Song of the Day: East Bound and Down by Jerry Reed

Posted on March 6, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hey, it’s Hal Needham’s birthday. What other song could we go with?

East bound and down, loaded up and truckin’
A-we gonna do what they say can’t be done
We’ve got a long way to go, and a short time to get there
I’m east bound, just watch ol’ “Bandit” run

Keep your foot hard on the pedal
Son, never mind them brakes
Let it all hang out ’cause we got a run to make
The boys are thirsty in Atlanta
And there’s beer in Texarkana
And we’ll bring it back no matter what it takes

Ol’ Smokey’s got them ears on
He’s hot on your trail
And he aint gonna rest ’til you’re in jail
So you got to dodge ‘im and you got to duck ‘im
You got to keep that diesel truckin’
Just put that hammer down and give it hell

Writer(s): Jerry Hubbard Reed, Dick Feller

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Hal Needham Edition

Posted on March 6, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 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 take a moment to remember the great director and stuntman, Hal Needham. It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Hal Needham Films

Smokey and the Bandit (1977, dir by Hal Needham, DP: Bobby Byrne)

Hooper (1978, dir by Hal Needham, DP: Bobby Byrne)

The Cannonball Run (1981, dir by Hal Needham, DP: Michael Butler)

Rad (1986, dir by Hal Needham, DP: Richard Leiterman)

Retro Television Review: Malibu CA 2.4 “Chasing Stads”

Posted on March 6, 2025 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 Malibu CA, which aired in Syndication in 1998 and 1999. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

Yes, this is from the first season. I don’t care. I refuse to waste my time looking for a second season advertisement.

Bye bye, Stads!

Episode 2.4 “Chasing Stads”

(dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on October 30th, 1999)

After getting fired from her lifeguarding job after she follows Jason’s advice and complains about not getting promotion, Stads proceeds to accidentally burn down her apartment building when she used a faulty hair dryer. We hear a news report that says it’s the worst “apartment building” fire in Malibu history so I’m going to guess that people died.

Stads should be going to jail on a manslaughter charge. Instead, she hops on a plane and goes to Europe for a year. This is the same Stads who, earlier in the show, was saying that she was flat broke. Stads is gone and Jason is sad so he hops on a plane and joins here in Switzerland, where he gets a job working with her in a hotel. I guess Jason’s gone now. Yay!

Oh wait. It turns out that Jason is dreaming of pursuing his musical career and to do that, he needs to return to Malibu because God knows it’s not like there are record companies in Europe. Jason promises he’ll wait for Stads. “I’m going to miss you.” Stads says. Awww!

I, on the other hand, am not going to miss Stads because the show transformed her from being a fairly interesting character — a socially awkward lifeguard who was unlucky in love but totally capable of saving lives — into a fairly annoying killjoy whose main purpose was to roll her eyes and get mad at every single line of dialogue. In the end, Stads represented the fact that the writers of this show had no idea how to write female characters. In the world of Malibu CA, you could be a ditz or a …. well, I gave up cursing for Lent but you know what I’m saying.

Myself, I’m just trying to figure out the logistics of Jason suddenly showing up in Switzerland. How did he pay for the trip? How did he get over there so quickly? Did he give his two-weeks at the restaurant? Did he tell his dad or his brother? Were they cool with him just moving to another country? This episode certainly establishes that no one’s in high school any more so is their father okay with his two sons skipping college despite not really having any of the skills necessary to survive in the real world? Seriously, this episode raised too many questions.

Meanwhile Lisa Jones tried to break Murray of his soap opera addiction. It was pretty dumb. Marquita Terry may have improved an actress since Malibu CA, I don’t know. And let’s be honest …. it’s not like the show was really giving her great material work with. That said, we are four episodes into the second season and her performance on the show is making Trevor Merszei and Jason Hayes look like Oscar winners.

Oy vey, this show.

Happy 78th Birthday, John Kreese (Martin Kove)! In honor of you, I celebrate one of my favorite scenes!

Posted on March 6, 2025 by Bradley Crain

It would be hard to overstate how much I loved THE KARATE KID (1984) when I was growing up. The movie came out when I was 10 years old, and I think it would be fair to say that I wanted to be the karate kid. I was a scrawny little runt, and the whole storyline about getting the better of the big bullies appealed to me. Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita will always be special to me because of their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi. It’s also fair to say that my very first movie crush was Elizabeth Shue. I thought she was so beautiful as “Ali with an I,” and I still do!

It was so easy to hate Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and his band of bullies. The show, COBRA KAI, has finally helped me get over my anger at them. And then there’s Martin Kove as John Kreese, the head of that snake that was cobra kai. He is such an asshole in the movie! When I saw it was his birthday, I had an excuse to share one of my favorite scenes in cinema!

Happy Birthday, Martin Kove! Enjoy, my friends!

Artwork of the Day: Dawn at the Alamo (by Henry McArdle)

Posted on March 6, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

by Henry McArdle

This painting is from 1910 and depicts the battle of the Alamo, which occurred 189 years ago today. It can be seen in the Texas State Capitol’s Senate Chamber.

Music Video of the Day: In Front Of The Alamo by Hal Ketchum (2007, dir by Glenn Sweitzer)

Posted on March 6, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is Alamo Day. It was 189 years ago, today, that 600 men gave their lives in the name of Texas.

This music video is about the Alamo so it seems appropriate for today!

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Monsters 3.11 “Sin-Sop”

Posted on March 5, 2025 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 Monsters, which aired in syndication from 1988 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on YouTube.

This week, Monsters heads down south. No complaints from me. I like it when things head on down.

