Retro Television Review: City Guys 1.5 “The Dance” and 1.6 “The Communication Gap”

Posted on September 15, 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!

C. I. T. Y. These guys, the neat guys, are smart and street-wise….

Episode 1.5 “The Dance”

(Directed by Frank Bonner, Aired on October 4th, 1997)

L-Train is back!

(For the record, Wikipedia swears that the character was named L-Train. IMDb says it was El-Train. I’ll probably switch back and forth as I review this show.)

Last seen threatening to kill Jamal and Chris at the end of the first episode, EL-Train returns in The Dance. If he was the school bully in the first episode, this episode presents us with the L-Train who would be present for the rest of the series. This EL-Train is a dim-witted but well-intentioned and dedicated to trying to turn his life around. Steven Daniel’s portrayal of L-Train was one of the (few) highlights of City Guys and El-Train was really the only character on the show who had any depth. The best of the show’s occasional “serious” episodes were the ones where he was tempted to return to his old lifestyle of being the school bully.

In this episode, El-Train asks Cassidy to the school dance and she accepts. “Awwww!” the audience says. However, El-Train wanting to date Cassidy is only one of my subplots revolving around Manny High’s fall dance.

Al wants to DJ. Dawn wants the dance to be a success. Ms. Noble wants to get through the night without there being any drama like at the last school dance. (What happened at the last dance is never really described, which is odd. It makes the viewer wonder if maybe someone fell off the roof of the school or something. Did I mention that all of the school’s dances are held on the roof?) And Chris wants to go to the dance with Kaisha who just happens to be Jamal’s sister!

(Cue the audience: “Woooo!”)

But wait a minute, this seems familiar. Remember, on Saved By The Bell, when it was suddenly revealed that Slater had a sister who no one had ever previously talked about? Zach took her out on a date and Slater got upset about it, for much the same reason that Jamal gets upset at Chris. And didn‘t Saved By The Bell have an episode where Mr. Belding was worried about holding a school dance after something happened at the previous one? And didn’t Screech somehow always end up as the DJ?

My point is that there’s really nothing original to be found in this episode but it’s still better than the four episodes that came before it. Kaisha wisely rejects both Chris and Jamal, telling them that they’re both controlling jerks. (“Yay!” says the audience.) Chris and Jamal realize how much they have in common and share a very uncomfortable laugh. Ms. Noble demands that Chris and Jamal dance with her. (“Woooo!’ the audience says.) For the first time, during this episode, the cast really seems to click. As Jamal and Chris, Wesley Jonathan and Scott Whyte finally seem to have adapted to each other’s rhythms. Jamal is called out for being overprotective. Chris gets called out for lacking ambition. Neither one is in the right. This is probably about as nuanced as one could ever hope for an episode of City Guys to get.

Episode 1.6 “The Communication Gap”

(Directed by Frank Bonner, originally aired on October 11, 1997)

After starting a food fight at the cafeteria, Chris and Jamal are in trouble once again! Ms. Noble calls their fathers. Jamal’s father (well-played by Ivory Ocean) shows up and proves himself to be a firm but loving disciplinarian. Chris’s father sends his personal assistant.

Somehow, this leads to Chris living with Jamal and his father while Chris’s father is away on business. To pay for his room and board, Chris ends up working at the diner that’s owned by Jamal’s father. Unfortunately, because they’re so eager to see the new Jim Carrey film, Chris and Jamal leave work early and get in trouble. Seeing how Jamal and his father handle things, Chris is inspired to fix his relationship with his own father. (“Awwwww!” say the audience.)

This episode was …. actually, it was okay. Ivory Ocean gave a really good performance was Jamal’s father and the show actually took some time to consider why Chris has all of the issues with trust that he has. It was a little weird to see everyone getting so excited over a Jim Carrey movie but then I reminded myself the episode was made before Jim married Jenny McCarthy and went all anti-vaxx.

So, that’s two good episodes of City Guys in a row! Could the show be turning a corner? We shall see next week!

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 1.2 “A Tasteful Affair / Oh, Dale! / The Main Event”

Posted on September 14, 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!

It’s time to set sail on adventure and set your mind on a new romance!

Episode 1.2 “A Tasteful Affair / Oh, Dale! / The Main Event”

(Directed by Richard Kinon, Adam Rafkin, and Stuart Margolin, originally aired on October 1st, 1977)

The second episode of The Love Boat was all about fighting lovers.

For instance, one storyline — I assume it’s the one that was called “The Main Event” — features Sherman Hemsley as Maurice Marshall and LaWanda Page as his wife, Stella. From the minute that they get on the boat, Maurice and Stella are arguing but it soon becomes obvious that, like many couples who have been together for a while, arguing is just the way that they express their love for each other. The insults may be frequent but they’re always affectionate, which is kind of sweet. Anyway, while on their way to dinner in the ship’s lounge, they get stuck in an elevator. After arguing about the best way to escape from the elevator, they end up making out. Of course, when the doors to the elevator do finally open, Captain Stubing and Gopher see that the couple, rather than being dead, are instead making good use of the space. Everyone laughs. Seriously, that’s the entire story. Two people get suck in an elevator and make out. That’s it. You know, you can fool around on a moving elevator as well. You don’t have to fry the circuitry ahead of time. Just listen for the ping before the elevator doors open.

