Tonight’s episode of The Hitchhiker features Melody Anderson and David James Elliott as, respectively, a veteran prostitute and a polite young man who seems to be the rare honest person that the guy with the lantern was always looking for. However, someone also happens to be killing men who talk to prostitutes.
This episode originally aired on November 18th, 1989.
Congratulations and a big thank you to Arizona Diamondbacks for winning Game 3 of NLCS and bringing some suspense to the MLB playoffs! Based on the past two games in the NLCS, I thought the Phillies were going to sweep the series but, with their 1-2 victory over the Phillies, the Diamondbacks have proven that they’re still in this!
Now, let’s how things go in Arlington.
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 Jennifer Slept Here, which aired on NBC in 1983 and 1984. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
This week, Jennifer helps out when it looks like both Joey and Marc are about to get their hearts broken.
Episode 1.3 “Not With My Date You Don’t”
(Dir by John Bowab, originally aired on November 4th, 1983)
I should start this review with an admission. Though every episode of Jennifer Slept Here has been uploaded to YouTube, some of the uploads are a bit better than others. That’s not the fault of the uploader. The uploader undoubtedly used the best copy of the third episode of Jennifer Slept Here that they had available. It’s just an acknowledgement that Jennifer Slept Here is a show that briefly aired 40 years ago and it’s doubtful that anyone, at that time, knew that a reviewer would need a good copy of the third episode to watch in 2023. The 3rd episode of the show is available on YouTube but the sound quality is a bit muddy and I often struggled to understand all of the dialogue. So, I’m just going to admit right now that I did the best that I could and if I misheard anything, I apologize.
As for the episode itself, it opens with Joey rehearsing asking out a classmate in front of his mirror. Jennifer materializes in a red dress that is to die for. Joey asks Jennifer where she’s going to go in that outfit and Jennifer says that she’s just going out. To be honest, Joey’s question is a good one because, seriously, where does Jennifer have to go? She’s a ghost!
When Jennifer finds out that Joey is feeling nervous about asking pretty blonde Linda (Viveka Davis) to go on a date with him, she decides to help him out by going to school with him. This makes sense because, as we all know, there’s nothing more attractive than a teenage boy who wanders around his school talking to himself. Anyway, with Jennifer’s encouragement, Joey asks out Linda but she informs him that she already has a date ….. WITH MARC (Glenn Scarpelli)! Marc is Joey’s annoying best friend.
Joey’s parents set him up with a blind date, who I think was named Eileen (Megan Daniels). At least now Joey can go on a double date to the movies with Marc and Linda. (Yeah, there’s no way that won’t be awkward.) However, Eileen turns out to be a punk rocker with multi-colored hair, who yells at the movie and totally embarrasses Joey in front of Marc, Linda, and Jennifer (who decides to tag along in ghost form). Eileen decides that the movie sucks and leaves. Linda asks Marc to go get her some more popcorn and, after he leaves, she immediately moves over to Marc and starts hitting on him. Jennifer is scandalized, saying that Linda has no morals.
Later, after the date, Joey is feeling pretty proud of himself when Marc suddenly shows up and accuses Joey of “stealing my girl.” This brings their friendship to an end. Yay! Seriously, Marc is a dork! Joey needed a better friend. Jennifer, however, is upset that Joey is allowing Linda — a girl with no morals! — come between him and his dorky friend.
The next day, in school, Jennifer decides to take actions into her own invisible ghost hands by grabbing Linda, shoving her up to the chalkboard, and then grabbing Linda’s hand and forcing her to write that she lied on the chalkboard. Apparently, the reason she lied was to get Joey to buy her tickets to a Rick Springfield concert but don’t quote me on that. This where that muddy soundtrack kicked in and made it difficult for me to follow all of the conversations. All I know that Jennifer forced Linda to write, “I lied” and then Jennifer added, “Springfield tickets” underneath Linda’s admission. So, that would suggest Linda either wanted to see Rick Springfield or maybe Dusty Springfield, depending on the depths of her musical knowledge. Or maybe she actually wrote Springsteen on the chalkboard. I really couldn’t tell. The important thing is that Joey dumps Linda for being dishonest and he and Marc are friends again.
Even when it came to the parts that I could understand, I wasn’t a huge fan of this episode, largely because I felt it was way too judgmental of Linda. I mean, really, the only thing that Linda did was flirt with a guy who she hoped would take her to a concert. It’s not like she was married to either Marc or Joey. In fact, she only went out with Marc once before hitting on Joey so it’s not like Linda was really even dating either one of them. Ann Jillian’s outfits were cute but this episode just didn’t work for me.
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 Youtube.
This week’s episode is all about bee keeping and the wages of sin!
Episode 1.3 “New York Honey”
(Dir by Gerald Cotts, originally aired on November 5th, 1988)
Actually, this episode felt kind of pointless. I usually try to come up with at least 500 words whenever I write a review but it’s going to be a struggle tonight.
