Late Night Retro Television Review: Check it Out! 3.12 “Howard Hemingway”

Posted on April 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 Saturdays, I will be reviewing the Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and Peacock!

This week’s episode makes even less sense than usual.

Episode 3.12 “Howard Hemingway”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on November 22nd, 1987)

Weird episode.

Howard Bannister notices how many of the store’s customers are also buying trashy romance paperbacks. He also notices how much Marlene and Edna enjoy reading them. Howard decides that he should write a book of his own and become a millionaire!

(Heh heh …. go tell any working writer about the idea of becoming a millionaire off of one book and see how they react.)

Howard struggles. He sits in his office and tries to write a book about a safari. Because this episode aired in the 80s, he uses a typewriter. Because I’ve worked as an administrative assistant, I immediately noticed that Howard was a terrible typist. Soon, the floor of his office is covered in crumpled papers. He just can’t find the right hook for his story. Edna points out that he’s never been on safari. All Howard knows about is running a grocery store.

And so Passion Aisle is born!

Howard writes a book based on Cobb’s and the people that he works with. Since he only appears to work with five other people, I’m a little bit surprised that the book appeared to be as long as it was. Somehow, Howard is able to talk a publisher into publishing his book. Howard doesn’t even have an agent so I’m curious how he pulled that off but anyway….

No one wants to buy the book! Howard finally ends up giving copies away at the store. Some of the customers read it and immediately figure out that the trampy cashier “Arlene” is based on Marlene. The employees at Cobb’s decide that, since the book is based on them, they deserve some of the money that Howard is making off of it. Howard agrees even though there’s absolutely no reason for Howard to have done so. Howard wrote the thing. The employees really didn’t do anything. Still, they get a 50/50 split….

Seriously, I don’t want to overanalyze this but it really bothers me that Howard finally managed to accomplish something on his own and his employees, rather than accepting that, immediately demanded that they be rewarded for his hard work. Just because you inspired someone to write a book or paint of picture or do anything else doesn’t mean that your entitled to financial compensation. Not even Canada has gone that communist yet. Howard should have stood his ground.

But, he didn’t. Everyone got a little bit of money and I assume that Howard is never going to write another book. That’s kind of sad. Howard’s been looking for an escape from Cobb’s since the show began. He finally got one and was immediately punished for his initiative. Poor Howard!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 3.11 “The Naked Truth”

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Marlene gets an opportunity!

Episode 3.11 “The Naked Truth”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on November 21st, 1987)

Women Of The World magazine wants to do a story on Marlene’s life as a cashier. All of her coworkers try to worm their way into the interview but Marlene succeeds in kicking them all out of the breakroom. The reporter from the magazine informs Marlene that her life story is fascinating and now they’ll just need to take some naked pictures to go along with it.

Howard is stunned when Marlene says she’s going to pose nude. Marlene points out that Howard keeps adult magazines in his desk drawer. Howard denies it before then opening up his desk drawer and checking them out. Howard fears that Marlene is going to make Cobb’s look bad. Marlene, in the end, chooses not to get the pictures done because she doesn’t want her future daughter to be ashamed of her. Personally, I would have preferred for Marlene to have said, “It’s my decision and I’ll make sure my daughter understands that she has to do what’s right for her instead of worrying about what everyone else says,” but whatever. It’s just a silly sitcom.

Meanwhile, Viker’s wife is pregnant! Awwww, Viker! Gordon Clapp got to a do and say a lot in this episode, which I enjoyed. Viker is one of the more consistently funny characters on this show. Gordon Clapp played Viker’s stupidity with such an earnest sincerity that you just want someone to hug the guy.

This was not a bad episode. Gordon Clapp and Kathleen Laskey were often this show’s strongest assets and this episode featured both of them. Laskey did a great job portraying Marlene’s dilemma while Clapp made me laugh at even the silliest of jokes. Nope, not a bad episode at all, even if I do think Marlene should have just told everyone that it was none of their business what she chose to do.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 3.10 “Shrink from Sendrax”

Posted on March 15, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, corporate sends a visitor to Cobb’s for reasons that are never exactly clear.

Episode 3.10 “Shrink From Sendrax”

(Dir by Jayne Schipper, originally aired on November 15th, 1987)

I’m just going to do a mini-review of this episode because I’m busy working on our big St. Patrick’s Day extravaganza here at the Shattered Lens!