In a rather more serious storyline, Jaclyn Smith plays Janette Bradford, the wife of a wealthy but heartless man named Lucas (David Knapp). Lucas is convinced that Janette is only taking the cruise alone because she’s planning on cheating on him. Lucas hires a private investigator named Dennis Kingsley (Dennis Cole) to watch her on the boat. Dennis soon discovers that Janette is not cheating on her husband but instead, she took the cruise because she needed a break from his controlling and emotionally abusive ways. Dennis ends up falling in love with Janette and Janette with him. However, Dennis also knows that he’s going to have to tell her the truth about why he’s on the cruise. It doesn’t quite lead to heartbreak but it’s still far more serious than anything you might expect to see on a show of The Love Boat‘s reputation. Jaclyn Smith, it should be said, does a wonderful job in the role of Janette, capturing both the vulnerability of someone in an abusive relationship and also her growing determination to escape from Lucas’s control.

Unfortunately, while all of this is going on, you have to deal with John Ritter playing a guy whose lover actually is cheating on him. Ritter plays Dale. Dale wants to follow his girlfriend on the cruise for the same reason that Lucas hired Dennis to spy on Janette. Dale suspects that he’s being cheated on. However, the cruise is almost entirely sold out. There’s only one ticket left but it’s to share a cabin that’s already occupied by a woman. Since Dale is not a woman, he can’t buy the ticket. So, of course, Dale steals a blonde wig and a suitcase full of the frumpiest dresses imaginable. Can you guess where this is going? Dale gets his cabin, falls in love with his cabinmate (played, in a likable performance, by Tovah Feldshuh), and spends a lot of time changing clothes in the ship’s linen closet. Captain Stubing ends up getting a crush on the mysterious woman with the big blonde hair and the ugly dresses and yes, it’s as stupid as it sounds with a heavy dose of cringey 70s gay panic humor tossed in to boot. It doesn’t help that John Ritter gives such a frantic performance in the role that I actually got nervous watching him. “Calm down!” I wanted to say.

As you can guess, the tone is all over the place in this episode. That’s to be expected when you’re telling three stories at one time but there’s such an imbalance between Jaclyn Smith acting depressed and fragile and John Ritter doing pratfalls that it ultimately takes away from both stories. With the second episode of The Love Boat, it seems obvious that the show was still struggling to find the right balance between drama and comedy. As well, this episode suffers because the crew isn’t given much to do. The first episode was enjoyable because the main cast had a fun chemistry but, in this episode, everyone is a bystander except for Captain Stubing. Unfortunately, this episode couldn’t even treat Stubing consistently as the elevator storyline requires Stubing to be significantly smarter than the Stubing who appears in the John Ritter storyline.

Would the show ever succeed in finding and striking the right balance? We’ll see what happens next week!

Retro Television Review: Fantasy Island 1.1 “Escape” / “Cinderella Girls”

Posted on September 13, 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 1996. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

Smiles, smiles, everyone….

Episode 1.1 “Escape/Cinderalla Girls”

(Directed by Don Weis, originally aired on January 28th, 1978)

Last week, while reviewing the Fantasy Island pilot, I commented on the fact that Mr. Roarke seemed to be a bit sinister, almost as if he took delight in the idea of mortals discovering that their fantasies weren’t as wonderful as they were expecting.

In the first regular episode of Fantasy Island, it’s made clear that, while Mr. Roarke may occasionally act like he doesn’t care, it’s only to teach a lesson.

When internationally renowned stage musician Gregory Udall (Bert Convy) requests that he be allowed to perform the world’s greatest escape, Mr. Roarke doesn’t appear to be the least bit concerned when Udall is transported to Devil’s Island, the infamous French island prison. Devil’s Island was known for being escape proof. It was also known for being harsh even by the prison standards. 75% of the people sentenced to Devil’s Island died before their sentence ended. When Udall reaches the island, he discovers that the Warden (Reggie Nadler, best-known for playing the vampire in Salem’s Lost) doesn’t care whether he lives or dies. He’s also told, by another prisoner named Ipsy Dauphin (Robert Clary), that Mr. Roarke regularly abandons people at the prison!

After Udall’s first escape fails, he is visited in the island’s infirmary by Mr. Roarke himself. Udall says that he’s ready to give up and opt out of the fantasy. Mr. Roarke informs him that failure is not an option. He also suggests that Udall enjoy his cigarette because….

Agck!

