Retro Television Review: Baywatch 1.21 “The End?”

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 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, we finish off the first season of Baywatch.

Episode 1.21 “The End?”

(Dir by Reza Badiyi, originally aired on April 6th, 1990)

This the end, my only friend, the end….

Earthquake!  The ground shakes in Los Angeles and the result is pure chaos.  While Mitch oversees the rescue operations, Shauni tries to get over her fear of natural disasters, Eddie helps a pregnant woman deliver twins in his lifeguard tower, Gina finds herself pinned under a shelf at the loft, and Craig and Cort are trapped in an underwater cave.  Have none of these people noticed that hanging out with Cort always leads to stuff like this happening?

We see a news report that says that five people died in the earthquake.  Fortunately, none of those people were a character on Baywatch.  (Though, now that I think about it, when was the last time anyone saw Trevor?)  The LAPD dive team saves Cort and Craig.  Hobie helps Gina get out from underneath that shelf.  Eddie and Shauni work together to help deliver those twins and then, as the sun sets behind them, Eddie asks, “Will you marry me?”  Shauni nods as the theme music starts up….

Was this the end?  It was meant to be.  After a season of declining ratings and raising production costs, NBC decided to cancel Baywatch.  I guess the executives figured that, if even a shark attack failed to get people to watch, it was best just to move on.  Baywatch decided to go out with an episode about an earthquake because it was a California show and California is all about the ground moving under your feet.  It actually turned out to be one of the better episodes of the first season, specifically because it focused on lifeguards and other first responders doing their job.  There were no silly plots about gamblers or Mitch’s love life or anything else.  This was Baywatch the way it probably should have been.  But it was too late to keep the show alive on network television.

That said, the Hoff believed in Baywatch and, working with the show’s producers, he brought it back in syndication.  This episode was the end of Baywatch on NBC but it was just the beginning of the show that would go on to epitomize a decade.

We’ll start season 2 next week.

Brad takes on THE MOB (1951), starring Broderick Crawford!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

In my quest to see every movie and TV show that Charles Bronson ever appeared in, I finally decided to take on THE MOB this morning. I’ve held off for years because this early, uncredited role as a dockworker only gives Bronson a couple of lines. He looks like a natural fixture on the docks, but his screen time only adds up to a minute or two in total.

With Bronson being little more than some temporary dockside scenery, I settled in for a story about Johnny Damico (Broderick Crawford), a tough, no-nonsense cop who’s doing some rainy night ring-shopping for his girlfriend when a man is killed just outside the store. He bungles up the whole situation, and the killer gets away. It turns out the killing was a mob hit and soon Damico is going undercover as Tim Flynn from New Orleans so he can infiltrate and bust the organized crime ring operating on the waterfront. 

Broderick Crawford is so good in this role. His Damico / Flynn has a cynical sense of humor that I enjoyed. He thinks fast, he’s rough around the edges, and he even gets to slap some bad guys around a time or two. He’s one of those characters whose mouth should probably get him in more trouble. Well, now that I think about it, his mouth does almost get him killed a couple of times. Crawford and Bronson would work again together a few years later in the prison film BIG HOUSE USA (1955). 

With Crawford’s performance anchoring the movie, Director Robert Parrish delivers a tight, efficient and entertaining crime story that clocks in at just under an hour and a half. One of the things that made the film enjoyable for me is the interesting and recognizable supporting cast of actors who pop up throughout the film. I’ve already mentioned Bronson, but actors like Ernest Borgnine, Neville Brand and Frank DeKova all show up to torment our undercover cop at various points throughout the film. It’s always fun for me to see a cast full of familiar faces! 

At the end of the day, I enjoyed THE MOB. It doesn’t try to be anything more than a good crime film, and with Broderick Crawford’s excellent performance, it does its job well. 

Live Tweet Alert: Watch Carrie With #ScarySocial!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, for #ScarySocial, I will be hosting 1976s Carrie!

If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag!  The film is available on Prime!  I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy!

 

Scenes That I Love: Al Pacino In The Godfather

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since today is Al Pacino’s birthday, it only seems right to share a classic scene from The Godfather.

In the scene below, which is perfectly directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Michael proves that he truly is a Corleone.  Am I the only one who yelled, “Don’t forget to drop the gun!,” the first time that I saw this scene?

