I have a lot of friends who are Yankee fans so I’m not going to brag too much but it’s still a nice feeling to wake up and know that the Astros are two games away from going to the World Series! Go Astros!
The Astros currently leads the ALCS, 2-0. In the NLCS, the Phillies and the Padres are tied 1-1. The Padres and Phillies will be playing tonight and I’ll be cheering for the Phillies! What an amazing story they’ve had this season. I’m looking forward to an Astros/Phillies World Series!
On tonight’s episode of Circle of Fear, Susan Oliver plays the widow of a doctor who allows his hands, eyes, and vocal chords to be used in transplants. Unfortunately for her, the spirit of her dead husband is still inside of his donated body parts. Because he’s convinced that she murdered him, the dead doctor seeks an elaborate revenge on his wife.
This episode originally aired on February 23rd, 1973. It was written by Jimmy Sangster, who is best known for his work with Hammer Films.
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!
Season two of City Guys continues as Chris gets a roommate and Jamal gets a gun!
Roll with the city guys….
Episode 2.3 “The Roommate”
(Directed by Frank Bonner, originally aired on September 26th, 1998)
After getting into a fight with his mother, El-Train leaves his house and ends up staying with Chris at the latter’s Park Avenue Penthouse. It’s just as dumb as it sounds. El-Train turns out to be a well-intentioned but terrible roommate but at least we get to see Chris’s penthouse once again. Chris’s parents are nowhere to be seen but the butler and the maid make return appearances.
In between trying to get El-Train to move back in with his mom, Chris and Jamal work on a report about the history of New York City. Jamal says that it should be an easy report for them because, “We’re city guys!” The audience cheers and you can practically hear the little voices saying, “Oh my God! That’s the title of the show!”
In yet another subplot, Al convinces Dawn and Cassidy to pose for some pictures that he wants to sell to a magazine. In past episodes, there’s no way that Dawn and Cassidy would have allowed Al to photograph them but, for the purposes this episode, it was convenient to make them less sensible. (Of course, as another example of City Guys struggle to maintain continuity, this episode also overlooks the fact that Cassidy already is a model.) For some reason, a newspaper buys the photographs and puts Dawn and Cassidy’s heads onto the bodies of pregnant women. The audience loves it but Dawn and Cassidy are less amused.
Anyway, this was a fairly silly episode but Steven Daniel’s performance as El-Train continued to be one of the show’s highlights. As the episode ends, El-Train stands at the front of a classroom and prepares to give his report on the history of “Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love! …. starring Tom Hanks….”
Episode 2.4 “Jamal Got His Gun”
(Directed by Frank Bonner, originally aired on October 3rd, 1998)
After getting robbed and having a gun pointed at his face while closing up the diner, Jamal illegally purchases a gun and then accidentally shoots his father!
Damn! City Guys got dark!
Of course, this being City Guys, there’s a silly subplot to balance out all of the dramatic stuff. Cassidy ends up being pursued by a wealthy exchange student from a fictional Middle Eastern country. Cassidy worries that she’ll be taken to the desert and she’ll have to deal with getting dry skin. Once again, CityGuys was all about tolerance, unless you were from a country other than the U.S.
But back to the gun plot, I have to give a lot of credit to Wesley Jonathan and, returning in the role of Jamal’s father, Ivory Ocean. Both of them give strong performances in this episode and the scene where Jamal freaks out after realizing that he nearly killed his father is far more powerful than anyone would expect from a show that aired alongside Hang Time and Saved By The Bell: The New Class. Fortunately, the bullet only grazes Jamal’s father and Jamal just gets probation. I guess he can add the additional community service hours to however many hours he had left for the whole Fake ID thing. Between community service, working at the restaurant, and running the school radio station, does Jamal have any free time? Poor guy.
On tonight’s episode of Circle of Fear, John Astin plays a former actor who now makes a meager living as a security guard at the studio where he once worked. Unfortunately, the studio is shutting down. John Astin will be out of a job but, as he discovers one night, he’s not the only one who fears being forgotten. This is the type of story that could only have been told in the days before physical media, streaming sites, and cable.