Fear not, though, Mr. Roarke is not evil. Instead, he’s just giving Udall the extra push that he needs to not only successfully escape from the prison but to take Ipsy with him as well. Udall not only gets his confidence back but he also saves another human being. Mr. Roarke may have seemed harsh but it was only to make sure that everyone got something out of the fantasy. As well, it’s revealed that Ipsy was not actually prisoner but was instead Fantasy Island’s head chef.

Mr. Roarke is far more cheerful in the episode’s other fantasy. Georgia Engel and Diana Canova want to know what it’s like to be wealthy so they not only get makeovers but they also get a lot of new clothes. Of course, being wealthy also means that they’ll be expected to bid at a charity auction that is being held on Fantasy Island. (Apparently, Fantasy Island also doubles as a resort for people who don’t have fantasies but just want to spend the weekend hanging out by the pool.) Georgia Engel ends up running away with a prince. Diana Canova falls in love with an idealistic doctor who is played by John Saxon. Does the doctor care that she doesn’t actually have any money? Fortunately, it turns out that the doctor is poor himself. Yay!

As you may have guessed, the first episode was a strange mismash of tones. On the one hand, you had a silly but sweet story about two friends who wanted to pretend to be rich. On the other hand, you’ve got a harsh prison story featuring Reggie Nadler as a desiccated villain and uber-70s actor Bert Convy as a stage musician. It really shouldn’t work but it does, largely because the idea of the island is so appealing and Ricardo Montalban seems to be having fun in the role of Mr. Roarke. Plus, who can resist John Saxon pretending to be from Texas?

The premiere episode got Fantasy Island off to a good start! Would that continue next week?

Here Are The 2021–2022 Emmy Winners

Posted on September 12, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Emmys were handed out tonight. With a few exceptions, the voters and I don’t quite agree. Oh well. At least Amanda Seyfried won.

Here are the winners!

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Colin Firth, The Staircase
Andrew Garfield, Under the Banner of Heaven
Oscar Isaac, Scenes From a Marriage
WINNER: Michael Keaton, Dopesick
Himesh Patel, Station Eleven
Sebastian Stan, Pam & Tommy

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

WINNER: Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus
Jake Lacy, The White Lotus
Will Poulter, Dopesick
Seth Rogen, Pam & Tommy
Peter Sarsgaard, Dopesick
Michael Stuhlbarg, Dopesick
Steve Zahn, The White Lotus

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Nicholas Braun, Succession
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Park Hae-soo, Squid Game
WINNER: Matthew Macfayden, Succession
John Turturro, Severance
Christopher Walken, Severance
Oh Yeong-su, Squid Game

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Patricia Arquette, Severance
WINNER: Julia Garner, Ozark
Jung Ho-yeon, Squid Game
Christina Ricci, Yellowjackets
J. Smith Cameron, Succession
Sarah Snook, Succession
Sydney Sweeney, Euphoria
Rhea Seehorn, Better Call Saul

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Sarah Niles, Ted Lasso
WINNER: Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary
Juno Temple, Ted Lasso
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Carrigan, Barry
WINNER: Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso
Toheeb Jimoh, Ted Lasso
Nick Mohammed, Ted Lasso
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary
Henry Winkler, Barry
Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series

A Black Lady Sketch Show
WINNER: Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
Jimmy Kimmel Live
WINNER: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Late Night With Seth Meyers
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Connie Britton, The White Lotus
WINNER: Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus
Alexandra Daddario, The White Lotus
Kaitlyn Dever, Dopesick
Natasha Rothwell, The White Lotus
Sydney Sweeney, The White Lotus
Mare Winningham, Dopesick

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Toni Collette, The Staircase
Julia Garner, Inventing Anna
Lily James, Pam & Tommy
Sarah Paulson, Impeachment: American Crime Story
Margaret Qualley, Maid
WINNER: Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout

Outstanding Competition Program

The Amazing Race
WINNER: Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls
Nailed It!
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice

Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie

Dopesick, Danny Strong
The Dropout, Michael Showalter
The Dropout, Francesca Gregorini
Maid, John Wells
Station Eleven, Hiro Murai
WINNER: The White Lotus, Mike White

Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series or Movie

Dopesick, Danny Strong
The Dropout, Elizabeth Meriwether
Impeachment: American Crime Story, Sarah Burgess
Maid, Molly Smith Metzler
Station Eleven, Patrick Sommerville
WINNER: The White Lotus, Mike White

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special

Ali Wong: Don Wong, Ali Wong
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Globe — Hungary for Democracy, Ian Berger, Devin Delliquanti, Jennifer Flanz, Jordan Klepper, Zhubin Parang, Scott Sherman
WINNER: Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel, Jerrod Carmichael
Nicole Byer, BBW (Big Beautiful Weirdo), Nicole Byer
Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special, Norm Macdonald

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Donald Glover, Atlanta
Bill Hader, Barry
Nicholas Hoult, The Great
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
WINNER: Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