Remember that new company that bought out Cobb’s? It can be easy to forget about them. Well, in this episode, they send a psychiatrist named Dr. Matthews (Graham Harley) to check on everyone’s mental health. Why would they do that? I mean, is Cobb’s grocery store really that important to them? It seems like a lot of money to spend on checking whether or not the cashiers are feeling good about themselves.
Admittedly, I haven’t had that many jobs and I’ve never worked in a grocery store. If you told me that I had no choice but to sit down and talk about my life with a psychiatrist as a condition of my employment, I would probably quit. It’s not that I have anything against psychiatrists. It’s just that I believe therapy should always be voluntary.
The episode’s highlight was Leslie wanting to spend hours talking to the psychiatrist about the party that was thrown when he turned two years old. Aaron Schwartz, who is often underused on this show, really got a chance to show off his comedic skills in this episode.
Gordon Clapp’s Viker also got a few good scenes. In general, any episode that features Clapp is, at the very least, going to make me smile.
Howard freaks out over the psychiatrist and the questionnaire that he’s forced to fill out. He gets some advice from 14 year-old stockboy Brad, played by T and T‘s Sean Roberge. This is Brad’s third appearance on the show and I get the feeling that he was originally meant to be a major character but the show’s writers couldn’t figure out what to do with the character.
This third season has had a lot of weird detours and characters. We haven’t heard anything else about Howard’s brother. The corporate liaison, TC Collingwood (Elizabeth Hanna), is occasionally pictured in the opening credits and occasionally not. What happened to the stockboy who had a crush on Marlene?
Anyway, to prove that he’s not crazy, Howard dresses up like a clown because he knows that only way to prove he’s not crazy is to act crazy while realizing that he’s acting crazy or something.
Marlene and Christian, the two most consistently interesting characters on the show, were not in this episode and that kind of made the whole psychiatry angle feel useless. The idea of Marlene and Christian reacting to ink blots is such a good one that I personally would have delayed production on this episode until Kathleen Laskey and Jeff Pustil were available to appear in it.

Gordon Clapp and Aaron Schwartz were great but, overall, this was pretty dumb episode.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 3.9 “Bannister & Dale”

Posted on March 8, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I guess Howard’s a TV star now.

Episode 3.9 “Bannister & Dale”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on November 14th, 1987)

Mr. Dale (Paul Soles) is an old vaudevillian who now shops at Cobb’s. He doesn’t have enough money to pay his rent so Howard gives him a job working at the store. He doesn’t have enough money to keep his retirement home running so Howard gets Mr. Dale booked on a television show. Mr. Dale’s old partner died in 1952 so Howard agrees to step in and….

Wait. Howard’s a talent agent now?

Seriously, how does a grocery store manager have the connections necessary to get an obscure vaudevillian booked on a national talk show? I mean, I get that they’re all up in Canadas and it’s a simpler place but still, it just seems like a stretch. And really, how popular was vaudeville in the 80s? I always see all of these old TV shows, where the characters are doing a fundraiser or something and they recreate a vaudeville act or they put on clown makeup and sing Bring In The Clowns but it never feels very realistic.

Anyway, most of the show is made up of Howard and Mr. Dale recreating Mr. Dale’s old vaudeville routines and it’s all pretty dumb. But I will say that it was a lot easier for me buy Don Adams as an old man who remembered and loved vaudeville than as the swinging 40-something store manager that the show usually presents him as being. Still, it’s a bit strange to imagine a national talk show setting aside time for an act featuring an old vaudevillian and a grocery store manager. I guess that’s Canada for you.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 2/16/25 — 2/22/25

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yeah, I’m running late with this. That seems to be the theme of my life this weekend but no matter! Here it is, my week in television.

American Murder: Gabby Petito (Netflix)

Netflix’s Gabby Petito documentary didn’t necessarily tell me anything that I didn’t already know about that tragic and awful case. Indeed, I kind of found myself getting angry at the documentary as I watched the endless footage of Gabby because it reminded me that Gabby Petito — and every other crime victim — deserved more than to be the latest subject of America’s fascinating with the morbid and the sordid. (Of course, it’s hypocritical of me to judge as I was the one watching the documentary.) But, in the end, I did feel that the documentary made an important point. There were so many red flags about Brian Laundrie but no one wanted to admit it, not the cops and not Gabby’s friends. Gabby was failed by so many people.

