Retro Television Review: One World 3.7 “Dad Strikes Out” and 3.8 “Sui’s In For Stormy Weather”

Posted on December 23, 2022 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 One World, which ran on NBC from 1998 to 2001. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

The Cast of One World

We’re all in this together now!

Episode 3.7 “Dad Strikes Out”

(Directed by Mary Lou Belli, originally aired on November 4th, 2000)

Occasionally, the writers of One World would suddenly remember some otherwise forgotten fact about their characters and build an episode around them. In this case, they suddenly remembered that Dave is a public high school teacher. At the start of this episode, Dave announces that the teachers are on strike and the high school is closed until further notice. Dave says that the strike is going to go on for a long time. So, I guess the school year is canceled and everyone will have to repeat their senior year. St. Neal is especially upset about this and who can blame him? He was supposed to graduate at the end of season 2! Is he ever going to get out of that school?

At the mall, the kids decide to harass the new guy working at Corn Dog World, just to discover that it’s their Dad. (This family is the worst!) Since Dave is humiliating himself by taking on another job while on strike, St. Neal announces that all of the kids will get jobs as well.

Cray, who is 13, gets a job searching for alligators in the sewer. Do they usually hire 13 year-olds for that type of work? Jane gets as job as a dog walker. Sui gets a job as a perfume sprayer at the mall. Marci keeps her job as the assistant manager of Miami’s “hottest under 21 club,” The Warehouse. Ben plays guitar on the street. St. Neal makes money as a tutor. Considering he’s been a senior for three years now, I imagine he knows all of the answers.

The kids also help their parents save money by doing home repairs. “Is that roof safe?” St. Neal asks. “I don’t know,” Jane replies, “that why I sent Cray up there.” Okay, I will admit that line made me laugh.

Meanwhile, Ben dates a smart girl in order to win a bet with Marci. But then he falls in love with her for real. He begs her to forgive him when she finds out the truth and eventually, she does. (“Awwwwwww!” the audience says.) I’m sure we’ll never hear from her again.

Episode 3.8 “Sui’s In For Stormy Weather”

(Directed by Mary Lou Belli, originally aired on November 11th, 2000)

This episode starts with Neal and Ben making their debut as film critics on the local cable access channel and …. wait, what!? Like how the Hell did this happen!? THEY’RE IN HIGH SCHOOL! What’s weird is that there’s no backstory that explains how Neal and Ben ended up with this gig. Instead, Marci says, “I can’t believe you guys get paid to be movie critics” and everyone watching is just supposed to accept it.

To be honest, this is type of thing that would normally make me stop watching after the first few minutes but, because the title promised that this was a Sui episode, I stuck with it. Considering that she’s both the coolest and the best-dressed of the Blake children, Sui has definitely not gotten enough storylines during season 3.

When Sui learns that there’s an opening for a weather girl at the station, she auditions for it and gets the job. The manager of the studio is named Randy Gekko, which automatically tells us not to trust him. No one decent person has ever been named Randy Gekko. And sure enough, Randy is soon pressuring Sui to wear a bikini while reporting on the weather and telling her that he can make her a star if she cooperates.

To the show’s credit, Sui immediately realizes what Randy is doing and that it’s wrong. One of the reasons why Sui is the best character on the show is because, while she’s often materialistic and a little flighty, she’s also smarter than people realize and she’s willing to stand up for herself. (Full disclosure: Of all the characters on this show, Sui is the one to whom I tend to relate.) In this case, she humiliates Randy on the air by announcing to the channel’s viewers (there must be at least half-a-dozen of them) that her boss is a sleaze. Way to go, Sui!

In the B-plot, Cray considers piercing his ear to impress a girl. It was a dumb plot and it had no place in a Sui episode.

Retro Television Reviews: City Guys 3.7 “Ebony & Ivory” and 3.8 “Reluctant Hero”

Posted on December 22, 2022 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 City Guys, which ran on NBC from 1997 to 2001. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

Last week’s episodes of City Guys were actually pretty good. Let’s see if it continues this week!

