and Vicki realizes that she doesn’t have to grow up quickly. It’s a simple storyline but it’s nicely performed by both Jill Whelan and Gavin MacLeod and, speaking as someone who wanted to be an adult when she was 12, I could relate to Vicki’s feelings. I was also glad that Mark turned out to be not a sleazy rock star, even if he was a bit superficial. The Love Boat is a place for romance, not debauchery.

As for the other two storylines, one featured Steve Kanaly as Mr. Massey, a wealthy man who is paying a former lover palimony. At his lawyer’s insistence, he boards the boat with a series of contracts. Before he get involved with any woman, he is supposed to get her to sign an agreement not to sue him for palimony. Needless to say, this does not make Massey’s romantic life easy. Finally, he decides to forget about the contract, just for his shipboard hook-up to present him with a contract of her own. Apparently, everyone’s scared of getting sued!

Speaking of getting sued, Tom Barry (Alan Feinstein) boards the boat with a broken leg and is shocked to discover that the bad driver responsible for the accident that injured him is on the boat as well! Karen (Britt Ekland) is a bit accident-prone but, despite the awkwardness of their first meeting, Tom and Karen fall in love. Tom even agrees to not sue her. Yay! I love a happy ending.

This was an enjoyable episode of The Love Boat. With the exception of Tom and Karen’ story, there really wasn’t much romance. There was just Vicki feeling insecure but coming to realize that she was just fine the way she was and then there was Mr. Massey trying to balance getting laid with remaining legally safe. But the Vicki storyline was sensitive and intelligent while the Mr. Massey storyline featured some nice comedic desperation from Steve Kanaly. Even Alan Feinstein and Britt Ekland had a really likable chemistry. All in all, this was a pleasant cruise.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Baywatch Nights 1.10 “Kind of a Drag”

Posted on January 16, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Baywatch Nights, an detective show that ran in Syndication from 1995 to 1997. The entire show is currently streaming on Youtube!

Episode 1.10 “Kind of a Drag”

(Dir by Bernard L. Kowalski, originally aired on December 2nd, 1995)

Someone is putting on a dress and a rubber Richard Nixon mask and attacking drag performers! After one performer is pulled out of the ocean (“It’s a wig!” a lifeguard shouts after pulling off the performer’s blonde hair), Mitch, Garner, and Ryan are hired to discover what’s going on.

They suspect that the attacker could be Duncan Valentine (Stuart Fratkin), the son of a former sitcom star who is trying to put together a movie about her life. (His mother’s catchphrase was, “Wait until your father comes home!”) Needless to say, someone is going to have to go undercover as a drag performer to catch the killer. Which means that it’s time for Ryan to give Mitch a makeover!

Garner also goes undercover as Whoopi Goldberg but we don’t really get to see much of him in his red dress and wig.

While Mitch is performing a song, the assailant in the Richard Nixon mask shoots him! No worries. Mitch is wearing a bullet-proof vest. What does worry me is that the assailant then heads to the dressing room but no one bothers to call the police or follow him down there. Are they trying to catch this guy or not? Instead, everyone gathers around Mitch to make sure that he’s okay. Eventually, Ryan does say, “Call 911,” but I’m not sure why you would wait so long to do that when there’s a gun-toting maniac in the same building as you.

Anyway, it turns out that Duncan is innocent. Instead, the assailant is revealed to be a drag performer who is upset that he wasn’t cast as Duncan’s mother in the biopic.

This episode was …. actually, considering that it’s from the 90s, it could have been worse. Yes, a good deal of the show is taken up with scenes of David Hasselhoff struggling to walk in heels and revealing that no one has ever taught him the right way to sit down while wearing a short skirt. (Ryan really should have given him some advice as far as that’s concerned.) And yes, Mitch’s girlfriend did happen walk in on Mitch while he was wearing a dress. (Fortunately, she’s thrilled to discover that Mitch is getting in touch with his feminine side.) And yes, the villain did turn out to be a deranged drag performer who apparently believed that he actually was Duncan Valentine’s mother. However, for the most part, the show did treat the other drag performers with respect and it didn’t attempt to play the attacks on them for laughs. Mitch, Garner, and Ryan treat them like they would any other clients. In 1995, that was probably the best anyone could expect.