Up until I saw this documentary, I was not convinced that Brian’s family really knew the full extent of his crimes. Now, I’m convinced that they not only knew but tried to help him cover them up. It’s infuriating.

Check it Out! (Tubi)

I reviewed Check It Out! here. I’ll soon be finished with this show and I have to admit that I’m kind of proud of being the only person to have actually sat down and reviewed every single episode.

CHiPs (Prime)

I reviewed CHiPs here!

Dark (Netflix)

Case and I have now started the third and final season of this creepy German show. It’s all about time travel, black holes, and people having nonstop sex without any emotional connection. The architecture is brutalist, the cinematography is dark, and everyone seems to be fairly depressed. It’s very German and very intriguing.

Fantasy Island (DVR)

I reviewed Fantasy Island here!

Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)

I wrote about Friday the 13th here!

Highway to Heaven (Tubi)

I reviewed Highway to Heaven here!

Kitchen Nightmares (Tuesday Evening, Fox)

Chef Ramsay was back in New Orleans, helping out another surprisingly ugly restaurant. Seriously, how can a restaurant succeed when it looks like a trailer? Again, a former football player was brought in to provide emotional encouragement. I will undoubtedly find myself in New Orleans in the future but I’ll probably never eat there.

The Love Boat (Paramount+)

I reviewed The Love Boat here!

Malibu CA (YouTube)

I reviewed Malibu CA here!

Miami Vice (Prime)

I reviewed Miami Vice here!

Monsters (YouTube)

I reviewed Monsters here!

Pacific Blue (Tubi)

I reviewed this stupid, stupid show here!

Scamanada (Hulu)

I finished up Scamanda this week, watching the final two episodes. For all the build-up, the finale was a bit disappointing. Amanda was arrested and convicted and then, for 30 minutes, we listened to a bunch of podcast hosts talk about how they came across the story and went viral with it. I love true crime documentaries but true crime podcast hosts are always so annoying and self-important.

St. Elsewhere (Hulu)

I wrote about St. Elsewhere here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Prime)

I’m nearly done with this show, thank God. I reviewed the latest episode here!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 3.5 “Not For Commercial Use”

Posted on January 25, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the news comes to Cobb’s!

Episode 3.5 “Not For Commercial Use”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on October 18th, 1987)

The local news station is coming down to Cobb’s to do a story on how things have changed at the store now that the company is under new management.

Really?

Is it just a super slow news day or something? The insinuation is that it’s actually going to be a 30-minute news special, all about an obscure grocery store in the suburbs of Ontario. (In this episode, Check It Out! finally admits that the show is taking place in Canada.) I mean, even if it is a slow news day, I just can’t imagine that a thirty-minute story about Cobb’s would be a huge ratings grabber.

Howard is excited about the idea of being on television. He calls his Aunt Lil and promises to tug on his ear so that she’ll know that he’s thinking of her. Howard imagines himself as a TV star. There’s Howard hosting a talk show! There’s Howard as a tough detective. It’s all kind of silly but, in its way, kind of cute. Howard is a lot more likable this season than he was during the previous two seasons. And Don Adams, who can sometimes seem a bit indifferent when it comes to playing Howard, actually gave a lively performance in this episode.

TC Collingwood (Elizabeth Hanna), who I guess is supposed to be the liaison between the store and the corporate offices, does not want Howard to appear on TV. She feels that Howard is a bit too …. I guess “dorky” would be the right term to use here. She thinks that Howard is going to embarrass the store with his bad jokes and his Bogart impersonation. TC would rather focus on employees like Leslie, who now wears a chef’s hat and who has apparently transferred from working as a cashier to working in the deli.

(One thing that I’ve noticed is that, during season 3, the show finally hired enough extras to make the store seem like a real place. There are now employees and shoppers all over the place. Marlene is no longer the only cashier and Leslie appears to have a good crew working with him at the deli)

As for Howard, he does manage to get on television. He simply cannot be stopped! He wanders in front of the camera. He tells bad jokes. He does even worse impersonations. TC ends up locking him in a meat locker but it turns out that the CEO of the company really enjoyed Howard and his antics. Good for Howard, I guess.

This episode continued this season’s pattern of being far better than the two that came before it. For once, every member of the cast was allowed a chance to shine. This episode was worth watching for Viker’s attempt to tell a knock knock joke alone. Check It Out! was a deeply silly show but at least in the third season it’s finally got consistently funny.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out 3.1 “The Umpire Strikes Out”

Posted on December 14, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, we begin the third and final season of Check It Out!