Episode 3.7 “Ebony & Ivory”

(dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on October 9th, 1999)

Jamal’s dating a white girl! Kristen Jones (Amy Leland) is the daughter of a deputy mayor who pretends to be all progressive about race but who is actually a racist who doesn’t want Kristen dating a black guy. But Jamal has asked Kristen to the latest school dance. Chris agrees to pretend to be Kristen’s date but, when Kristen leaves her purse at the house, her father comes to the dance and catches Chris making out with his actual date, Sarah (Natalie Austin). Racist old Mr. Jones makes a big deal about the world not being ready for interracial relationships. Ms. Nobel and the students tell him off.

This episode had a good message but it was somewhat sabotaged by the fact that Kristen appeared to be in her early 30s and seemed to be too old to be dating anyone in high school, regardless of what race they may be. As well, the actress playing Kristen delivered her lines in a somewhat creepy monotone. For that matter, so did the actor playing her father and the actress playing Chris’s date. All of the guest actors were so stiff and unconvincing in their performances that this episode took on an odd Twilight Zone sort of feel. I found myself wondering if maybe Manny High had been transported to planet full of androids.

Interestingly enough, Chris spent the previous episode talking about how much he loved Cassidy but, even after it was revealed that she still didn’t have a date, Chris never asked her to the dance. Instead, Cassidy discovered the L-Train also didn’t have a date so she agreed to go with him. Dawn and Al, meanwhile, also discovered that neither one of them could get a date so they went together. It fit into the show’s message about interracial relationships and that’s a good thing but, at the same time, it also felt a bit forced. L-Train is the president of the student body and apparently a pretty popular guy. Cassidy usually has a new boyfriend every week. Since when have any of these characters ever had difficulty getting a date?

Episode 3.8 “Reluctant Hero”

(dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on October 9th, 1999)

In order to combat crime, Ms. Nobel decides to appoint L-Train, Al, Dawn, and Cassidy as hall monitors. L-Train and Al end up taking bribes in the form of brownies and Philly cheesesteaks. Whatever. It’s stupid. Let’s move on to the main story.

Along with turning her students into narcs, Ms. Nobel also decides that the school needs a self-defense class. Coming in to teach the class is Yvonne and …. OH MY GOD! It’s Lorena from California Dreams! That’s right, Diana Uribe plays Yvonne and naturally, both Chris and Jamal fall for her. (“She’s got a black belt in hot!” Chris exclaims.) Yvonne agrees to go on a date with Jamal but — uh oh! — Jamal’s been grounded. Jamal goes on the date anyway and, afterwards, he sees a man being mugged. Using his self-defense training, Jamal knocks the mugger out. But — oh no! — now his dad will know that he went out when he was grounded. Jamal convinces Chris to take credit for knocking out the mugger.

Chris is declared to be a hero. Jamal gets jealous, especially after the Mayor — THE MAYOR! — shows up at the diner to give Chris an award. (No one asks the mayor anything about the deputy mayor who is opposed to interracial relationships.) Jamal gets upset when Chris accepts the award but honestly, I have no sympathy for Jamal. Jamal’s the one who told Chris to take credit for knocking out the mugger. Anyway, after Chris has an attack of conscience and declines to accept the award, Jamal confesses that he disobeyed his father. While he does so, everyone in the diner watches him. I can only imagine how awkward it would be to witness something like that in real life.

This episode made me yell a lot because it was pretty stupid but, on the plus side, Lorena was always the California Dreams character to whom I most related so it was good to see Diana Uribe beating up the cast of City Guys. They should have made her a regular.

Retro Television Reviews: The Love Boat 1.17 “Winner Take Love / The Congressman Was Indiscreet / Isaac’s History Lesson”

Posted on December 21, 2022 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!

This week, things get awkward as we set sail on The Love Boat!

Episode 1.17 “Winner Take Love / The Congressman Was Indiscreet / Isaac’s History Lesson”

(Dir by Jack Arnold, originally aired on January 28th, 1978)

It’s the most awkward cruise ever!

A beauty contest is being held on the ship! The winner becomes Ms. Pacific Princess and, along with getting a lot of money, she also sacrifices a year of her life so that she can go on free cruises and promote the Pacific Princess line. Along with being beautiful, the winner is also expected to be “virtuous.” Of course, judging from The Love Boat, the cruise line seems to specifically cater to people who are desperately looking to get laid so the rules seem to be a bit hypocritical.