WINNER: Abbott Elementary, “Pilot,” Quinta Brunson
Barry, “710N,” Duffy Boudreau
Barry, “starting now,” Alec Berg and Bill Hader
Hacks, “The One, the Only,” Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky
Only Murders in the Building, “True Crime,” Steve Martin and John Hoffman
Ted Lasso, “No Weddings and a Funeral,” Jane Becker
What We Do in the Shadows, “The Casino,” Sarah Naftalis
What We Do in the Shadows, “The Wellness Center,” Stefani Robinson

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

Ozark, “A Hard Way to Go,” Jason Bateman
Severance, “The We We Are,” Ben Stiller
WINNER: Squid Game, “Red Light, Green Light,” Hwang Dong-hyuk
Succession, “All the Bells Say,” Mark Mylod
Succession, “The Disruption,” Cathy Yan
Succession, “Too Much Birthday,” Lorene Scarfaria
Yellowjackets, “Pilot,” Karen Kusama

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
WINNER: Zendaya, Euphoria

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
Elle Fanning, The Great
Issa Rae, Insecure
WINNER: Jean Smart, Hacks

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series

Atlanta, “New Jazz,” Hiro Murai
Barry, “710N,” Bill Hader
Hacks, “There Will Be Blood,” Lucia Aniello
The Ms. Pat Show, “Baby Daddy Groundhog Day,” Mary Lou Belli
Only Murders in the Building, “The Boy from 6B,” Cherien Dabis
Only Murders in the Building, “True Crime,” Jamie Babbit
WINNER: Ted Lasso, “No Weddings and a Funeral,” MJ Delaney

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series

Better Call Saul, “Plan and Execution,” Thomas Schnauz
Ozark, “A Hard Way to Go,” Chris Mundy
Severance, “The We We Are,” Dan Erickson
Squid Game, “One Lucky Day,” Hwang Dong-hyuk
WINNER: Succession, “All the Bells Say,” Jesse Armstrong
Yellowjackets, “F Sharp,” Jonathan Lisco, Ashley Lyle, and Bart Nickerson
Yellowjackets, “Pilot,” Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Jason Bateman, Ozark
Brian Cox, Succession
WINNER: Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Adam Scott, Severance
Jeremy Strong, Succession

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

Dopesick, Hulu
The Dropout, Hulu
Inventing Anna, Netflix
Pam & Tommy, Hulu
WINNER: The White Lotus, HBO

Outstanding Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary
Barry
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Hacks
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Only Murders in the Building
WINNER: Ted Lasso
What We Do in the Shadows

Outstanding Drama Series

Better Call Saul
Euphoria
Ozark
Severance
Squid Game
Stranger Things
WINNER: Succession
Yellowjackets

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Adrien Brody, Succession
James Cromwell, Succession
WINNER: Colman Domingo, Euphoria
Arian Moayed, Succession
Tom Pelphrey, Ozark
Alexander Skarsgard, Succession

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Hope Davis, Succession
Marcia Gay Harden, The Morning Show
Martha Kelly, Euphoria
Sanaa Lathan, Succession
Harriet Walter, Succession
WINNER: Lee You-mi, Squid Game

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

Jane Adams, Hacks
Harriet Sansom Harris, Hacks
Jane Lynch, Only Murders in the Building
WINNER: Laurie Metcalf, Hacks
Kaitlin Olson, Hacks
Harriet Walter, Ted Lasso

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

Jerrod Carmichael, Saturday Night Live
Bill Hader, Curb Your Enthusiasm
James Lance, Ted Lasso
WINNER: Nathan Lane, Only Murders in the Building
Christopher McDonald, Hacks
Sam Richardson, Ted Lasso

Outstanding Television Movie

WINNER: Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers
Ray Donovan: The Movie
Reno 911: The Hunt for QAnon
The SurvivorZoey’s Extraordinary Christmas

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program

Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, Queer Eye
Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Making It
Nicole Byer, Nailed It!
Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, Kevin O’Leary, Shark Tank
Padma Lakshmi, Top Chef
WINNER: RuPaul, RuPaul’s Drag Race

Outstanding Variety Special (Live)
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes
The Oscars
WINNER: Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent
Tony Awards Presents: Broadway’s Back!

Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-recorded)

WINNER: Adele: One Night Only
Dave Chappelle: The Closer
Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts
Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special
One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga

Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman
The Problem With Jon Stewart
WINNER: Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy
VICE
The World According to Jeff Goldblum

Retro Television Review: Hang Time 1.3 “Full Court Press” and 1.4 “Will The Real Michael Maxwell Please Stand Up?”

Posted on September 12, 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!

Finally! It’s time for the Deering Tornadoes to actually play a game! Will Julie and the rest of the team live up to the hype? And when will the show realize that they need a better theme song?

I’ll always remember me and my friends at Hang Time!