Next week, the show undergoes the first of many format changes!

Retro Television Reviews: Fantasy Island 4.9 “Sanctuary/My Late Lover”

Posted on January 16, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing the original Fantasy Island, which ran on ABC from 1977 to 1986. Almost the entire show is currently streaming is on Youtube, Daily Motion, and a few other sites.

Smiles, everyone, smiles!

Episode 4.9 “Sanctuary/My Late Lover”

(Dir by Leslie H. Martinson, originally aired on January 3rd, 1981)

This week brings us two fantasies, neither one of which quite works.

Thomas Henshaw (Bobby Sherman) is a man who does not initially appear to be too happy to be on Fantasy Island. That’s because someone has poisoned him and he only has a day or two to live. His fantasy is to go the Sanctuary, an exclusive resort for killers, and track down his assassin. Henshaw has got one clue, a strand of hair that he found on his clothing. All has to do is find someone who has the same hair. This would make perfect sense in a world where only one person had light brown hair. It make less sense in the real world or, for that matter, even on Fantasy Island.

Mr. Roarke gives Thomas Henshaw a serum that will prolong his life for a few days. Henshaw goes to the Sanctuary, where he immediately finds himself being menaced by Sid Haig! Sid plays the bad guy’s henchman. There’s a scene where Thomas attempts to grab a strand of Sid’s hair and instead pulls off his wig. Sid does not look particularly amused by the whole thing.

Thomas meets and falls for Tessa (Morgan Brittany), who is basically owned by one of the assassins. Thomas changes his fantasy, telling Mr. Roarke that he just wants Tessa to be free, even if that means that he loses his chance to track down the killer. Mr. Roarke agrees to the change but no worries. Thomas still manages to track down his assassin and learn the name of the poison. (He also snatches a strand of hair off of the bad guy’s head and declares, “It’s the same!” DNA testing used to be so simple!) Mr. Roarke and the Fantasy Island cops show up and arrest the killer and also provide an antidote to Thomas. Thomas lives and leaves the Island with Tessa.

The main problem with this fantasy is that Bobby Sherman was extremely miscast, giving a performance that was so mild that you never once believed he could be at the center of a murder-for-hire scheme. Michael Cole, who plays one of the assassins, perhaps would have been believable as Thomas Henshaw. For that matter, if the show’s producers and writers had really been willing to think outside the box, it would have been interesting to see Sid Haig play a sympathetic role on Fantasy Island. But Bobby Sherman is just too bland for this type of story.

The other fantasy is also, sad to say, a bit bland. Anastasia Decker (Eva Gabor) is a wealthy widow who is trying to choose between three suitors. Complicating matters is the ghost of Anastasia’s husband, the charming Dex (Gene Barry). Dex keeps popping up and pointing out all of the flaws in the men who want to replace him. Anastasia cannot emotionally move on. Finally, Anastasia decides she wants to be with Dex so she tries to drive her car over a cliff! Luckily, Ghost Dex is able to magically stop the car in mid-air and return it to the road. Anastasia realizes that, of her suitors, nerdy-but-nice Walter (Craig Stevens) is the one who truly loves her and that’s who she leaves the Island with. Dex returns to the afterlife, happy in the knowledge that Anastasia will be able to move on.

I like it when Fantasy Island deals with the supernatural but this particular fantasy was so bland that not even a tap-dancing ghost could liven things up. Eva Gabor tried her best but this fantasy was the type of story that the show had already done several times in the past. Despite effective performances from Gabor, Barry, and Stevens, it was just a bit too familiar to be effective.

Well, this was a disappointing trip to the Island. Hopefully, the plane will bring something more interesting next week!

Here’s What Won At The Emmys

Posted on January 16, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I was busy hosting a movie watch party on Monday night so I didn’t watch the Emmys. It’s probably for the best, as I would have been very upset over the lack of love shown to Barry and Better Call Saul.

(That said, I did like The Bear and I’m happy that Ted Lasso didn’t win. As for Succession, it’s never done much for me and I usually find the discourse around it to be kind of annoying. Finally, Beef was a good pick for Best Limited Series, even if it did run on a bit too long.)