The head of the contest, Waldo Linden (Graham Jarvis), recruits Captain Stubing to act as host. Unfortunately, after Stubing gets a few laughs from the jokes that Waldo has written for him, the Captain turns into a prima donna. He starts punching up the script on his own. Waldo, however, has even more to worry about than the captain. Suzy (Maureen McCormick), one of the contestants, is secretly traveling with her boyfriend, Rick (Bobby Sherman). When Waldo tries to disqualify Suzy for not being “virtuous,” another contestant, the klutzy Jeanette (Priscilla Barnes), asks that Waldo help her zip up her dress and, after Waldo kisses her, she points out that Waldo hasn’t been living up to his own standards. Due to Jeanette’s blackmail, Suzy is allowed to compete and she wins! But then she refuses the crown so that she can marry Rick and, as a result, Jeanette becomes Miss Pacific Princess.

While that’s going on, scandal-plagued Congressman John Whitcomb (Dick Van Patten) falls in love with Robin Brandt (Vickie Lawrence). What the Congressman doesn’t know is that Robin works for a tabloid newspaper and Robin’s editor expects Robin to report on whether or not allegations of an affair are going to led to Whitcomb resigning his seat.

All of that is certainly awkward but it’s nothing compared to the third storyline. Almost everyone loves passenger Virgil Gibson (played by the engaging Scatman Crothers), who is always the life of the party and who loves to make people laugh. The only person who doesn’t like him is Prof. Stephanie Hayden (Vernee Watson), who is on the cruise to work on a study about African-American history. Hayden feels the Virgil is acting like a fool and playing into all of the demeaning stereotypes that white people have about black people. Hayden encourages Isaac to learn more about his background and soon, Isaac is being rude to Virgil and telling him not to call people “boss.”

Captain Stubing notices this. He approaches Isaac — while Isaac is working — and says, “I notice you’ve been reading a lot of black history.”

AGCK! As soon as the very white Captain Stubing says those words to Isaac, the cringing begins.

Stubing goes on to explain that Virgil was a pitcher in the Negro Baseball Leagues and that, if not for him, blacks would never have made it into the major leagues. “And I wouldn’t be serving drinks on this cruise,” a remorseful Isaac says. “And I wouldn’t be teaching,” Stephanie agrees. Stubing goes on to explain that Virgil is acting the way he acts because that’s the way blacks were expected to behave when Virgil was a young man. After being chastised by the ship’s white authority figure, Isaac and Stephanie agree that they were wrong to judge Virgil.

And, in many ways, Captain Stubing does have a point about judging people and Isaac and Stephanie were being a bit harsh in their dismissal of Virgil. But that doesn’t change the fact that this episode features the extremely white Captain Stubing explaining black history to not only the ship’s only black employee but also a black college professor who has spent her entire academic career researching and writing about black history. Stubing is essentially telling two black people how they should interpret and feel about black history. It’s incredibly weird to watch and one has to wonder why the writers thought that Stubing — as opposed to Virgil himself — was the correct character to explain Virgil’s past and Virgil’s character. It just doesn’t feel right, at all.

That said, there was a lot to like about this episode. Scatman Crothers shows the same charm here that he showed in The Shining. As cringey as Captain Stubing is when he lectures on black history, the plotline of him turning into a diva was actually pretty funny and Gavin MacLeod seemed to be having fun playing up the pompous side of the character. The beauty pageant subplot was dumb but Maureen McCormick actually gave a pretty good performance as Suzy. This episode had its moments though, in the end, it will always be defined by the awkwardness.

Retro Television Reviews: Fantasy Island 2.1 “Homecoming/The Sheikh”

Posted on December 20, 2022 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. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, we begin season two of Fantasy Island!

Episode 2.1 “Homecoming/The Sheikh”

(Dir by Earl Bellamy, originally aired on September 16th, 1978)

The second season of Fantasy Island begins with a bizarre mishmash of tones.