Jay Blake (Lewis J. Stadlen) and his wife, Emerald (Elaine Bromka) live in an apartment in New York. Their new upstairs neighbor is a mysterious man named Dr. Homer Jimmerman (MacIntyre Dixon). Hardly anyone around the building ever sees Dr. Jimmerman but they definitely hear him moving around and working in his apartment. When Jay and Emerald get annoyed by the loud music coming from Dr. Jimmerman’s apartment, Jay heads upstairs to complain.
When Dr. Jimmerman opens the door to his apartment, Jay barges in and discovers that Dr. Jimmerman is keeping bees in his apartment, a clear violation of his lease. However, Jay gets one taste of the honey that the bees produce and he decides that, rather than evict Dr. Jimmerman, he wants to go into business with him. Dr. Jimmerman says that he doesn’t have enough honey to start selling it but Jay blackmails him into accepting Jay’s offer.
Rich people in New York love the honey and Jay finds himself falling for Dr. Jimmerman’s femme fatale of a girlfriend, Desiree (Andrea Thompson). Jay even sends Emerald to Dr. Jimmerman’s apartment so that he can get some alone time with Desiree. Desiree declares that there can only be one queen and suddenly, all of the bees attack Emerald and kill her. Desiree then explains to Jay that Dr. Jimmerman’s time has come to an end and now, Jay’s going to be the worker bee who gets to look after her needs. That’s right …. DESIREE IS ACTUALLY SOME SORT OF BEE CREATURE! Out the apartment window goes Jay.
And that’s pretty much the entire episode!
Seriously, there’s not much to say about New York Honey. From the minute that Desiree arrives, it’s obvious that she has a secret and that it is linked to all of the bees that Dr. Jimmerman is keeping in his apartment. It doesn’t take a genius to guess that her secret is going to somehow involve her being the “queen bee.” It’s also pretty easy to guess that Jay is eventually going to go out that window because Jay is such a smarmy character that there’s no way he isn’t going to end up getting tossed out a window. Such are the wages of sin and all that. Andrea Thompson gives a good performance as Desiree the Bee Lady but otherwise, this episode was way too predictable.
How many words is that? 503? That’ll work!
Congratulations to the Texas Rangers for continuing the lead the ALCS by 2 games to 1!
Tonight’s game was difficult for me, as a Rangers fan, to watch. The Astros won the game by a score of 8-5. The Rangers did come alive for two innings and they managed to narrow the Astros lead down to three runs but, in the end, the Astros came out on top.
I know there was a chance this would happen. The Rangers have been undefeated in the playoffs up until tonight and it’s rare for any team to keep up that type of streak. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better game for my team and we’ll clinch that third victory on our way to four.
Go Rangers!
On tonight’s episode of The Hitchhiker, Bruce Weitz gives a strong performance as a man who abandons his family for a stripper and then finds himself haunted by a man that he ran over in his car. A guilty conscience cannot be escaped.
This episode originally aired on November 10th, 1989.
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986! The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!
This cruise is all about deception! Welcome aboard, it’s love!
Episode 3.12 “The Brotherhood of the Sea/Letter to Babycakes/Daddy’s Pride”
(Dir by George Tyne, originally aired on November 17th, 1979)
Julie’s birthday is coming up and the crew is planning to throw her a surprise party. However, to keep Julie from catching on to what they’re planning, Doc, Gopher, and Isaac decide that they need to keep her occupied. They tell her that they are all member of the “The Brotherhood of the Sea” and that they’re now prepared to make Julie a member as well.
Somehow, Julie falls for this very obvious lie and she spends almost the entire cruise doing all of the silly activities that Doc, Gopher, and Isaac have set up for her. As I watched this, I found myself wondering if maybe Julie had somehow forgotten when her birthday was because, seriously, it couldn’t have been any more obvious what Doc, Gopher, and Isaac were doing. Even worse, Julie gets so busy trying to join the Brotherhood of the Sea that she neglects her latest romantic partner, Rory Daniels (Christopher Connelly).
It’s time that we just face facts. Until Julie gets off that boat, she’s never going to find the husband that she always says that she’s looking for. The Boat pretty much dominates Julie’s life and there’s no way that her male co-workers are ever going to stop out of the way and allow Julie to find any sort of happiness. It’s an interesting dynamic and I think it’s one that’s familiar to any woman who has worked with mostly male co-workers. On the one hand, the ground you walk on is worshipped. On the other hand, they don’t ever want to let you go.
While Julie is trying to join the Brotherhood of the Sea, Olympic gymnast Penny Barrett (Nancy McKeon) just wants to hang out with Kevin (Stephen Manley), a passenger who is her own age. Unfortunately, Penny’s father (Alex Cord) is also her coach and he wants her to devote all of her time, even her time on the Boat, to training. Poor Penny! Seriously, back when my whole life was about going to dance class, I met so many people like Penny, whose parents basically lived their entire lives through them and never allowed them to have a childhood. I was glad my parents supported me but didn’t pressure me.
