Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.20 “Flare Up”

Posted on May 18, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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

This week, Ponch is in trouble!

Episode 5.20 “Flare Up”

(Dir by John Florea, originally aired on March 7th, 1982)

While saving lives and being a badass at the sight of a highway crash, Baker accidentally inhales chlorine gas and has to go to the hospital. Meanwhile, an embittered young man named Eddie (Alan Stock) claims that Ponch roughed him up at a traffic stop and gave him a black eye. The truth of the matter is that Eddie hit his head on his steering wheel while he was trying to grab a beer can that had been thrown at him by a couple of obnoxious college students.

Baker survives the chemical attack but it looks like Ponch’s days of patrolling the highway might be over. Fear not, though. This is….

You can’t have The Ponch Show without Ponch! Seriously, if Ponch loses his job, who is going to smile in the face of danger? Who is going to disco dance? Who is going to have four women in his apartment, making dinner? CHiPs is a show of the disco age and it doesn’t get more disco than Erik Estrada.

By an amazing coincidence, another chemical spill produces a cloud of toxic gas that is heading straight for Eddie’s grandfather (Harry Carey, Jr.) Ponch risks his life to save the old man and a thankful Edddie drops the complaint. Actually, last week — didn’t someone drop a complaint against Baker after Baker saved someone’s life? Is CHiPs repeating itself?

Of course, it is! CHiPs always repeats itself. That’s kind of the appeal of the show. It’s predictable, it doesn’t require much thought to enjoy, and there’s always another dramatic car crash to which to look forward.

That’s what CHiPs is all about.

Retro Television Review: Crime Story 1.4 “St. Louis Book of Blues”

Posted on May 18, 2026 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 Crime Story, which ran on NBC from 1986 to 1988. The entire show can be found on Tubi!

This week, everyone’s going to Missouri. Can you blame them?

Episode 1,4 “St. Louis Book of Blues”

(Dir by Leon Ichaso, originally aired on September 30th, 1986)

After Ray Luca discovers that his henchman, Frank Holman (Ted Levine), has been compromised by Torello, he decides to deal with the situation by sending Holman down to St. Louis. A gangster named Ganz (Raymond Serra) has a home in St. Louis and, according to Ganz’s associate Johnny Fosse (Michael Madsen, doing his slow-talking, cigarette-smoking Madsen thing), there is a book in Ganz’s shelf that contains the name of every bookie, coach, and sports-fixer in America. Ray, who is hoping to start up his own nationwide gambling syndicate, wants that book.

Far be it for me to question Ray Luca’s strategy but it does seem strange that his response to one of his people screwing up is to give that person an even more important job to do. I get that Ray is trying to be a manager now and, as a result, he no longer personally robs anyone but Frank really does seem like the last person he should trust to pull this off.

And, to no one’s surprise, Frank doesn’t pull it off. Torello and his men follow him all the way to St. Louis. They not only arrest him but they also get their hands on Ganz’s book. They do this despite the operation nearly being ruined by an ambitious and publicity-hungry sheriff named Hartman (Allen Swfit).

Unfortunately, when Frank offers to inform on the entire “St. Louis mob,” Hartman releases him from jail. Frank promptly flees town. When he calls Ray, Ray orders him to stay out of Chicago and instead to go to Cleveland. Frank replies that if he has to choose between Hell or Cleveland …. he’ll go to Cleveland. Good thinking, Frank!

(Actually, I’ve never been to Cleveland so I don’t know if it’s really good thinking. Wasn’t Dennis Kucinich from Cleveland?)

As this episode ends, Ganz is ready to declare war on Luca and it appears that Max Goldman might be the first victim. The funny thing about Max is that he’s played by a young Andrew Dice Clay and, in every scene in which he appears, Clay’s facial expressions are totally and completely over-the-top, as if Clay was determined to make sure that no one forgot he was in the scene. I hope that Max survives, just for the sake of entertainment,

This episode returned to the idea of Torelllo being dangerously and tightly wound. Before he followed Frank to St. Louis, he nearly firebombed a furniture store because the owner hadn’t delivered the table that he had ordered. Torello was talked out of doing so by his fellow cops but the store owner still got the message. The table arrived at Torello’s apartment. Of course, it was the wrong table. That made me laugh. People have no idea how close Torello is to snapping and killing everyone around him.