As usual, there are two fantasies. The first fantasy features David Birney as Alan Boardman. As Mr. Roarke explains it, Alan served in Viet Nam. He was horribly burned in battle and captured by the Viet Cong. He spent years, as an amnesiac, in a POW camp. In the United States, he was reported to have been killed in action. Finally, he was released from the POW camp and he underwent extensive plastic surgery. He now looks completely different than he did in his past life. It was only after the plastic surgery that Alan remembered who he was. He also remembered that he had a wife (Lynda Day George) and a son (Ronnie Scribner). Alan comes to Fantasy Island, hoping to be reunited with his family. However, there’s a complication. Alan’s wife has remarried and she still believes Alan to be dead. Alan meets his wife and his son but he has to pretend to be a stranger. Alan must decide whether to reveal his true identity or to accept that his wife has moved on and now has a new life.

Wow, that’s really dark! It’s an extremely serious story, one that ends on a bittersweet note that will leave no one truly satisfied. David Birney and Lynda Day George both give intense performances as they struggle to come to terms with the horror of the Vietnam War….

Meanwhile, the other fantasy features Arte Johnson as Edgar, a meek school teacher who wants to be a sheikh with a harem. Seriously, that’s his entire fantasy. Of course, once he becomes a sheikh, he discovers that his servant (played by Sid Haig) is a part of a conspiracy to murder him. It also turns out that a member of the harem is actually one of Edgar’s fellow teachers, Yasmine (Georgia Engel). Yasmine’s fantasy was for Edgar to finally notice her so Roarke’s solution was to force her to be a member of a harem! (Really, Mr. Roarke?) This fantasy is played for laughs and the comedy is extremely broad. It’s somewhat jarring to go from David Birney obsessing on the war to Arte Johnson grinning at the members of his harem. It’s such a tonal mismatch that it makes it difficult to get invested in either fantasy.

While all of this is going on, Tattoo is feeling depressed and suffering from ennui. Mr. Roarke solves this problem by giving Tattoo a tiny car that he can drive around. In this episode, Mr. Roarke doesn’t seem to openly dislike Tattoo as much as he did during the first season so I’ll be interested to see if that trend continues. Reportedly, Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villechaize did not have the best working relationship but, in this episode, Roarke and Tattoo actually seem to have a vague respect of one another. It’s a change of pace.

Anyway, this episode doesn’t work because the fantasies don’t really mesh well. However …. SID HAIG!

Retro Television Reviews: Hang Time 3.3 “First Game Of The Season” and 3.4 “Fighting Words”

Posted on December 19, 2022 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 Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

We’re part of the team, never alone….

Episode 3.3 “First Game of the Season”

(Directed by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on September 20th, 1997)

I hope this episode isn’t stupid, I thought as First Game of the Season began.

My hopes were dashed immediately as the episode opened with Teddy begging his teammates to sign his underwear for luck. This was followed by Coach Fuller discovering that the new assistant principal was his ex-fiancée. (“Whoooooo!” the audience said.) Then Michael went crazy because the first game of the season was going to be against his former team, Lynwood High. Michael started pressuring everyone during practice and even encouraged them to skip study hall so that they could practice some more. That led to the team getting detention. (Seriously? It’s freaking study hall. Everyone skipped study hall when I was in high school.) The team nearly lost to Lynwood until Michael set his ego aside and blah blah blah, Anyway, the final score was Deering 57 and Lynwood 56. Yay!

(As usual, the actors playing the Lynwood team were convincingly athletic, even if they looked more like football players than basketball players. Why did this show never realize that casting athletic actors as the rival players only highlighted how much the main cast struggled when it came to convincing the viewer that they were basketball stars?)

While all of this was going on, the Lynwood cheerleaders launched a prank war on the Deering cheerleaders. Mary Beth immediately pressured Kristy into retaliating. This is why I like Mary Beth. She is a force of chaos who continually encourages other people to escalate their behavior without ever running the risk of getting in trouble herself. Anyway, in this case, it leads to Kristy stealing the principal’s dog. And technically, that’s a crime and it never makes sense that Kristy is allowed to keep the dog a the school but you know what? The little bulldog was cute and he got to wear a lot of Wishbone-style costumes. That was fun,

Episode 3.4 “Fighting Words”

(Directed by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on September 20th, 1997)

This episode begins with the Tornadoes playing yet another game. Danny is struggling on the court and, from the stands, a bully taunts him. Normally, we would look to Coach Fuller to kick the guy out of his gym but …. OH MY GOD, COACH FULLER’S NOT THERE! Instead, there’s some short white guy that we’ve never seen before and he’s coaching the Tornadoes! It turns out that Coach Fuller has the mumps and will not be in this episode. I assume that means Reggie Theus had better things to do than show up for filming. I don’t blame him.