Patty Duke, who was married to Astin at the time, plays his character’s wife. Playing their baby is John and Patty’s newborn, future actor MacKenzie Astin. William Castle, who served as executive producer of Circle of Fear, appears as the head of the studio.
This episode originally aired on February 16th, 1973.
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!
Love, exciting and new!
Let it go, it floats back to you!
We all float down here!
Episode 1.7 “Julie’s Old Flame / The Jinx / The Identical Problem”
(Directed by Don Weis, originally aired on November 12th, 1977)
The Love Boat is jinxed!
Or, at least, that’s what the crew assumes when they meet Horace and Henrietta McDonald (played by Ray Bolger and Harriet Nelson). Horace and Henrietta first met when they were children and they’ve been in love ever since. In fact, they met each other on a cruise. Unfortunately, that cruise was the Titanic!
(Remember, when this episode aired, it had been 65 years since the Titanic sank. So, there were still a few elderly survivors around.)
Anyway, the crew worries that Horace and Henrietta might bring bad luck with them and, before you know it, everyone’s getting injured. Doc Bricker gets hit by a door and ends up having to wear a bandage on his head. Gopher trips in the lounge. Isaac gets whiplash after falling in the pool. Julie ends up wearing an eye patch. To be honest, I think the crew is just clumsy.
While the crew is trying not to die, identical twins Ellen and Helen (Diana Canova) are trying to keep the crew from realizing that they’re both on the boat. (They only bought one ticket.) One of the twins falls in love with Doc Bricker. The other can’t stand him. Bricker being Bricker, he really doesn’t care how the twins feel about him. He just wants to get laid. Still, Bricker spend most of the episode very confused and very afraid of the Titanic jinx.
Meanwhile, Julie is shocked when she discovers that Buddy Stanfield (David Hedison) is on the cruise! Buddy is a wealthy and handsome attorney and he’s also Julie’s former lover. They had a whirlwind romance in Paris but then Julie discovered that Buddy was married and her heart was broken. Now, Buddy claims that he’s divorced and Julie starts to fall for him again. It’s pretty obvious that Buddy is lying but who can blame Julie when he’s played by the classy and suave David Hedison. Hedison played Felix Leiter in Live and Let Die and License to Kill. In between dealing with the jinx, the crew tries to proect Julie from Buddy. Of course, Buddy’s wife eventually shows up but at least Julie has her friends to support her!
Anyway, this was a pretty predictable episode and the plot with the twins was way too silly to believed. It didn’t help that the twins appeared to be in their early 20s while Doc Bricker is in his 40s at least. But David Hedison was a perfect cad and Ray Bolger (who, of course, is best-remembered for playing the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz) and Harriet Nelson were an adorable couple. This episode was nothing special but it was still enjoyable while it lasted.
Shy Beth (Shirley Knight) is now to the city and still struggling to make friends. Fortunately, her friend Janet gets her a nice corporate job. Unfortunately, Janet then vanishes and Beth discovers that her co-workers are more than just office workers, I won’t spoil the twist, since the title of this episode already did that.
Legion of Demons aired on February 2nd, 1973 and it undoubtedly led to a lot of viewers saying, “I think they filmed that at my office!”
Congrats to the New York Yankees, who defeated the Guardians 5-1 and clinched their Divisional Series! I have a few friends who I know are very excited tonight!
The Yankees move on the ALCS, where they’ll face the Astros for the right to represent the AL in the World Series!
I’m from Texas so have to cheer for the Astros but I’m still happy for the Yankees and all of their fans tonight! See you for Game 1 of the ALCS tomorrow!
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 1996. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
Smiles, everyone! Smiles! My fantasy is to get this week’s review over with because, to be honest, this was one of the less interesting episodes of the original Fantasy Island. So, let’s get to it!