Here are the Emmy winners:

BEST COMEDY SERIES
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Barry (HBO/Max)
The Bear (FX)
Jury Duty (Freevee)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
Wednesday (Netflix)

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Bill Hader (Barry)
Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building)
Jason Segel (Shrinking)
Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso)
Jeremy Allen White (The Bear)

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate (Dead to Me)
Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary)
Natasha Lyonne (Poker Face)
Jenna Ortega (Wednesday)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Anthony Carrigan (Barry)
Phil Dunster (Ted Lasso)
Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso)
James Marsden (Jury Duty)
Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear)
Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary)
Henry Winkler (Barry)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alex Borstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Ayo Edebiri (The Bear)
Janelle James (Abbott Elementary)
Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary)
Juno Temple (Ted Lasso)
Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso)
Jessica Williams (Shrinking)

BEST DRAMA SERIES
Andor (Disney+)
Better Call Saul (AMC)
The Crown (Netflix)
House of the Dragon (HBO/Max)
The Last of Us (HBO/Max)
Succession (HBO/Max)
The White Lotus (HBO/Max)
Yellowjackets (Showtime)

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters)
Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets)
Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us)
Keri Russell (The Diplomat)
Sarah Snook (Succession)

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jeff Bridges (The Old Man)
Brian Cox (Succession)
Kieran Culkin (Succession)
Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul)
Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us)
Jeremy Strong (Succession)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
F. Murray Abraham (The White Lotus)
Nicholas Braun (Succession)
Michael Imperioli (The White Lotus)
Theo James (The White Lotus)
Matthew Macfadyen (Succession)
Alan Ruck (Succession)
Will Sharpe (The White Lotus)
Alexander Skarsgård (Succession)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus)
Elizabeth Debicki (The Crown)
Meghann Fahy (The White Lotus)
Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus)
Aubrey Plaza (The White Lotus)
Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul)
J. Smith-Cameron (Succession)
Simona Tabasco (The White Lotus)

BEST LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES
Beef (Netflix)
Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Netflix)
Daisy Jones & The Six (Prime Video)
Fleishman Is in Trouble (FX)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney+)

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Taron Egerton (Black Bird)
Kumail Nanjiani (Welcome to Chippendales)
Evan Peters (Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story)
Daniel Radcliffe (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story)
Michael Shannon (George & Tammy)
Steven Yeun (Beef)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Lizzy Caplan (Fleishman Is in Trouble)
Jessica Chastain (George & Tammy)
Dominique Fishback (Swarm)
Kathryn Hahn (Tiny Beautiful Things)
Riley Keough (Daisy Jones & The Six)
Ali Wong (Beef)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Murray Bartlett (Welcome To Chippendales)
Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird)
Richard Jenkins (Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story)
Joseph Lee (Beef)
Ray Liotta (Black Bird)
Young Mazino (Beef)
Jesse Plemons (Love & Death)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Annaleigh Ashford (Welcome To Chippendales)
Maria Bello (Beef)
Claire Danes (Fleishman Is In Trouble)
Juliette Lewis (Welcome To Chippendales)
Camila Morrone (Daisy Jones & The Six)
Niecy Nash-Betts (Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story)
Merritt Wever (Tiny Beautiful Things)

BEST REALITY COMPETITION
The Amazing Race (CBS)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Survivor (CBS)
Top Chef (Bravo)
The Voice (NBC)

BEST TALK SERIES
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
Late Night With Seth Meyers (NBC)
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (CBS)
The Problem With Jon Stewart (Apple TV+)

BEST SCRIPTED VARIETY SERIES
A Black Lady Sketch Show (Max)
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (Max)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Barry: “wow” – Bill Hader (Max)
The Bear: “Review” – Christopher Storer (FX)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: “Four Minutes” – Amy Sherman-Palladino (Prime Video)
The Ms. Pat Show: “Don’t Touch My Hair” – Mary Lou Belli (BET+)
Wednesday: “Wednesday’s Child Is Full Of Woe” – Tim Burton (Netflix)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Andor: “Rix Road” – Benjamin Caron (Disney+)
Bad Sisters: “The Prick” – Dearbhla Walsh (Apple TV+)
The Last of Us: “Long, Long Time” – Peter Hoar (HBO)
Succession: “America Decides” – Andrij Parekh (HBO)
Succession: “Connor’s Wedding” – Mark Mylod (HBO)
Succession: “Living+” – Lorene Scafaria (HBO)
The White Lotus: “Arrivederci” – Mike White (HBO)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
Beef: “Figures of Light” – Lee Sung Jin (Netflix)
Beef: “The Great Fabricator” – Jake Schreier (Netflix)
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: “Bad Meat” – Carl Franklin (Netflix)
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: “Silenced” – Paris Barclay (Netflix)
Fleishman Is in Trouble: “Me-Time” – Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (FX)
Prey – Dan Trachtenberg (Hulu)

