Retro Television Review: Decoy 1.36 “Blind Date”

Posted on 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, Casey goes undercover …. again!

Episode 1.36 “Blind Date”

(Dir by Stuart Rosenberg, originally aired on June 16th, 1958)

When Gladys (Mary Finney) and her niece Millie (Irene Dailey) are involved in a car accident, the police discover that they are transporting a large amount of stolen money.  Millie, who has been transporting drugs, had a meeting with a money launderer to exchange the money for clean bills.  Casey goes undercover, pretending to be Millie when she and Gladys meet with the launderer.  However, when Millie’s boyfriend (Elliott Sullivan) shows up, the entire operation falls apart.  Can Casey convince Millie’s boyfriend to turn on the criminals?

This is yet another episode where Casey’s carefully constructed cover is destroyed by something that the police should have been prepared for.  Not only is Casey pretending to be a real person (which increases the risk that she’ll run into someone who actually knows the person that Casey is pretending to be) but she’s also accompanied by the increasingly hysterical Gladys.  Usually, Casey is at least convincing when she goes undercover.  This time, she comes across as way to calm and collected to be believable as someone committing her first crime.

To be honest, after 36 of these episodes, I’m amazed that Casey has survived for as long as she has.  The New York police department seems to be truly incompetent.

Despite all of that, this was a good episode.  There was plenty of on-location New York footage and Beverly Garland did a good job of portraying Casey’s growing realization that 1) she was in over her head and 2) it was a mistake to bring Aunt Gladys along.  Lou Polan was also well-cast as the avuncular but still menacing money launderer.  He may have been a criminal but he was also very proud of his boat.  Who can blame him?

This episode ended up on vaguely upbeat note, one that really didn’t feel as it had been earned.  Decoy was always at its best when it was downbeat and realistic.  New York was a tough city, even back in 1958.

Join #TubiThursdasy For The Principal!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone!  Tonight, on Mastodon, I will be hosting the #TubiThursday watch party!  Join us for 1987’s The Principal!

You can find the movie on Tubi or YouTube and you can join us on Mastodon at 9 pm central time!  (That’s 10 pm for you folks on the East Coast.)  We will be using #TubiThursday hashtag!  See you then!

Scenes That I Love: Howard Beale says “We’re In A Lot Of Trouble” in Network

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Everyone remembers the “Mad as Hell Speech” from Sidney Lumet’s 1976 satire, Network.

Personally, I think this scene below is just as good.  Replace “tube” with TikTok and Bluesky and you’ll have a pretty good explanation for why the world today is full of so many angry people who think they know more than they do.

(Usually, heavy-handed scenes annoy me.  Fortunately, much like David Fincher with Aaron Sorkin’s script for The Social Network, Sidney Lumet knew the right directorial tone to take when translating Paddy Chayefsky’s script to the screen.  One shudders to think of what Network would have been like with a less skilled director behind the camera.)

Watch this scene the next time you’re wondering what happened to New York.

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Sidney Lumet Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today, we celebrate the anniversary of the birth of director Sidney Lumet, born 102 years ago on this date.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Sidney Lumet Films

Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962, dir by Sidney Lumet, DP: Boris Kaufman)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975, dir by Sidney Lumet, DP: Victor J. Kemper)

Network (1976, dir. Sidney Lumet, DP: Owen Roizman)

The Verdict (1981, dir by Sidney Lumet, DP: Andrzej Bartkowiak)

Music Video of the Day: I Wanna Be With You by Pretty Boy Floyd (1989, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The lead singer of Pretty Boy Floyd wants to be with you, even if it means calling in the middle of a performance.  This video is shot in black-and-white so you know it’s artistic.

Pretty Boy Floyd may not have been the most aggressive of the hair metal bands but they could still probably beat up Winger.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 4.6 “The Dark Side”

Posted on 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 Wednesdays, I will be reviewing 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.

This week, who cares about a concussion?

Episode 4.6 “The Dark Side”

(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on November 9th, 1988)

Going into the half, the Bulls are in danger of losing their first game of the season.  Dodds Company executive Michael Westwood (Paul Tuerpe) has suspended Bubba and Jethro for refusing to sell their bar.  “They draw a criminal element,” Michael said.  “They’re just football players!” TD Parker (OJ Simpson) snaps back.  Because Bubba and Jethro aren’t there to protect him, quarterback Doug Clayton (Scott Geyer) has been sacked and is now playing with a concussion.

During the coach’s locker room talk, Doug suddenly imagines that he’s in a Vietnam war film and that he and the team are soldiers on a mission to rescue Bubba and Jethro from a POW camp.  OJ Simpson dresses up like Rambo and leads the assault.  OJ kills a lot of people in this episode!

His fantasy over, the still dazed Doug heads back out to play the second half, this time with Bubba and Jethro once again blocking for him.