Episode 1.3 “Full Court Press”

(Directed by Howard Murray, originally aired on September 23rd, 1995)

The season is about to begin and the press are invading Deering High, all so they can report on Julie Connor, the first girl to ever play basketball in high school. (At least, that’s the way the story is reported.) The press is only interested in talking about Julie. All of the fans are only interested in getting Julie’s autograph. Julie has strangers walking up to her and telling her that she’s going to be a huge star. The rest of the team starts to get jealous. Coach Fuller is forced to close the practices to the public. “Connor, get the stars out of your eyes!” he says. He also reminds her to always mention her teammates while being interviewed.

Unfortunately, the fame starts to go to Julie’s head. “Big decision,” she says, “do I go on Leno or Letterman?” On the day of the first game, she’s late because she has to go to a photoshoot. Coach Fuller punishes her by putting her on the bench. “Ohhhhh!” the audience says.

Julie is forced to sit on the bench until the third quarter or half or whatever it is that they play in basketball. However, when the Tornadoes start to lose, Fuller puts Julie in the game. At first, the team still snubs her but then Julie calls a timeout and apologizes. Then the boys call another timeout to apologize to Julie. Then Danny calls a third timeout to apologize personally. Despite all of the timeouts, the team goes on to win by one point. That point was scored by Julie. So, apparently, Julie was totally correct about thinking that she was the most important player on the team.

Meanwhile, Mary Beth saved Earl from choking to death so Earl gives her a pig.

Episode 1.4 “Will The Real Michael Maxwell Please Stand Up”

(Directed by Howard Murray, originally aired on October 7th, 1995)

Deering High won their first game, by one point, thanks to Julie. However, they lose their second game, again by one point, thanks to Michael Maxwell. Michael misses not one but two free throws! He then makes the mistake of saying, “I choked” while in the presence of reporters. The next day, guess what the headline on the front page of the newspaper is!

Anyway, Michael loses his confidence but then he’s given a pep talk by his idol, Grant Hill, who I guess was a real basketball player at the time.

Meanwhile, Danny is still trying to work up the courage to ask out Julie. Samantha tries to help him out, mostly because Samantha likes him. At first, Danny is too stupid to understand this but, by the end of the episode, he and Samantha are a seriously cute couple.

My thoughts on these two episodes is that I don’t know a thing about basketball and the first season was all about basketball. As a result, the first season was uneven (for me, at least) but the show would eventually develop its own weird charm. At this point, I’m just waiting for the theme song to change and for the Tornadoes to actually win or lose a game by more than one point.

Retro Television Review: The Death of Richie (dir by Paul Wendkos)

Posted on September 11, 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 1977’s The Death of Richie. It can be viewed on YouTube!

It’s not a spoiler to tell you that this film ends with the death of a teenager named Richie. It’s right there in the title. We start the film knowing that Richie is going to die. The only question is how it’s going to happen and who, if anyone, is going to be held responsible for it.

Played by Robby Benson, Richie Werner is a sensitive teenager living in the suburbs. He’s painfully shy and he deals with that shyness by taking the drugs that are supplied to him by friends like Brick (Charles Fleischer) and Peanuts (Clint Howard, yes that Clint Howard). His parents, George (Ben Gazzara) and Carol (Eileen Brennan), knows that Richie is struggling with both drugs and school. However, neither one of them have a clue as to how to help him. Carol spends most of the film silently hoping that things will somehow just magically get better. Meanwhile, George can’t understand his son and, even worse, he makes no attempt to understand him. George holds back his feelings and he’s obviously uncomfortable with his emotional son. George is the type who retreats to his basement when he needs to get away from the world and yet, he can’t understand why his son needs a similar sanctuary. When he discovers that Richie has set up a mini-bedroom in his closet, George destroys it.

Throughout the film, Richie tries to get his life straightened out. He gets a job working at a restaurant but he quits after his friends laugh at his dorky uniform. He tries to date a girl named Sheila (Cindy Eilbacher) but is heartbroken when he discovers that she’s going out with someone else. When Richie tries to talk his dad, George refuses to listen. When George tries to talk to Richie, Richie tells him to get out of his room. Finally, after Richie crashes his car one last time, it leads to an act of shocking violence. After all, the film is called The Death of Richie.

It’s also based on a true story, though there’s some debate over whether or not the film gets the story correct. In real life, Richie’s named was George Richard “Richie” Diener and he lived in Long Island. (The film appears to take place in a generic California suburb.) Richie’s death inspired a magazine article and book, both of which inspired this film. While I was doing research for this review, I came across a website about Richie’s death, one that argued that both the film and the book were too sympathetic to George’s version of what happened the day that Richie died. The site has comments from many of the people who knew Richie and I recommend it to anyone who watches this film and want to know the other side of the story.