Episode 3.1 “The Umpire Strikes Out”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on October 4th, 1987)

Marlene is nervous because her father, Charlie (Michael Donaghue), is coming to visit. Charlie is professional baseball umpire and Marlene has always had a strained relationship with him. She feels that Charlie always wanted a son and that he resented her for not being into sports. After Edna allows Marlene to use her apartment to throw a small party for Charlie, Marlene suddenly starts dressing conservatively and her childhood stutter returns. She also stops dying her hair.

Agck! Poor Marlene! I could very much relate to her in this episode, largely because I had a pretty bad stutter up until I was 12 and sometimes it still kicks in if I haven’t gotten enough rest. Fortunately, Charlie does eventually realize that he was always too hard on Marlene and they agree to work on their relationship. Yay!

Meanwhile, Leslie’s feeling insecure about his age so he tries to wear a wig. It’s not a very good wig. It’s a pretty simple and obvious joke but Aaron Schwartz did a really good job selling it. Both Aaron Schwartz and Kathleen Laskey were capable of getting laughs out of the mildest of jokes and they both got a chance to show off their abilities in this episode.

This was the first episode of Check It Out!‘s third season and, from the start, it is obvious that some changes were made after the end of the previous season. Simon Reynolds is no longer in the cast, which is a shame because Reynolds was a good actor but it’s also somewhat realistic as Reynolds was playing a high school kid who, presumably, moved on to better things (like college). Whereas Howard always wore a suit during the second season, his work attire is now a dorky smock that is labeled “Howie, Store Manager.” Howard’s office now overlooks the salesfloor and, in this episode, there were enough extras in the background to convince me that Cobb’s was an actual grocery store as opposed to just a soundstage. I don’t know if this is going to be a permanent change or not but Howard was a bit less silly and more of a manager in this episode. It felt like a change for the better.

Believe it or not, this was actually a pretty good episode. Especially when compared to some season 2’s lesser episodes, the third season premiere was consistently funny and well-acted and the story actually made sense. Is this a fluke or did Check It Out! finally get itself together during the final season?

We’ll find out in 2025! Due to the holidays, this is my final Check It Out! review for 2024. These reviews will return on January 4th.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 2.22 “Put Your Best Face Forward”

Posted on December 7, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, season two of this show finally comes to an end.

Episode 2.22 “Put Your Best Face Forward”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on March 22nd, 1987)

The second season of Check It Out! ends by revealing a little bit more about the origin story of Howard Bannister.

Howard’s stint at hotel management school has been mentioned several times throughout the series. In this episode, he is upset because his reunion is coming up and he’s the only members of his graduating class to have not made a success of himself. One of his classmates owns several motels. Another manages a popular bed and breakfast. Lester Pinkus (Alan Jordan) has had the most success of all. He is the manager of a 5-star luxury hotel. Meanwhile, Howard is just the manager of a small grocery store in Canada.

Howard explains to Edna that he was always at the top of his class but somehow, he flunked the final exam. Lester, who was previously always at the bottom of the class, got the highest score on his final and received a great job right out of school. With the reunion coming up, Howard is feeling inadequate. When he sees that Lester still looks young and happy, Howard decides to take Lester’s advice and get a facelift.

Or, at least, that’s Howard’s plan until he actually meets the doctor (Jack Northmore) and learns what a facelift entails. The doctor explains he’ll be peeling back Howard’s entire face and then breaking his nose. Agck! Howard faints and goes to his reunion with a black eye.

(For the record, there was a time when I was determined to get a nose job but then I considered that I had inherited my nose from my mom and it would be disrespectful to do anything to it. Big Nose Crew forever!)

At the reunion, Lester accepts an award for all of his success. He then announces that he doesn’t feel like he can accept the award because he cheated on the final. He stole Howard’s exam paper, put his name on it, and turned it in as his own. As such, Howard was actually the one who got the best score on the exam while Lester was the one who should have flunked. Lester says that he’s happy now because he’s rich, successful, and has a newly cleared conscience.

I have to admit that made me laugh. Howard’s life sucks and it’s all because of Lester. Lester’s girlfriend throws champagne in his face and then leaves him. Howard thanks Lester’s girlfriend so Edna throws champagne in Howard’s face and season two comes to an end.