This was a good episode. It was interesting to see a young Ted Levine, not to mention a young Michael Madsen as well. The corrupt and incompetent sheriff was identified as being a Democrat. I appreciated that. I’m looking forward to seeing where this show is going.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 2.17 “Relax”

Posted on May 17, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015! The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, it’s all about uniforms and palms.

Episode 2.17 “Relax”

(Dir by Laurie Lynd, originally aired on August 8th, 2003)

Eh, it’s a Liberty episode.

Liberty is upset when she doesn’t make the girls’ hockey team. However, she is appointed to be their equipment manager and, as was always the case with Liberty, she immediately allows the least bit of power and responsibility to go to her head. Realizing that the girls need new uniforms, Liberty goes to Joey Jeremiah and asks him to sponsor them. Joey is willing …. except, he’s already sponsoring the boys’ team and he can’t afford to sponsor both. Liberty challenges the boys’ team to a game. The winner gets Joey’s sponsorship.

Needless to say, Coach Liberty (she puts on a cape to make sure everyone knows that she’s in charge) pushes the girls too hard and forgets that sports should be fun. At halftime, the girls tell Liberty that they’ll only continue playing if Liberty isn’t out on the court. Liberty agrees. The girls don’t win but Joey is so impressed with their determination that he sponsors them anyway. It would be nice to say that Liberty learns a lesson from all this but I’ve binged Degrassi enough times to know that Liberty never learns a lesson from anything.

Meanwhile, Terri freaks out when she misreads Paige’s palm and becomes convinced that Paige is going to die. Paige takes advantage of the situation. Good for Paige. Terri has never been particularly intelligent but this episode takes the proverbial cake.

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 5.10 “Blood Wedding”

Posted on May 17, 2026 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 Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC! It can be viewed on Peacock.

This week, Pembleton gets his first case as the primary.

Episode 5.10 “Blood Wedding”

(Dir by Kevin Hooks, originally aired on December 13th, 1996)

A robbery at a bridal store leave public defender Meryl Hansen (Delanie Yates) dead. Meryl was the fiancée of State’s Attorney Ed Danvers. Danvers was with her when she was shot and he’s now obsessed with getting justice. He is not happy when he discovers that Pembleton is the primary on the case. Pembleton is still recovering from a stroke. In fact, this is his first case as primary since he returned to active duty. Meanwhile, Pembleton is not happy with the way Danvers keeps trying to tell him how to do his job.

Meanwhile, Giardello meets with the former members of Kellerman’s squad and asks them if they are planning on naming Kellerman to the Grand Jury. Everyone says that they’re not going to name him …. except for one former detective who explains that, if he names Kellerman, his own sentence will be reduced. Giardello even goes to the police commissioner (Al Freeman, Jr.) in search of help. The Commissioner resents Giardello’s independent streak. He’s not only not going to help, he’s also going to actively make Giardello’s life difficult.

As for Kellerman, he spends his time either sitting on his boat or drinking at the Waterfront or bothering his new lover, Dr. Cox, at work. When he’s informed that the Grand Jury has been delayed until the end of January, it’s another weight on his shoulders.

In the end, Pembleton does find the man who shot Meryl Hansen but, by the time the Julius Cummings (R. Emery Bright) is captured, he’s already disposed of the gun used in the crime. There’s enough evidence to put Cummings away for an unrelated robbery but not for murder. Danvers suddenly wonders if he’s been to quick to compromise as a prosecutor. After Danvers goes to the jail and tells Cummings that he will spend the rest of his life proving that Cummings is guilty of murder, Cummings hangs himself in his cell.