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Barry: “wow” – Bill Hader (HBO)
The Bear: “System” – Christopher Storer (FX)
Jury Duty: “Ineffective Assistance” – Mekki Leeper (Amazon Freevee)
Only Murders in the Building: “I Know Who Did It” – John Hoffman, Matteo Borghese, and Rob Turbovsky (Hulu)
The Other Two: “Cary & Brooke Go to an AIDS Play” – Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider (Max)
Ted Lasso: “So Long, Farewell” – Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, and Jason Sudeikis (Apple TV+)

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Andor: “One Way Out” – Beau Willimon (Disney+)
Bad Sisters: “The Prick” – Sharon Horgan, Dave Finkel, and Brett Baer (Apple TV+)
Better Call Saul: “Point and Shoot” – Gordon Smith (AMC)
Better Call Saul: “Saul Gone” – Peter Gould (AMC)
The Last of Us: “Long, Long Time” – Craig Mazin (HBO)
Succession: “Connor’s Wedding” – Jesse Armstrong (HBO)
The White Lotus: “Arrivederci” – Mike White (HBO)

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
Beef: “The Birds Don’t Sing, They Screech in Pain” – Lee Sung Jin (Netflix)
Fire Island – Joel Kim Booster (Hulu)
Fleishman Is in Trouble: “Me-Time” – Taffy Brodesser-Akner (FX)
Prey – Patrick Aison and Dan Trachtenberg (Hulu)
Swarm: “Stung” – Janine Nabers and Donald Glover (Prime Video)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story – Al Yankovic and Eric Appel (The Roku Channel)

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)

OUTSTANDING VARIETY SPECIAL (LIVE)
The Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show Starring Rihanna (Fox)
Chris Rock: Selective Outrage (Netflix)
Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium (Disney+)
The Oscars (ABC)
76th Annual Tony Awards (CBS)

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: CHiPs 1.10 “Highway Robbery”

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Mondays, I will be reviewing CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983. The entire show is currently streaming on Freevee!

This week, Baker meets an old friend and Ponch is nearly commits a crime.

Episode 1.10 “Highway Robbery”

(Dir by Nicholas Colasanto, originally aired on December 1st, 1977)

There’s a man on a motorcycle who is driving up and down the highways of California. Whenever he comes across a traffic jam, he pulls up to people’s car and snatches whatever he can. One man loses his wallet and his watch. A woman has her purse taken. When Ponch and Baker arrest him, the thief is revealed to be Leo Norrison (David Wilson), an old high school classmate of Baker’s.

Baker and Leo used to play on the school’s football team. As Baker explains it, Leo was the student that everyone looked up to. He was “Mr. Most Likely To Succeed.” However, Leo fell on hard times after high school. He won a scholarship to play football in college but then he flunked the entrance exam. He joined the army but ended up losing his temper and striking his captain. Now, with a dishonorable discharge on his record, Leo is unemployable and bitter.

Baker offers to help Leo out and Leo seems to appreciate the offer. But, soon enough, Leo is back to stealing purses. When Baker and Ponch arrest him for a second time, it’s clear that Leo will not be getting any more chances at redemption.

Wow, what a sad story for an episode of CHiPs! Larry Wilcox can be a bit of a stiff actor but he actually did a really good job in this episode. Baker couldn’t believe that his high school hero was now a petty criminal and Leo couldn’t believe that Baker had ever looked up to him. As I watched this episode, I found myself wondering how many of my old high school classmates were now in jail.

Of course, this episode wasn’t all sad. For instance, there was a rather lengthy scene that centered around a minor accident involving a traveling circus. One of the circus’s elephants helped to pull a truck over to the side of the road. Good elephant!