As for the film itself, it’s well-directed, intense, and, at times, rather heart-breaking. As portrayed in the film, Richie is so desperate for some sort of approval that your heart just goes out to him. Robby Benson is one of those actors who you come across in a lot of 70s films. I’ve always found his performances to be a bit inconsistent and that’s certainly the case here. He’s good when he’s allowed a quiet moment or two but there are other times when he gets so shrill that it takes you out of the reality of the film. Ben Gazarra does a good job playing George as someone who loves his family but who is incapable of understanding his son’s pain. Gazarra adds just a hint of ambiguity to his anger toward Richie. Is he upset because Richie keeps getting trouble or has he reached the point where he’s just looking for an excuse to get Richie out of the family’s life? According to the comments that I read at the blog mentioned above, both the film and the subsequent book based solely their portrayal of the last minutes of Richie’s life on George’s account. Many people felt that there was more to what happened.

The film is a bit quick to blame all of Richie’s problems on the drugs. While the drugs probably didn’t help, there are times when the film seems to suggesting that Richie would have been a happy, go-lucky kid if he had never taken that first Seconal. Watching the film today, it’s obvious that there was a lot more going on with Richie than just weed and pills and it’s also obvious that calling the cops having them search his room while he watched was not the solution either. Richie needed someone to talk to and, in the film at least, that was apparently the one thing that he could not get. As the song says, things get a little easier once you understand.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 9/4/22 — 9/10/22

Posted on September 10, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here are just a few thoughts on what I watched as I continued to spend this week preparing for the greatest month of the year, October!

The Bachelorette (Monday Night, ABC)

Poor Gabby! What a mess. She went from being the bachelorette that ever man wanted to date to the bachelorette who now only has one man left to compete for her, a man to whom she’s not even sure she is ready to become engaged. Meanwhile, Rachel has got three men to choose from and it’s hard not to feel that it’s going to be a disaster no matter who she picks. Gabby and Rachel were picked for this season largely because of how badly they were treated during the previous season of The Bachelor but, if they were hoping for a better experience this time around….

If Meatball were still on the show, he could marry both Gabby and Rachel and all of these problems would be solved.

Big Brother (All The Time, CBS and Paramount Plus)

I’ve been writing about Big Brother over at the Big Brother Blog. The season is winding down. That’s a good thing because I’m actually starting to get really bored with the show. All of the really interesting players have been voted out of the House. I’m predicting we’re going to end up with a Turner/Brittany final two and Big Brother Twitter is going to erupt in outrage.

The Challenge (Wednesday Night, CBS)

Enzo is doing a lot better on The Challenge than he did either time he played Big Brother. If you come for Enzo, you better not miss.

Fantasy Island (Tubi)

I watched a few episodes this week and I wrote and scheduled a review for each one of them. The Island is lovely.

Full House (Sunday Evening, MeTV)

DJ volunteered at an assisted living facility and decided that it would be a good idea to bring one of the residents home with her. Personally, I would think that this would lead to DJ losing her volunteer gig but everything worked out in the end. Being a Tanner apparently provided you with a magic shield that protected you from the consequences of your actions. This was followed by an episode in which Stephanie decided that it was time to get serious about her dancing. I could barely watch, it was so cringey.

Hang Time (YouTube)

I watched 16 episodes of Hang Time this week. Somehow, I survived. Look for the reviews in the weeks to come.

Inspector Lewis (YouTube)

Hathaway took a holiday to Croatia, where he helped paint an orphanage. It was very much a Hathaway thing to do. With Hathaway gone, Lewis was free to finally pursue a relationship with Dr. Hobson. Yay!

Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head (Paramount Plus)

How exactly are Old Beavis and Butt-Head still alive? That’s what I found myself wondering as I watched the latest episode of Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head. Old Beavis destroyed both of his original kidneys and then destroyed his new kidney because he didn’t like the person who donated it to him. That’s certainly his choice to make but seriously, how is he going to recover from something like that?

Then again, how are Young Beavis and Butt-Head going to recover from drinking acidic pesticide? I can’t lie, I worry about the boys. They need someone to step in and say, “No, don’t drink that!” But I don’t blame Mr. Anderson giving them the pesticide because he was just trying to help. If anything, Mr. Anderson is perhaps my favorite character on the show because I’ve got someone just like Mr. Anderson living at the end of the block. He means well.

Night Shift (Night Shift Plus)

On Friday night, I watched an episode about the “second British invasion” of the early 80s. The episode featured music videos from Duran Duran, The Human League, and few other bands of the era. The Human League video was for Fascination, which made me happy.

Retro Television Reviews: California Dreams 1.3 “Double Date” and 1.4 “Dream Man”

Posted on September 10, 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!

The saga of California’s blandest garage band continues.

Is anyone reading this a surf dude with attitude?

Episode 1.3 “Double Date”

(Directed by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 26, 1992)

Oh, California! What a confusing place.

When Sharkey (the owner of Sharkey’s) goes out of town, he leaves Tony in charge of the restaurant. He promises that, if Tony does a good job, Tony will get a promotion and more money. But Sharkey, isn’t leaving Tony in charge already a promotion? Anyway, it turns out that Sharkey made a huge mistake because soon, Sly has convinced Tony to hold a luau at Sharkey’s. Tony spends a lot of Sharkey’s money on the luau. Sharkey returns home early and demands that Tony pay back the money with whatever is made at the luay. The luau has to be a success! It’s a good thing that the Dreams will be playing at Sharkey’s.