I have to admit that, for once, I actually found the Kellerman stuff to be more compelling than the main story. Don’t get me wrong. Andre Braugher and Kyle Secor were both great. Zeljko Ivanek was excellent and he had a few good scenes with Melissa Leo, who has been rather underused this season. But the main storyline felt more like something one would find on Law & Order than Homicide. Pembleton’s very first case as primary turning out to be a red ball? It was a bit too much of a coincidence to be effective.

The Kellerman stuff, however, gave Yaphet Kotto a chance to do something more than just give out orders. Watching him go from detective to detective and slyly ask them if they were going to name Kellerman was a joy. The scene between him and Al Freeman, Jr. was well-played by both actors.

That said, let’s hope this Kellerman thing gets resolved soon. Lewis needs his partner!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 2.3 “Save The Max”

Posted on May 16, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Saved By The Bell, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, Bayside Radio is on the air!

Episode 2.3 “Save The Max”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 22nd, 1990)

Uh-oh! Max is about to lose The Max! The land that the Max is sitting on belongs to the school board and, if Max the owner can’t come up with $10,000 in back rent, he’s going to lose the restaurant. As Jessie puts it, “our favorite hang-out is going to become a parking lot!”

Here’s the thing — so what? I mean, seriously, is it that hard to find a place to get a hamburger in California? For the most part, the Max has always come across as being a fairly tacky place. It’s hard for me to imagine anyone over the age of eleven thinking that Max’s magic tricks were worth watching. Even more importantly, why didn’t Max pay his rent? Max is an adult. He’s a grown man. Why does it fallon a group of teenagers to take care of Max’s problems? Pay your own damn bills, Max!

Fortunately (I guess), Zack has recently re-launched the school radio station. This is the episode where Zack and Screech discover the radio station in the school basement and Mr. Belding appears in a flashback as a 40 year-old hippie high school student with a thick mustache. I’m not really sure to whom the radio station is supposed to appeal. Zack pretending to be “Wolfman Zack” is cringe city. Screech’s mystery theater is embarrassing. Lisa’s gossip show would probably lead to multiple lawsuits today. Aren’t these people supposed to be in class? Are the other students actually okay with Zack and his friends being the only ones who actually get to do anything interesting at school?

The best thing about this episode is that it gives Slater a showcase. This is the first episode to feature Slater as a guy who is always confident until he’s either talking into a microphone or looking at video camera. Whenever he knows he’s being recorded, Slater suddenly freezes up. Slater’s awkwardness is actually pretty endearing and it makes him a more compelling character than Zack. With Zack automatically being good at everything, it’s actually kind of nice to get to watch Slater conquer his doubts and prove himself.

Do the kids — and Mr. Belding — go on the air for 24 hours in an attempt raise enough money to save the Max? You bet they do! But it’s not until Slater grabs the microphone and talks about how the Max was the first place that he ever felt as if he really belonged that the money starts to come in. I think one reason that the Gang was having trouble raising money is that all of the Bayside students were at the Max for the telethon. Seriously, I’m really not sure who was donating all that money at the end of this episode. I guess Slater has groupies. Hey, why not? He’s earned them.

Seriously, though — couldn’t Max have just paid his rent!? What a deadbeat!

Retro Television Review: Baywatch 2.4 “Money, Honey”

Posted on May 16, 2026 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 Baywatch, which ran on NBC and then in syndication from 1989 to 2001. The entire show can be viewed on Tubi.

This week is pretty pointless.

Episosde 2.4 “Money, Honey”

(Dir by Monte Markham, originally aired on October 7th, 1991)

When Mitch and Eddie are hired to serve as lifeguards at a Hollywood party, film producer Dita (Leslie Easterbrook) is impressed when she sees Mitch respond to a boating accident. She decides to make Mitch into a movie star. Everyone knows that Mitch can swim and run in slow motion but can he deliver scripted lines? Dita doesn’t care. She just wants to sleep with him. That goes against Mitch’s ethics so his film career ends before it even begins. Meanwhile, Shauni puts together a benefit to protect a sea lion habitat. At first, it looks like Shauni won’t be able to raise the money but then Mitch donates his movie paycheck to the cause.