Episode 3.11 “Sin-Sop”

(Dir by P.J. Pesce, originally aired on December 9th, 1990)

In the deep South, a young man named Brother Roy (Christopher Shaw) claims that he can literally extract the sin from people, turning it into a black sludge that can then be disposed of. Brother Roy has the corpse of the most evil man in the world in his house. Touching the corpse (ew!) allows for the sin to be extracted. (This is why I prefer going to confession.)

Laura Daniel (Christine Dunford) is a reporter who is hopeful that she’ll be able to expose Brother Roy as being a fraud. Larch Lazaar (Richard Borg) is a sociopathic murderer who shows up at Roy’s place shortly after Laura. Laura and Lazaar are both skeptics but they’re also both about to discover the reality of sin-sop.

This was an atmospheric episode with an intriguing premise. I’m from the South and I’ve heard the stories of the so-called sin eaters, people who would go to the homes of the recently deceased and “eat” all of the dead person’s sins, usually by eating food that had been placed near the corpse. The deceased’s family would get the peace of mind of knowing their loved one was now without sin and the sin-eater usually got to eat a fairly large meal. (That said, I don’t know if I’d want to eat food that had been sitting next to or, in some cases, on a decaying corpse.) This episode makes good use of the sin eater legend and it features appropriately theatrical performances from Richard Borg and Christopher Shaw. This was an entertaining piece of Southern Gothic.

Rest In Peace, Peter Engel

Posted on March 5, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I just read the news that Peter Engel passed away yesterday. My Retro Television reviews started with four Engel-produced shows, California Dreams, One World, Hang Time, and City Guys. Right now, I’m reviewing one of his later shows, Malibu CA. I would be lying if I said all of those reviews have been positive. I loved California Dreams and Hang Time won me over but the only good thing about Malibu CA is that it’s not Pacific Blue.

But here’s the thing. Peter Engel, regardless of what I may think of some of his later shows. made pop cultural history with Saved By The Bell. When I was a kid, you couldn’t turn on a TV without finding Saved By The Bell reruns playing somewhere. (Myself, I only wish Saved By The Bell: The New Class was as easy to find.) Today, Saved By The Bell has faded a bit from our collective memory, a relic from the childhoods of many elder millennials and their Gen-X siblings. That reboot on Peacock was never quite as good as I used to tell myself it was. But the original show can still be found on Prime, just as California Dreams and Hang Time can be found on YouTube. The Engelverse will live forever.

Peter Engel, RIP.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 5.19 “New York, A.C./Live It Up/All’s Fair in Love and War”

Posted on March 5, 2025 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!

Come aboard, we’re expecting you!

Episode 5.19 “New York, A.C./Live It Up/All’s Fair in Love and War”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on February 20th, 1982)

Poor Captain Stubing! He’s just returned from burying an old friend named George and now, he’s thinking about his own mortality. When he starts to feel unwell, Stubing goes to Dr. Bricker who tells Stubing that his problems are not physical. The problem is that …. STUBING’S DEPRESSED! Stubing decides to live each day to the fullest and good for him. This was a simple storyline but I liked it. I always appreciate the episodes that allow Stubing to be vulnerable without turning him into a hard-luck doofus. In this episode, Stubing was dealing with something that almost everyone has either had to or will deal with at some point in their life. It was also nice to see Doc Bricker giving good advice for once. Bernie Kopell is so likable in the role that I always appreciate it when he gets to play Doc as being something other than a lech.

As for the other two stories …. agck!

Three New York friends (played by former teen idols Eddie Byrnes, Fabian, and Bobby Sherman) have boarded the cruise. They are members of the Alimony Club. They’re all divorced and they’ve all sworn that they’ll keep each other from marrying again. They are a club that believes all marriages are doomed to failure. But when Sherman’s ex-wife, Annette Funicello, boards the boat, it looks like the Alimony Club might lose a member. And listen, I know that guys have their little rituals and their little clubs and that’s okay. But the Alimony Club just feels weird. It should be called the Misery Club because they seem to be more interested in keeping Bobby Sherman depressed than anything else. I always find it odd when previously divorced couples get back together on The Love Boat. I mean, did they forget why they got divorced in the first place?

Meanwhile, Jill St. John and Ron Ely have been having an affair for four years. Every 12 months, they get together for a romantic getaway. Ron says he can’t marry Jill because he’s married and has children back home. (*cough* jerk *cough*) Jill, who really could do better, insists that Ron leave his wife. She even has her brother board the cruise and flirt with her (*cough* Oh my Gosh, creepy! *cough*) to make Ron jealous. Ron gets jealous, alright. He beats up Jill’s brother and then reveals that he was lying about having a wife. He’s not married …. he’s scared of commitment! And now he’s ready to get married! Uhmmm …. like seriously, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!? (I gave up cursing for Lent.) Jill — you were a BOND GIRL! You were TIFFANY FREAKING CASE! YOU CAN DO BETTER!

Oy vey, this episode.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Pier Paolo Pasolini Edition

Posted on March 5, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

103 years ago, on this date, Pier Paolo Pasolini was born in Italy. His controversial films and his mysterious death continue to inspire debate to this very day. Both the man and his works were full of intriguing contradictions. Pasolini was an atheist who made one of the best Biblical films ever made. He was a communist who made films that celebrated individual freedom and who had little use for the upper class liberals who made up much of the European counterculture of the 1960s. In the end, he was an artist unafraid to challenge all assumptions, whether they were found on the right or the left. His final film, Salo, was the most controversial of his career. It was also projected to be the first part of a trilogy, though those plans were ended by Pasolini’s murder.

It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Pier Paolo Pasolini Films