Anyway, realizing that he has a bully after him, Danny learns karate. However, his sensei tells him that karate is not used for fighting. Karate is used for discipline. When the bully dares Danny to a fight, Danny refuses to fight and proves that he’s the bigger man. All the students applaud him. Yay, Danny! Of course, in real life, backing down from a fight is a humiliation that would have followed Danny for the rest of his life.

While that’s going on, Kristy dates a cute but dumb boy named Joey. Joey is played by …. OH MY GOD, IT’S SCOTT WHYTE FROM CITY GUYS! This episode aired during the first season of City Guys, back when Scott Whyte still had good hair. There’s not really much to the Kristy/Joey storyline. Kristy pretends to be dumb to get Joey to like her. Eventually, she realized she would rather be smart so she dumps Joey. Joey doesn’t care because he’s cute. That’s pretty much it.

This was an oddly pointless episode, one that almost felt like it was written by a TNBC AI program of some sort. Coach Fuller would never have allowed this type of nonsense.

Retro Television Reviews: A Very Brady Christmas (dir by Peter Baldwin)

Posted on December 18, 2022 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 Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay. Today’s film is 1988’s A Very Brady Christmas!

In A Very Brady Christmas, America’s creepiest family reunites for the holidays.

Mike and Carol Brady (played by Robert Reed and Florence Henderson, of course) have finally got their house to themselves! The children have all moved out. A few have even gotten married and started families of their own. Mike is still an architect, though he now has a mustache that, along with his gray hair, makes him look more like a retired porn actor.

With Christmas approaching, Mike and Carol have each been secretly saving up their money to give the other a trip. Carol knows that Mike loves Greece. Mike suspects that Carol would love to go to Japan. In the end, though, they realize that they would much rather have the entire family come together for Christmas! They buy tickets for everyone. Of course, what they don’t know is that each of the Brady kids has an issue of their own.

For instance, consider the youngest of the Brady kids. Cindy isn’t even herself anymore, mostly because Susan Olsen declined to return for the reunion and Jennifer Runyon was cast in her place. Cindy is away at college and she’s upset that she has to cancel her plans to go skiing just so she can spend the holidays with her family. Meanwhile, Bobby (Mike Lookinland) has dropped out of college so that he can race cars on the NASCAR circuit but he hasn’t told his parents yet! Of course, if Bobby never tells them, he can just keep pocketing that sweet, sweet tuition money.

Meanwhile, Peter Brady (Christopher Knight) is upset because his girlfriend is his boss and she makes considerably more money than he does. Jan (Eve Plumb) is secretly separated from her husband but, because it’s the holidays, they agree to pretend to still be together so that Mike and Carol don’t get upset. Greg (Barry Williams) has grown up to be a smarmy doctor but he is upset that his wife will not be joining him for Christmas with his parents. And Marcia (Maureen McCormick) is trying to keep everyone from discovering that her loser husband has lost his job.

And let’s not forget Alice (Anne B. Davis)! Alice finally married Sam The Butcher but their marriage is on the rocks….

Could the Bradys be more cursed?

Luckily, Mike and Carol are pretty good at uncovering problems and fixing things. (Except, of course, for that time that Mike never figured out that Marcia was acting strange because she wanted to surprise him with his father of the year prize….) Unfortunately, Mike is a bit distracted because his latest building was constructed with cheap material. When an earthquake causes the building collapse, Mike takes it upon himself to rescue two trapped workers. (Most of this takes place off-screen, of course.) When an aftershock hits, it seems like Mike might never emerge from the tomb that he helped to design.

Much like the show that inspired it, A Very Brady Christmas is painfully earnest and …. well, it’s a little dumb. Of course, the main appeal of The Brady Bunch was always the unapologetic mix of earnestness and stupidity but it’s a bit different when all the Brady kids are grown up and they’re still acting just as dumb as they did when they were younger. Robert Reed looks annoyed. Florence Henderson is trouper and gives it her all. With the notable exception of Maureen McCormick, none of the kids grew up to be particularly good actors. (In all fairness, Barry Williams is likable when he makes fun of himself but, in this film, he’s somewhat stiff as the most successful of the Brady kids.) That said, the family singing a Christmas carol while waiting to discover whether or not Mike is dead is one of those moments that is somehow both silly and effective at the same time. It’s pure Brady Bunch. To quote Tony Montana, it’s the yayo of nostalgia.