This was a montage episode of Baywatch. There really wasn’t much of a plot but there certainly were a lot of montages. Watch as Mitch nervously sits in the makeup chair. Watch as a bunch of bikini-clad beachgoers gather for Shauni’s benefit. Listen to the music. Watch the images. Don’t worry about a thing….

In short, this was a pretty pointless episode. That said, the sea lions were cute and the scene where Captain Thorpe tried to teach Mitch how to audition did make me smile. It’s interesting that it took only four episodes for the syndicated version of Baywatch to fall into the pattern that would definite it for the next ten years.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Freddy’s Nightmares 2.13 “What You Don’t Know Can Kill You”

Posted on May 15, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Tubi!

This week, Freddy is just as confused as the rest of us.

Episode 2.13 “What You Don’t Know Can Kill You”

(Dir by Ken Wiederhorn, originally aired on January 7th, 1990)

Psychiatrist Dr. Rothman (David Hern) has been hypnotizing his female patients and then molesting them. (This was something that apparently used to happen quite often with Victorian-era hypnotists.) When a colleague (Phil Proctor) discovers what Rothman is doing, Rothman hypnotizes and programs one of his patients, Derby Brown (Fran Montano), to become an assassin. However, Rothman screws up the programming and ends up getting shot by a hypnotized Derby. Derby’s girlfriend suggests that Derby should have plastic surgery to disguise his appearance. They see a handsome man’s photograph in a newspaper and they decide that’s the face they want. As a result of the surgery, Derby now looks exactly like Vinnie (Paul Regina, playing both roles). Unfortunately, Vinnie is a mob informant and there’s a hitman after him.

Got all that?

This episode was pretty dumb. Paul Regina did a good job as Vinnie and his new doppelganger but, for the most part, I’m not really sure why this was even an episode of Freddy’s Nightmares. There was nothing supernatural about either story and neither story was particularly scary. Freddy only appeared in his host segments and he seemed to be fairly bored with the whole thing.

Usually, I love it when a show embraces the melodrama but this episode wasn’t subversive enough to work as a satire. Despite the over the top plot, it still felt oddly generic.

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 3.20 “Amazing Face”

Posted on May 15, 2026 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 Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988. The show can be found on Daily Motion.

The drama continues in Boston.

Episode 3.20 “Amazing Face”

(Dir by Janet Greek, originally aired on February 20th, 1985)

This week, at St. Eligius:

Nurse Rosenthal thinks that she’s pregnant. That sound you hear is me sighing. Seriously, I liked Nurse Rosenthal during the first season but now I’m kind of sick of her and her sanctimonious attitude, her homewrecking affair with Richard, and her annoying children. Obviously, the show’s writers really liked Nurse Rosenthal but I’m tired of her. A pregnant Nurse Rosenthal? I don’t think I could handle that. Fortunately, it turns out that Nurse Rosenthal is actually starting menopause.
When is Rosenthal going to dump Richard? We all know it’s going to happen.
Dr. Westphall has put his house on the market and boy, is he glum about it. Westphall continues to be the most depressing human being on the planet.
Mrs. Hufnagle has heart surgery. Before that, however, she steals some scrubs and wanders in on an operation.
Fiscus wants to hook back up with Cathy Martin. When a macho patient makes a misogynistic comment about Cathy, Fiscus throws a punch and gets his ass kicked. Luckily, Cathy has learned kung fu.
The bandages are removed and Andrea Fordham (Ann Hearn) sees her new face. She now looks like an average teenager. She tells Dr. Caldwell that she’s still not ready to face the world.
Shirley Daniels is a patient at St. Eligius. She tells everyone who she meets that she killed Peter White and that she can’t wait to go to jail for it. She promises Doctors Wade and Morrison that she’ll never shoot anyone else. She also reveals that she’s the one who sent the baby ski mask to Peter’s widow. She’s knitting a new ski mask for Morrison’s son. Oh, Shirley!
The episode ends with Shirley going to the morgue and flashing back to the time she shot Peter in the testicles.
Considering all the hospitals in Boston, was it really a good idea for her to stay at the same one where she happened to kill a doctor, albeit one who deserved exactly what he got?