Unfortunately, Matt has already booked the Dreams to perform at a wedding on the same night! This leads to some conflict between Matt and Tony. The conflict would perhaps be more dramatic if Matt wasn’t a total wimp.

Fortunately, Tiffani suggests that maybe the Dreams could just play both shows, considering that there’s apparently only 2 minutes of distance between Sharkey’s and the yacht club. (The wedding, of course, is taking place at the yacht club. Do poor people even exist in California?)

This episode basically felt like it was left over from the Saved By The Bell episodes where Zach and the gang worked at Malibu Sands …. actually, wait a minute. IT IS! When Mr. Carossi went out of town, Zach and Stacy booked two parties for the same night and had to throw both parties during the same night. History repeats itself. Of course, every time that it does, things get progressively dumber.

For the record, the Dreams would have been a terrible wedding band in real life. Hire a DJ, like my friend Xander. He’ll keep your party going.

Episode 1.4 “Dream Man”

(Directed by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 3rd, 1992)

When Jenny hold a slumber party, Sly and Tony plant a listening device so that they can learn what Jenny and Jenny’s friend Jasmine are looking for in a boyfriend. This leads to …. WAIT A MINUTE! THIS IS ANOTHER SAVED BY THE BELL PLOT! Zach bugged Jessie’s bedroom so that he could learn who Kelly was planning on asking to the school dance. Jessie figured out what was going on and told Kelly to pretend to have a psychotic breakdown.

Anyway, this leads to Sly wearing an Italian suit and a silk tie in an effort to impress Jenny and the audience going, “Wooooo!” But, because Jenny knows about the listening device, Sly ends up getting grape juice splashed on his shirt. “Wooooooo!” the audience continues.

Meanwhile, Tiffani tried to help Matt write a song about a kid named Tommy who can’t swim. The song is supposed to be bad (which leads to Matt learning a lesson about being honest) but the end result is still better than Friends Forever.

Retro Television Review: One World 1.3 “Marci’s Job” and 1.4 “The Gift”

Posted on September 9, 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

One world …. we’re living in one world….

Today, we rejoin Miami’s favorite foster family, the Blakes! How are they adjusting to Jane and, more importantly, how is Jane adjusting to them? Does she still consider them to be “The Brady Bunch?” Let’s find out!

Episode 1.3 “Marci’s Job”

(Directed by Chuck Vinson, originally aired on September 26th, 1998)

The Warehouse — which, you may remember from last week, is apparently Miami’s hottest under-21 club — needs a new manager! Marci applies for the job and is hired but then she hears rumors that she may have just been hired because she’s Cuban and the owner needed to fill a quota. Marci is outraged. “Did you hire me because I’m Cuban, Hispanic, Latina!?” she demands of the manager. “I don’t want a job because of my race!”

The audience applauds as Marci walks out.

Later, Ben asks Marci why she’s so upset. Marci replies, “He only gave me the job because of my race! That’s discrimination!”

Yes, this episode is definitely from 1998.

In the B-plot, Jane and Neal become convinced that Cray stole a pair of sneakers so they attempt to return them to the mall. Unfortunately, they get caught by mall security and end up getting tossed into the “mall jail.” Karen Blake — oh my God, her name is literally Karen — goes down to the mall to bail out her foster children. “I am a soccer mom!” she proudly declares as she demands to see the mall’s manager. The audience goes wild.

Again, this episode is definitely from 1998.

The important thing is that everything works out in the end. Cray explains that he didn’t steal the shoes. Instead, he just bought them from some weirdo on the school playground. Meanwhile, Marci goes back to the Warehouse and is told that she wasn’t hired because of her race. She was hired for her “spunk and attitude.”

The audience applauds. Everything works out when you’re living in one world.

Episode 1.4 “The Gift”

(Directed by Chuck Vinson, originally aired on October 3rd, 1998)

It’s Dave’s 45th birthday! While the other kids attempt to build him a home entertainment center, Jane decides to show her appreciation by stealing an expensive watch. When I was a teenager, I used to shoplift for birthdays as well but that just meant that my friends got used to receiving purple eyeshadow on their special day.

Anyway, Jane realizes that Dave wouldn’t want her to break the law so she writes him a letter explaining what happened. Dave says that the letter is the best birthday present he’s ever gotten. And you know what? It may sound silly but it’s actually kind of a sweet moment and it was well-acted by Aaroyn Lloyd and Michael Toland. As far as I’m concerned, that makes this episode a success.

Retro Television Review: City Guys 1.3 “Knicks Tickets” and 1.4 “The Package”

Posted on September 8, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Roll with the city guys!