Episode 1.6 “Treasure Hunt/Beauty Contest”
(Directed by Allen Baron and George McCowan, originally aired on March 11th, 1978)
For this week’s episode of Fantasy Island, we have two so-so fantasies and a lot of scenes of Mr. Roarke and Tattoo arguing with each other. After having an almost brotherly relationship over the past few weeks, Roarke and Tattoo both seem kind of annoyed with each other during this episode. If I had to guess, I’d say that the episodes are probably being shown out of production order and this episode was written and filmed before the show’s producers were sure what the overall tone of the show should be.
Indeed, the first fantasy features Mr. Roarke allowing three people to search for a lost pirate’s treasure on an isolated part of the island. He does this despite the fact that the terrain is dangerous and that he knows that one of the three treasure hunters is planning on killing the other two. When Tattoo points out that a murder would be bad for business, Roarke kind of shrugs Tattoo off. Indeed, in this storyline, Roarke comes across as being rather aloof, as if he has little concern for the troubles of humanity.
As for the three treasure hunters, they are Stu Chambers (Michael Callan), his wife Andrea (Jo Ann Harris), and their friend James (Peter Haskell). Stu is under the impression that James and Andrea are carrying on an affair and, as Mr. Roarke mentioned, he is planning on killing the two of them. Fortunately, he changes his mind during the fantasy and, instead of murdering his wife and his best friend, he instead helps them survive when they get trapped in a cave. In the end, they don’t get the treasure but they do win back their ability to trust each other. One has to wonder what the consequences would have been if Stu had gone through with his original plans. Is there a Fantasy Island police force? Would Tattoo be forced to arrest Stu? Who knows?
Meanwhile, in the other fantasy, Maureen McCormick plays Sally Quinn. Sally is the daughter of a legendary beauty pageant winner. She wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps and win a pageant herself. However, Roarke — who seems far more invested in Sally’s fantasy than the treasure hunt fantasy — figures out that Sally’s real fantasy is to win the love of her father, Neville (Gene Barry). In the end, Sally doesn’t win the pageant but she does learn that there’s more to happiness than being beautiful.
To be honest, both of the fantasies in this episode are pretty dull and predictable. But we do learn a little bit about what Tattoo actually does on the island. He’s the accountant. He starts the show complaining that Mr. Roarke doesn’t charge enough for the fantasies. Tattoo then says he has a fantasy. Mr. Roarke laughs him off, saying that candy shop employees never develop a taste for candy. WHAT!?
We also learn that Roarke and Tattoo enjoy playing Monopoly but Tattoo apparently cheats by using loaded dice. And, to be honest, the thought of Roarke and Tattoo arguing over Boardwalk is such an appealing one that it saves the entire episode.
As for next week’s episode …. hopefully, it’ll involve even more Monopoly!
The Phillies and the Padres are meeting tonight for Game One of the NLCS. Just a few months ago, no one would have predicted that these two teams would be the ones competing for the chance to represent the NL in the World Series. I’ll be cheering for the Padres because Yu Darvish is going to be on the mound for them but I also think the Phillies have got an amazing story and I’ll be happy for them if that story includes them going to the World Series.
The Padres have already launched a mental attack on their opponents:
Can the Phillies recover from the horrors of Padre rap? We’ll find out tonight! We’ll also find out if it will be the Yankees or the Guardians facing off against the Astros in the ALCS. It’s an exciting night for baseball!
Tonight, on Circle of Fear, bratty Robert (played by Leif Garrett) discovers that an upstairs door in his family’s new apartment building leads to someplace very unexpected. His older sister, Peggy (Susan Dey), doesn’t believe him but she soon learns the error of her ways.
This episode is really creepy and atmospheric and I don’t want to spoil too much of it. It was written by Jimmy Sangster, who also did several Hammer films, and it was directed by Daryl Duke. To be honest, this episode reminds me of the episode of Lost where Jack stumbles across the ghosts of Ben’s parents outside of the cabin. It has a similar, dream-like feel to it.
The episode originally aired on January 26th, 1973.
Through the Shattered Lens 