A Very Brady Christmas aired in 1988 and was enough of a rating success that it actually led to the Brady Bunch being (briefly) revived. Today, it’s impossible to watch the movie without imagining Gary Cole and Shelley Long as Mike and Carol Brady. Even the collapse of the building is no longer an effective dramatic moment due to it being referenced in The Brady Bunch Movie. When Mike does emerge from that collapsed building, you half expect him to say, “Wherever you go, there you are.”

In the end, the Bradys have a merry Christmas. I hope you have one too!

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

Posted on December 17, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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

California Dreams (YouTube)

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

Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies (Peacock)

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

Here’s a few thoughts I jotted down:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Don’t Pick Up The Phone (Netflix)

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

Fantasy Island (Tubi)

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

Law & Order: SVU (Hulu)

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

The Love Boat (Paramount)

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

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

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

Retro Television Reviews: California Dreams 2.18 “Indecent Promposal” and 3.1 “The Unforgiven”

Posted on December 17, 2022 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 Saturdays, I will be reviewing California Dreams, which ran on NBC from 1992 to 1996. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

Finally, it’s time for season 3 and the Lorena Years! But, first, we’ve got one final season 2 episode to get out of the way….

Episode 2.18 “Indecent Promposal”

(Dir by Miguel Higeura, originally aired on February 5th, 1994)

Both the 2nd season and the school year are coming to an end! That means that it’s time for prom!

Tiffani can’t wait to go to the prom. Jake thinks the prom is stupid. When Glenn, one of Tiffani’s patients from her days as a candystriper, offers to take Tiffani to the prom as a friend and to arrange for the Dreams to have a permanent summer gig, Tiffani reluctantly agrees. Jake, however, can’t shake the feeling that Glenn is going to try to make a move on Tiffani, which is just what Glenn does. Glenn kisses Tiffani. Tiffany rejects Glenn. However, Jake (who has decide to come to the prom afterall), witnesses the kiss and he gets so upset that he and Tiffani break up. This would be a big emotional moment if there had been any consistency, during season 2, as to when Tiffani and Jake were actually dating. Since the episodes were shown out of order, Tiffani and Jake would be a couple one week and then single the next. As a result, it never really seemed like Jake and Tiffani were together in the first place.

The prom didn’t work out. That’s too bad. Fortunately, season 3 is right around the corner!

Episode 3.1 “The Unforgiven”

(Dir by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on September 10th, 1994)

Finally! The third season has begun! And with it, we get a new title sequence:

This is the season that marked the beginning of what most people consider to be classic California Dreams. Frustrated with his diminished role on the series, Brent Gore declined to return for season 3. As a result, Matt was written out of the series with the excuse that the Garrisons moved. The California Dreams soldiered on without him, with Jake now at the center of the band and the show.

When the Garrisons left, foreign exchange student Sam moved in with the Costa family and became best friends with my favorite character on the show, Lorena. Lorena Costa (played by Diana Uribe) is the character to whom I most relate on this show. We’re both of Spanish descent. (My grandmother was born in Spain.) We’ve both got good hair. We both love to dance. We both tend to refer to ourselves in the third person. Lorena’s the best character ever!

Lorena is willing to allow the Dreams to practice in her loft but the Dreams still have two huge problems. They don’t have a replacement for Matt. And they need $500 to get their equipment back from a pawnshop. Why is their equipment at a pawnshop? I’m not sure but somehow, it’s Sly’s fault.

Fortunately, Sly has a solution. His musically gifted cousin, Mark (Aaron Jackson), has moved to California. Unfortunately, Mark has never forgiven Sly for ruining a performance that he was giving at Carnegie Hall. Apparently, Mark was playing the William Tell Overture and Sly yelled, “Hi-ho, Silver, away!” The only way to get Mark to forgive Sly is for Mark to give the performance again without Sly ruining things. Unfortunately, for reasons that are never exactly clear, Sly once again yells, “Hi-ho, Silver, away!”