This episode felt like filler. Ehrlich acted like a jackass. Morrison acted like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Dr. Craig was arrogant. Dr. Westphall was depressed. It wasn’t a bad episode but there wasn’t anything terribly memorable about it either.

It was just another day at St. Eligius.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Hunter 1.5 “Legacy”

Posted on May 14, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Hunter, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1991. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!

This week, Hunter and McCall investigate a mob hit!

Episode 1.5 “Legacy”

(Dir by Ron Satlof, originally aired on November 2nd, 1984)

Gangster John Vincent (Tony Girogio) has been gunned down in his own mansion. Detective Bernie Terwilliger thinks that it’s a case of burglary gone wrong. Rick Hunter thinks that it was a mob hit and that one of John’s sons is responsible. He and McCall search for Sandy Newton (Mary-Margaret Humes), the woman who was with Michael Vincent (Vincent Baggetta) the night that his father was killed.

I have to admit that I had totally forgotten that Rick Hunter was supposed to be the son of a mobster. This episode featured Rick associating with his childhood buddies and, if nothing else, it showed just how unconvincing Fred Dryer was as the scion of a mob family. Don’t get me wrong. Fred Dryer was great when he was gunning down a suspect and then saying, “Works for me.” And Fred Dryer had a fun chemistry with Stepfanie Kramer. But there was absolutely nothing about Fred Dryer that, in any way, said, “Mobster.” Surrounding Dryer with a bunch of tough-looking Italian-American character actors did nothing to change the fact that Dryer essentially looked like a former football player from sunny California.

This episode had a predictable story but it also had two good action scenes: a fight on a pier and a mob hit in a warehouse. It also introduced John Amos as Captain Dolan, who is the new police captain but who appears to dislike Hunter and McCall just as much as the previous captain. It’s hard not to feel that Amos will be entertaining as he yells at Hunter for not following regulations and costing the city money.

We’ll see how it goes!

Retro Television Review: Decoy 1.31 “Night Light”

Posted on May 14, 2026 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 Decoy, which aired in Syndication in 1957 and 1958. The show can be viewed on Tubi!

This week, someone is stealing jewelry!

Episode 1.31 “Night Light”

(Dir by Stuart Rosenberg, originally aired on April 12th, 1958)

Casey goes undercover as a woman who is looking to purchase a stolen ruby necklace. Her investigation leads to her to Nick Spandau (Martin Balsam), a career criminal who has recently been released from prison and who is currently working with the jeweler (Martin Wolfson) who cared for Nick’s young son (Pud Flanagan) while Nick was “away.” To Casey’s horror, she discovers that Nick is using his innocent son as an unwitting courier, sending him to Mexico with the stolen necklace.

As you can probably guess, this episode is a showcase for the great character actor Martin Balsam, who almost makes Nick likable until it becomes apparent that he’s willing to put his own son in danger in order to protect himself. When Nick’s son suddenly shows up at the jewelry store and announces that he couldn’t bring himself to board the plane without his father, Nick’s reaction is to wonder why his son couldn’t do the “one thing” that he was asked to do. He’s not a great father but, when Casey tells him that his son idolizes him and will follow in his criminal footsteps, Nick makes a show of telling his son off. It’s Nick’s way of making sure that the boy doesn’t grow up to be like him. Casey tells us, “He sure did love his son.” If you say so, Casey.

Overall, it’s not a bad episode. It opens with some nice establishing shots of New York City and, unlike other episodes where Casey is mostly a bystander, it remains compelling even when Garland isn’t on screen. Unfortunately, the acting is a bit weak from everyone not named Martin Balsam or Beverly Garland. However, Balsam and Garland are more than capable of carrying the story on their own.