Finally, wealthy Bart (Demon Wilson) boards the ship with his girlfriend, Tracy (Telma Hopkins), and his assistant, Wally (Jimmie Walker). After Bart meets Ginger (Sydney Goldsmith), he decides that he wants to cheat on Tracy and he expects Wally to help him pull it off by keeping Tracy busy while Bart goes off with Ginger. Needless to say this leads to Tracy and Wally falling in love. Ha! Take that, Bart! This storyline would have been a bit more interesting if the two leads actors weren’t so boring in their roles.
This was a so-so cruise but at least Julie knows where she stands now.
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 Gun, an anthology series that ran on ABC for six week in 1997. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
This week, Gun welcomes …. JAMES GANDOLFINI!
Episode 1.3 “Columbus Day”
(Dir by James Steven Sadwith, originally aired on May 3rd, 1997)
The third episode of Gun does indeed features James Gandolfini. Gandolfini play Walter Difideli, who seems to have quite a bit in common with Gandolfini’s best-known character. Like Tony Soprano, Walter is proud of his Italian heritage, loudly discussing the superiority of men like Amerigo Vespucci and Christopher Columbus. Walter makes it a point to stay home on Columbus Day so that he can properly celebrate. Like Tony, Walter boasts about how he will always take care of his family and he also has something of a quick temper. And, like Tony, Walter keeps a gun around the house.
However, there are a few differences as well. For one thing, Walter is firmly on the side of law and order. Unlike Tony, who lived in a mansion and never worried about the legality of his activities. Walter is very honest and, as a result, he and his family live in a crappy apartment. Another big difference between Walter and Tony is that, while Tony always had a mistress, Walter is loyal to his wife, Lilly (Rosanna Arquette). Walter is not one to cheat. The only cheating in the marriage is done by his wife.
Walter works for TSA at an airport. One day, he helps to chase down a terrorist. Before the terrorist is captured, he tosses his gun — the Gun of the show’s title — into a janitor’s cart. When the janitor later comes across the gun, he sells it to Walter for $50.
Walter wants Lilly to have a gun because he’s taking an extra job at night so that he can raise enough money to afford ballet lessons for their daughter and an engagement ring for his wife. (When they were engaged, he could never afford to get her a ring.) Lilly is unhappy about Walter refusing to let her work and instead expecting her to spend all of her time around the apartment. But then Lilly meets one of her neighbors, a writer named Jack Keyes (Peter Horton). Soon, she and Jack are having a passionate affair, one that inspires Jack to write a less-than-flattering shorty story called The Tryst.
Meanwhile, the terrorist’s collaborator wants to get the gun back and, after he finds out that Walter has it, he starts harassing Walter at work and later at his apartment. The nervous Walter starts to carry around the gun with him. When Lilly, upset over Jack’s short story, deletes all of his files from his laptop, the angry Jack goes down to Lilly’s apartment and kicks open the door. What he doesn’t know is that Walter is waiting on the other side of the door, with his gun. Jack ends up dead. Walter is declared a hero for protecting his home. Lilly submits Jack’s short story under her name and it gets published. And the terrorist …. well, he’s just kind of forgotten about.
This was an unsatisfying episode, one that ended with a few too many loose ends still dangling. (At one point, it’s revealed that Jack secretly films his encounters with Lilly but it’s one of those plot points that goes nowhere.) An even bigger problem was that there really wasn’t anyone in this episode who seemed worthy of being the center of a story. Walter was a hopelessly naïve blowhard. Lilly cheated on her devoted husband and never appeared to feel the least bit of guilt about it, even after Walter gunned down her lover. Jack was a jerk but it’s hard not to feel that he deserved better than to have his life’s work deleted by the whiny Lilly. The performances were all good but none of the characters seemed to be worth the effort.
Still, for James Ganolfini fans, this episode does provide a bit of a dry run for Gandolfini’s legendary performance as Tony Soprano. Imagine a world where Tony is a complete dunce and you’ll probably come up with this episode of Gun.
Once again, I have to say congratulations to the Phillies for their decisive victory in the NLCS! They just won game 2, defeating the Diamondbacks by a score of 0-10! Almost every hit that the Phillies got led to a run. That’s pretty amazing and, if you’re a Phillies fan, you have a lot of reasons to be happy. Of course, if you’re hoping that your team will be the one to beat the Phillies in the World Series, that 0-10 final is scary to even think about.
Tomorrow, the Rangers face off against the Astros in Arlington. Go Rangers!
In tonight’s episode of The Hitchhiker, a track coach (Charles Haid) is freaking out over the prospect of his son (Jonathan Crombie) breaking his 25 year-old track record. The coach ends up taking things to extreme to try to preserve his record.
This episode features a ferocious performance from Charles Haid, who plays the coach as every high school student’s worst nightmare. This episode has a lot to say about both the strange rituals of athletic competitiveness and how some people are so scared of getting old that they’ll go to any extreme to hold on to their accomplishments of youth.
The episode aired on September 30th, 1989.
Through the Shattered Lens