Well, I guess that’s it for the Dreams, right? Unfortunately, Sly has booked the Dreams to play at a party being given by one of Lorena’s friends. With Mark refusing to join the Dreams, Lorena’s friend’s boyfriend is planning on beating up Sly. To save his cousin’s life, Mark agrees to forgive Sly, join the Dreams, and play the party with them.

I have to admit that I’m a little surprised that it took the Dreams that long to find a replacement for Matt. Considering that the Dreams already had a following at the end of the second season, I would imagine they would have a lot of people wanting to join the band. Maybe they’re all scared of getting on Jake’s bad side. Well, no matter. Things work out in the end!

As for the episode itself, it succeeds in doing what it needed to do. It introduces the viewers to Lorena and Mark and let’s everyone know what the show’s new direction is going to be. The humor is overly broad but the cast has genuine chemistry and Michael Cade’s portrayal of Sly attempting to fake sincerity while apologizing is genuinely funny.

I’m looking forward to the rest of season 3!

Retro Television Review: One World 3.5 “One of Our Own” and 3.6 “Crushed”

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Cast of One World

The Blake family is growing!

Episode 3.5 “One Of Our Own”

(Directed by Mary Lou Belli, originally aired on October 21st, 2000)

This episode opens with the Blake family once again using the Warehouse, Miami’s “hottest under 21 club,” as their own private dining room but throwing a party to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Cray’s adoption. As usual, Jane makes it all about herself by announcing that she wants Dave and Karen to adopt her. Karen is thrilled and also takes some time to remind everyone that she’s frequently nauseous because that’s a storyline now.

What’s odd is that, when Jane asks why Karen keeps throwing up, Dave replies, “She’s pregnant” and apparently, it’s the first that anyone in the family had heard about it, even though everyone knew about it in the previous episode. So, this is another example of TNBC showing episode out of order and not caring about continuity. Respect your audience, TNBC!

Anyway, Jane’s adoption hits a snag when it turns out that Jane’s father is still alive and he’s in prison! Though initially reluctant to see him and concerned that she won’t have a place in the Blake family after the baby is born, Jane eventually visits her father and gets him to sign over his parental rights.

While Jane thinks about being adopted, Neal falls for a cheerleader who has just moved to Miami from Tallahassee. “If you ever miss your friends,” Neal tells her, “I can teach you how to use the spell check on my computer.” Smooth, Neal! Neal tells the cheerleader that he designs “CD-ROM games and DVDs” for fun. “I’ve been to the DMV!” the cheerleader responds. Eventually, Neal realizes that he and his new girlfriend have nothing in common. Wait a minute …. doesn’t Neal already have a really rich girlfriend? Remember the first episode of season 3, when her father didn’t want them to date but Neal won his over with is integrity? Did the show already abandon that plotline?

This episode was cringey, in the way that most TNBC shows were whenever they attempted to deal with serious subjects. It was a bit overwritten, a bit overacted, and a just a bit too much.

Episode 3.6 “Crushed”

(Directed by Mary Lou Belli, originally aired on October 28th, 2000)

With this episode, we are reminded that Ben still has a gig playing the guitar at Miami’s “hottest under 21 club,” The Warehouse. One of the strange things about the Warehouse is that, for the hottest club in Miami, it’s almost always deserted. No one seems to hang out there. In fact, the Warehouse seems to only exist so that the Blakes can celebrate birthdays and anniversaries.

As for the actual plot of “Crushed,” it’s basically a redo of several Saved By The Bell plots. Cray has a girlfriend but he worries that Ben is trying to steal her away from him. Of course, the opposite is true. Cray’s girlfriend would rather go out with Ben and who wouldn’t? Ben is a hundred times hotter. Meanwhile, Jane becomes a semi-amateur wrestler, using moves that she claims she learned in jail. (Sigh. After three seasons, the writers still hadn’t figured that none of the cast of One World were believable as people who had spent even a day behind bars.) Anyway, Jane is asked to throw a match, because professional wrestling is totally real, you all!

This was all pretty dumb. Sui and Marci are the coolest characters on the show but they were given nothing to do. Meanwhile, Jane’s hair is still annoying the hell out of me.