And then there was Ponch’s storyline. In this episode, Ponch is even more cringey than usual. He has grown obsessed with a model in an ad for suntan lotion, to the extent that he’s constantly putting on suntan lotion and he has a cut-out of the ad hanging in his locker. When Ponch learn that the model is a friend of Getraer’s family, Ponch begs Getraer to set him up on a blind date. Getraer says it’s not a good idea but Ponch insists. Finally, Getraer relents.

Ponch shows up at the model’s house and discovers that Getraer is already there, having a glass of brandy with the model’s father (James Beach). They tell Ponch that “Janey” will be right down. When Janey (Wendy Fredericks) finally does come down to meet her date, Ponch is shocked to discover that …. SHE’S 15!

Getraer mention that Janey looks older in photographs. Baker and two other officers — Fitz (Lew Saunders) and Grossman (Paul Linke, a future series regular) — step into the living room and start laughing. Getraer laughs. Janey’s father laughs. Janey accepts Ponch’s flowers and then rests her head on his shoulder as the credits role….

So, just to repeat — SHE’S FIFTEEN!

Obviously, Ponch didn’t know that but still, it’s bizarre to see Janey’s father laughing about a 30 year-old showing up at the house to go on a date with his fifteen year-old daughter. Getraer essentially set Ponch up to potentially commit a felony and everyone thinks its hilarious. As the end credits rolled, I kept expecting Chris Hansen to step in the room and demand that everyone have a seat and explain what exactly it is they though they were doing.

Weird episode. The stuff involving Leo was surprisingly well-done for this show. The stuff with Ponch was truly cringe-inducing. I mean, even if Janey had been an adult, Ponch’s obsession with her would have been creepy. In the end, Baker’s friend went to jail and Ponch was thoroughly humiliated. I guess it all balances out.

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 1.18 “Made For Each Other”

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Mondays, I will be reviewing Miami Vice, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, two supporting players get an episode all their own.

Episode 1.18 “Made For Each Other”

(Dir by Rob Cohen, originally aired on March 8th, 1985)

After spending most of the first season as background comedic relief, Detectives Switek (Michael Talbott) and Zito (John Diehl) are at the center of this week’s episode of Miami Vice.

With the Vice Squad trying to make a case against criminal fence John Costeleda (Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez), Switek and Zito recruit two informants — Noogie (Charlie Barnett) and Izzy (Martin Ferrero) — and send them in undercover to get close to Costeleda’s lieutenant, an electronic store owner named “Bonzo” Barry Gold (Mark Linn-Baker). For once, it’s Zito and Switek who are pushing ethical boundaries to take down the bad guy though, notably, they never get quite as angsty about it as either Crockett or Tubbs. If Crockett and Tubbs are secretly aware that they’re fighting a losing war against crime, Switek and Zito are a bit more earnest in their outlook.

This episode also takes a look at Switek and Zito’s life outside of Vice. Zito likes to take care of fish and is something of an eccentric. Switek is dating Darlene (Ellen Greene), who used to date Zito. Switek is also a big fan of Elvis, though Darlene has tossed almost all of his Elvis stuff out of the apartment and instead replaced it with pictures of Princess Diana and baby Harry. (Prince Harry’s father is not seen in any of the pictures. Neither is the future King Charles III.) When Zito’s house explodes due to a gas leak, he moves in with Switek and Darlene. Darlene is not particularly happy about that and, by the end of the episode, Switek has decided that his partner is more important to him than his girlfriend. As the title says, Switek and Zito are made for each other.

I like the fact that Miami Vice would occasionally allow people other than Crockett and Tubbs to headline an episode. After all, the show is called Miami Vice and there’s more to the Vice Squad than just Crockett’s houseboat and Tubbs’s fake Jamaican accent. Michael Talbott and especially John Diehl are both likable in their roles, with Diehl in particular making Zito into the type of strange guy who you can’t help but love. That said, this episode was a bit too silly for its own good. It would have been interesting to see Zito and Switek go after the type of criminals that Crockett and Tubbs regularly went after but instead, Costeleda was too much of a buffoon to really be a serious threat. The emphasis here was on comedy but Miami Vice works better as a serious show with funny moments than as a funny show with serious moments.

It was nice to see that Zito and Switek were made for each other but, otherwise, this episode never worked as well as one might hope.