So, to make clear, Doug is playing with a severe concussion.  That’s really the entire plot of this episode.  The Vietnam stuff is occasionally amusing if overly broad.  Bubba and Jethro recreate The Deer Hunter’s Russian Roulette scene.  OJ Simpson still comes across as being oddly mild-mannered, even while firing a machine gun.  That said, it’s hard not to feel that Doug, who gave up a Rhodes scholarship to play professional football, is basically sacrificing his life for one game.

Oh well.  The Bulls win.  That’s the important thing.

Crossing the Line (1990, directed by Gary Graver)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Rick Kagan (Rick Hearst) is a rich kid who has a rebellious attitude and lives to race dirt bikes.  The other dirt bikers don’t like him and, when he tries to join the team sponsored by Steve Sinclair (Vernon Wells), the the other members of the team refuses to race with him.  Rick competes without a team, while falling in love with the pretty Megan (Colleen Poland) and trying to avoid his disapproving father (John Saxon).

It’s hard to know what to make of this sports film.  Rick Kagan is our hero but he’s petulant and spoiled and it’s hard to root for him.  You can understand why other people wouldn’t want to race with him.  I wouldn’t want him on my team.  He takes too many stupid risks and he has absolutely no clue how to be a teammate.  We’re supposed to like him because the members of the opposing team are also jerks but Rick doesn’t come across as being any better.

The only interesting thing about this film is that there are a few familiar faces in the cast.  Saxon is Rick’s father and gives a better performance than the material deserves.  Vernon Wells’s is the sponsor of Rick’s rivals.  Cameron Mitchell is the chief of police who tells Saxon that he needs to be a better father.  This must have been one of Mitchell’s final movies.  He only appears in one scene and he doesn’t look well.  Rick Hearst had the screen presence to be a star but, in this film, he’s stuck with a character who is impossible to root for.

Crossing the Line is set in America but it was filmed in South Africa at a time when many productions were boycotting the country to protest Apartheid.  Director Gary Graver was a protégé of Orson Welles and was one of the many crew members involved in the lengthy shooting of The Other Side of the Wind.  Graver shows a good eye for directing dirt bike races.  It’s just too bad the film is far less interesting once it gets off the track.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat Boat 7.25 and 7.26 “”Dreamboat/Gopher, Isaac & the Starlet/The Parents/The Importance of Being Johnny/Julie and the Producer”

Posted on 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, everyone’s singing!

Episodes 7.25 and 7.26 “Dreamboat/Gopher, Isaac & the Starlet/The Parents/The Importance of Being Johnny/Julie and the Producer”

(Dir by Robert Scheerer, originally aired on May 5th, 1984)

A Hollywood film crew is setting sail on The Love Boat.  They’ll be shooting a movie called Dreamboat and the passengers and the crew will be acting as extras!  Dreamboat is a musical which means that, for the next two hours, everyone on the Pacific Princess is going to be randomly breaking out into song.

From what I’ve seen online, there’s a tendency to dismiss the musical episodes of The Love Boat but I have to admit that I kind of enjoy them.  Our Love Boat crew may not have been the most musically talented group of people but they all seemed to be enjoying the chance to show off and try to hit those high notes.  The songs themselves are nothing special.  It really is more of a community theater production than a Broadway show.  But I like community theater productions.  It’s always nice to see everyone trying their hardest and doing their best.

What’s happening on the ship in between songs?  A lot!

  • Star Faye Marsh (Juliet Prowse), who is insecure about her struggling career, holds up shooting with her demands.  The only time she’s truly happy is when she’s spending time with Doc Bricker, who is a longtime fan.
  • Gopher and Isaac try to get a role in the film.  When they fail to impress director Bennett Barton (Ben Vereen), they then team up to try to help a passenger named Shelley Rush (Melba Moore) get a role.
  • Julie is shocked to discover that the film’s producer, Marty Chenault (Dean Jones), is the brother of her former fiancé.  (Julie’s former fiancé was previously played by Tony Roberts so it was apparently decided to give Dean Jones a perm so that he could look more like Roberts.  It doesn’t really work)  Julie and Marty seem to be falling in love but is it Marty that Julie likes or is she just missing the former lover of her life?
  • Vicki has a crush on singer Johnny Lovett (Jimmy Osmond), who is nervous about making his film debut in Dreamboat.  Johnny sings Spinning Wheel while Vicki snaps her fingers.
  • Captain Stubing falls for Johnny’s mother, Angela (Alexis Smith).

There’s a lot of people to keep track of in this episode but ultimately, the stories don’t matter.  This episode is about singing and dancing and having a good time.  Everyone seems to be having fun.  I felt happy while watching them.

That said, I know what you’re wondering.

On a scale of 0 to 10, Julies scores a perfect ten this week.  When she first sees Marty, her eyes flash with an energy that is generated by more than just love.  This week, Julie never stop smiling and she often seems to be sniffing whenever she’s in the background.

And you know what?  As long as Julie’s happy, I’m happy for her.  This was a very happy episode.

Next week, we reach the end of the seventh season!