6 Shots From 6 Films: Special Al Pacino Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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

It’s Al Pacino’s birthday!

In others words, it’s time for….

6 Shots From 6 Al Pacino Films

The Godfather (1972, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)

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

Scarface (1983, dir by Brian DePalma, DP: John A. Alonzo)

Heat (1995, dir by Michael Mann, DP: Dante Spinotti)

The Devil’s Advocate (1997, dir by Taylor Hackford, DP: Andrzej Bartkowiak)

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019, dir by Quentin Tarantino, DP: Robert Richardson)

 

 

Music Video of the Day: Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter by Iron Maiden (1990, directed by Steve Harris)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

With songs with titles like Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter, who would have guessed parents would have gotten the wrong idea about Iron Maiden?  That really is the appeal of the band, though.  Underneath the occult imagery and controversial song titles, they really were just a bunch of hard-working English blokes who played well together.

This video features scenes from the horror film, Horror Hotel.  This video was directed by founding member, Steve Harris.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 2.10 “Do You Know Where Your Kids Are?”

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 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, we get a sequel to a previous episode.

Episode 2.10 “Do You Know Where Your Kids Are?”

(Dir by Bill Froehlich, originally aired on December 10th, 1989)

In this sequel to Bloodlines, an episode that I didn’t particularly care for, Patty Burton (Courtney Gebhart) is still locked up in the basement of the Burton home.  When college student Lisa Wax (Suzanne Tara) comes over to babysit little Will Burton (Christopher Finefrok), she is not happy to learn that there is apparently a crazy woman in the basement. Lisa keeps falling asleep and having nightmares about being dragged into the basement.  Then, she actually is dragged into the basement and Patty, who now looks like Lisa, escapes. By an amazing coincidence, Patty ends up at Lisa’s house, where Lisa’s mom (Sharon Farrell) assumes that Patty is Lisa.  When the real Lisa manages to escape from the basement, she shows up at home and is shot and killed by her own mother.  Patty then returns to her home and exiles her parents (Chris Nash and Jeannine Lewis) to the basement.  The episode ends with Patty approaching Will.

Yikes!

This was a dark episode.  I wouldn’t necessarily say it was scary.  The scenes where Lisa (hey, that’s my name!) hears Patty in the basement are so overdone that they inspired more laughter than chills.  But the idea of someone stealing your identity and then getting your own mother to shoot you because she doesn’t recognize you?  That’s definitely creepy!

As for the ending …. I never liked the Burtons.  I didn’t like them in Bloodlines and I didn’t like them here.  I feel bad for Will but the parents?  They got what they deserved.

Cadence (1990, directed by Martin Sheen)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In the 1960s, druken Pvt. Franklin Fairchild Bean (Charlie Sheen) punches an MP in West Germany.  The rebellious Bean is hoping he’ll be discharged from the Army.  Instead, he’s sent to the stockade for 90 days.  The stockade is run by an alcoholic tyrant named Sgt. Otis McKinney (Martin Sheen) and, shortly after arrival, Bean discovers that he’s the only white prisoner.  With McKinney determined to break him, Bean befriends his fellow prisoners, including Roosevelt Stokes (Laurence Fishburne), and the two white corporals (James Marshall and Ramon Estevez) who try to protect the prisoners from McKinney’s erratic behavior.

Cadence is the only film to have been directed by Martin Sheen.  Considering that it co-stars two of his sons, it’s unfortunate that Cadence isn’t a better movie.  Charlie Sheen gives a one-note performance as Franklin Bean but he still does better than his father, who is such a raging monster as Sgt. McKinney that it’s difficult to take him or the movie seriously.  As a director, Martin Sheen always goes for the most ham-fisted shot and it’s hard to see what he’s really trying to say about the Army or Franklin Bean’s rebellion.

The supporting cast is better, especially James Marshall and Ramon Estevez.  Laurence Fishburne brings his trademark gravitas to the role of Stokes.  The other prisoners are played by Michael Beach, Blu Mankuma, John Toles-Bey, and Harry Stewart and they all make a good impression.  Stewart plays the most saintly and innocent of the prisoners.  Guess what happens to him.

Back in the day, this movie was an HBO mainstay.  Somehow, I always seemed to catch the end of it but never the beginning.