It’s Thursday and that means that it’s time to review two more episodes of City Guys! When last I reviewed this show, I was wondering whether the show would improve on its first two episodes. Actually, I wasn’t so much much wondering as I was hoping. (Maybe even praying….) But before we examine episodes 3 and 4 of City Guys, let’s get in the mood:

City-wide! We’re all the same …. you know the drill.

Episode 1.3 “Knicks Tickets”

(Directed by Frank Bonner, originally aired on September 20th, 1997)

At the end of the second episode of City Guys, Chris and Jamal were best friends and the principal, Ms. Noble, was acting as if she had known them and all the other students at Manhattan High for years.

However, the third episode finds Chris and Jamal still engaged in the adversarial relationship that they had during the first episode. They’re working together on the video yearbook but neither is happy about it. Chris is determined to date Cassidy Guiliani. (Yes, that’s her last name. Rudy was mayor of New York when this show aired but I have no idea if Cassidy is meant to be a relative or not.) Jamal is still referring to Chris as being “some rich white boy.” Neither one of them knows enough about Ms. Noble to understand that they’ll always get caught if they try to fool her.

My guess is that the third episode was originally meant to be the second episode but, when the show originally aired, the episodes were shown out of order. This is something that NBC was notorious for doing with its TNBC shows. (It also explains why Zach Morris’s age seemed to change so dramatically from one episode to another of Saved By The Bell.) Technically, showing a show like City Guys out of order is not the greatest outrage that’s ever occurred even in the history of television but it is an indication of how little NBC cared about things like maintaining continuity or, for that matter, respecting the ability of its audiences to realize that something strange was happening. It’s just one of those things that annoys me to no end.

As for the plot of this episode, Ms. Noble has arranged for the class to attend a performance of MacBeth in Central Park. Ms. Noble wants Chris and Jamal to film the performance for the video yearbook and she also wants them to get Patrick Stewart’s autograph. (Patrick Stewart, we’re told, is playing MacBeth and that sounds pretty badass, to be honest.) However, Chris, Jamal, and Cassidy skip school and go to a Knicks game instead. Naturally, Ms. Noble sees them on television and eventually, Jamal and Chris have to come clean and….

Wait a minute. Didn’t all this happen on Saved By The Bell? Zach pretended to be Jewish so he could skip school and go to a baseball game and he was caught on television. Of course, Zach still got away with skipping because Mr. Belding and Zach’s parents didn’t watch the game. Ms. Noble, however, is a far better principal than Mr. Belding. Instead of accusing Jamal, Chris, and Cassidy of skipping, she waits for their guilt to force them to confess.

But what if they hadn’t confessed? Well, I guess Ms. Noble would have looked pretty stupid.

Speaking of stupid, that’s what this episode was. Let’s move on.

Episode 1.4 “The Package”

(Directed by Frank Bonner, originally aired on September 27th, 1997)

Every TNBC show had to have an annoying sidekick and, on City Guys, that role was fulfilled by Al. Al rode a bicycle, worked as a messenger, had “connections,” and had an annoying habit of shouting, “Bam!” at random moments.

The fourth episode opens with Al telling Chris and Jamal that he has a new job. All he has to do is deliver one package a day for Tonio and Tonio shows his gratitude by paying Al an exorbitant amount of money. Chris and Jamal inform Al that Tonio is obviously a drug dealer. Al argues that Tonio is just an electronics salesman.

Tonio eventually shows up on a campus to discover why his latest package hasn’t been delivered. He’s wearing a gold medallion and he’s accompanied by two silent men who keep their hands in their jackets.

Yes, Tonio’s a drug dealer.

Fortunately, Chris, Jamal, and Ms. Noble are able to help Al get out of his bad situation. When Tonio tries to threaten Al, Ms. Noble orders him off campus and Tonio leaves …. once again proving that even drug dealers respect the authority of a caring principal. What was odd about City Guys is that apparently, all problems were resolved by whatever happened in front of the school or, occasionally, up on the roof. No one seems to be concerned that Tonio might just decide to wait outside of school until the bell rings and Al has to leave campus. Instead, Ms. Noble told everyone to go to class and …. hey, problem solved! (Admittedly, Ms. Noble does say that she’s going to call the police and let them know what’s going on but seriously, New York is a big city and there’s only so many cops.)

That’s just the way it was in the world of TNBC. There wasn’t a problem in the world that couldn’t be solved in just 20 minutes.

Anyway, The Package was well-intentioned but pretty dumb. How would Al not have known that Tonio was a drug dealer? To its credit, the show does feature Ms. Noble suggesting that Al was deliberately fooling himself because he wanted the money that Tonio was willing to pay him but still, the whole thing felt a bit contrived. “If you see something, say something!” this episode says, while giving little thought to what happens to snitches in real life. This isn’t Bayside and no one can magically stop time.

That’s it for this week’s City Guys! Next week, Chris and Jamal continue to heal America!