Retro Television Review: City Guys 3.5 “The Players” and 3.6 “Raise the Roofies”

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Let’s see what’s happening at Manny High! But first, let’s check out the theme song and watch as Chris and Jamal have way too much fun while wandering around New York City together….

Episode 3.5 “The Players”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on October 2nd, 1999)

Remember, way back during season one, when Ms. Nobel ordered Chris and Jamal to work together on the video yearbook? That was kind of set up as being the season’s big storyline and then it was just abandoned. Instead, Chris and Jamal got their radio show and people like me were left to wonder whatever happened with the video yearbook.

Well, in this episode, City Guys finally addressed the issue of the video yearbook. When Chris and Jamal decide to make a movie and enter it into a film festival, Cassidy asks them what they know about making movies. Chris and Jamal immediately mention the video yearbook. Cassidy replies that they never finished the video yearbook.

Later, Chris and Jamal ask Ms. Nobel, “When have we ever let you down?”

“Well, there was the video yearbook,” Ms. Nobel replies.

I have to admit that I actually laughed at that joke. It’s not often the City Guys makes me smile but this episode succeeded. Not only did I discover that I was right in my suspicion that Chris and Jamal just gave up on the video yearbook but there was also a funny B-plot in which L-Train, Al, and Dawn agreed to be tested for ESP. They were asked to guess what a researcher was looking at on a card. If they gave the wrong answer, they would get an electric shock. Al and L-Train always got the answers right. Dawn got shocked over and over again until the researcher finally revealed that the test was actually a social experiment to see how many time someone could be shocked without getting mad. Again, I laughed, I’ll admit it. Steven Daniel, Caitlin Mowery, and Dion Basco all really sold the story.

As for the main plot, Chris and Jamal try to make a movie together but Jamal wants to make a Spike Lee-style social drama while Chris wants to do an Austin Powers-style spoof. Eventually, they realize that they need to work together so they splice their two films together. Everyone loves the film, of course! And you know what? This plotline also worked far better than I was expecting, with Scott Whyte and Wesley Jonathan really selling both their fight and their eventual collaboration. Jamal’s movie actually felt like a movie that the politically-minded Jamal would make while it’s very easy to imagine that Chris would probably be a huge fan of Austin Powers. For once, the plot and its developments actually felt like an organic result of who the characters were. This was a surprisingly good episode.

Episode 3.6 “Raise the Roofies”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on October 2nd, 1999)

This episode opens with Al, Jamal, and L-Train giving Chris a hard time about his efforts to date Cassidy. They mention that Cassidy is mad at Chris for dating that Greek girl behind his back. Oh my God — continuity on City Guys!

Anyway, Cassidy has a new boyfriend and his name is Trent. We know that he’s evil because his name is Trent and he’s a student at NYU. No one named Trent is ever a good guy and, in the Engelverse, frat boys are always dating high school students and revealing themselves to be jerks with wandering eyes.

Trent has a roommate named Tom who compliments Trent on his girlfriend. Trent reveals that Cassidy is in high school and she’s a “goody-goody.”

“I guess you’ll be sleeping alone this Friday night,” Tom says.

“Not necessarily,” Trent says with an evil laugh, “I’ll just need a little help from old friend, Mr. Roofie! …. And the best part is that she won’t remember a thing Saturday morning.”

Trent invites Cassidy to a frat party, which makes sense. He also invites all of her high school friends, which makes far less sense. Chris, in an effort to make Cassidy jealous, allows Al to set him up with an old woman, who turned out to be a taxi driver named Cookie. Dawn meanwhile drinks a glass of punch that Trent was about to hand to Cassidy. Dawn ends up passing out and while she’s being taken to the student health center, Trent takes Cassidy back to his room and attempts to drug her a second time. When Cassidy refuses the drink, Trent tries to force himself on her. Fortunately, Chris overheard some other frat boys talking about Trent’s plans and he breaks into the room. Cassidy escapes and, upon learning what happened to Dawn, agrees to go to the police.

Wow, this was a heavy episode! But again, the cast deserves a lot of credit for playing their roles with enough sincerity to make it work and the episode’s message was a good one.

Wow, two good episodes of City Guys in a row! I wonder what next week will bring!