What a strange show. Edna learns why Howard is so miserable and instead of offering him any sympathy over the fact that he’s doomed to spend the rest of his life as a grocery store manager, she throws champagne at him and accuses him of cheating. Howard can’t win but that’s okay because Howard really isn’t that likable of a character.

Season two was …. well, yes, it was inconsistent and frequently downright bad. But the show occasionally showed some sparks of life, usually when the focus was on the supporting cast. Jeff Pustil, Kathleen Laskey, Aaron Schwartz, and especially Gordon Clapp were able to generate some laughs, even from the weakest of material. The season season suffered because Howard’s personality seemed to change from episode-to-episode. It’s hard to root for a guy who doesn’t behave in a consistent manner.

Will the third and final season be an improvement? We’ll start finding out next week!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/24/24 — 11/30/24

Posted on November 30, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Spending this Thanksgiving week with my sisters, I didn’t watch a lot of television. I did watch and review episodes of Homicide, Degrassi High, Miami Vice, CHiPs, Fantasy Island, Baywatch Nights, The Love Boat, and Monsters.

And, earlier today, I watched episodes of CHiPs, Degrassi High, Baywatch Nights, Monsters, Malibu CA, Check It Out, and Friday the 13th: The Series and I wrote up reviews that will post over the course of the upcoming week. It’s always nice to have a head start on all of that.

On Tuesday, Erin and I watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Charlie Brown really was way too nice about Peppermint Patty inviting herself over to his house and then getting upset over being served popcorn. Myself, I love the fact that Snoopy had a fully cooked turkey that he basically hid from everyone else until it was just him and Woodstock at the house.

On Wednesday, I watched the latest episode of Hell’s Kitchen. I was not surprised to see Lulu eliminated. I hope Brandon wins this season.

I watched bits of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and also the four football games that were played on Thursday. My cousins were really into the football games. I said I thought it would be nice if everyone could win and I got booed and accused of being a commie. As for the parade, it just made me wish that I was in New York to see it in person. Maybe next year!

On Friday, I watched episodes of two old 90s shows — Rollergames and Happy Hour. They were both enjoyably dumb.

And that’s it for this week!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 2.21 “Here Comes The Bride”

Posted on November 23, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Christian gets married!

Episode 2.21 “Here Comes The Bride”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on March 15th, 1987)

Jack Christian (marvelously played by Jeff Pustil) is getting married!

He’s known the girl (Barbara Radecki) for twenty minutes and he’s not totally sure what her name is. (It’s turns out to be Gilga.) Gilga is the niece of Jan (Barry Baidero), the store’s never-bef0re-seen butcher. When Jack first meets Gilga, she’s crying. Her visa has expired. The only way that she’s going to avoid being sent back to her home country Baclavia is if she manages to get a Canadian green card. One quick way to do that is to get married. Jan offers to pay Christian to marry Gilga and then divorce her after she gets her green card. Christian agrees.

However, there’s a problem.

Christian is actually falling in love with Gilga but he doesn’t know how he can convince Gilga that his love is real. Howard tells him that the only way to do it would be to give back the money. That sounds simple enough but Christian really likes money. Plus, he needs a new car….

(Maybe he could just stay married to Gilga and so charm Jan that Jan would buy him a new car just to welcome him to the family. The possibility of anyone sincerely liking Christian is never really considered, which is kind of sad.)

This episode was fairly dumb but it was more enjoyable than the usual Check It Out! offering, if just because it focused on one of the show’s few consistently funny characters. Since the first season, Jeff Pustil has been one of the stronger members of the cast, playing Christian as being such an unapologetic sleaze that it’s impossible not to like him. No one should ever trust Jack Christian but he still comes across like he would be fun to catch a movie with. Unfortunately, up until this episode, the show rarely took advantage of Pustil’s strong work as Christian. This episode finally gives Pustil the spotlight and he manages to wring quite a few laughs out of so-so material. Much like Gordon Clapp and Kathleen Laskey (who played Marlene and married Pustil after the show ended), Jeff Pustil brought enough odd quirkiness to his role that he often transcended the show’s scripts.

Along with giving Jeff Pustil a chance to show off, this episode also featured several never-bef0re-seen employees of Cobb’s. They show up for Christian’s bachelor party and the wedding, both of which take place at the store for some reason. I’ve often wondered how a major supermarket managed to survive with only two cashiers and one bagger. (It often seemed strange that Howard had a secretary but apparently not a janitor.) This episode revealed that a lot of people worked at Cobb’s, the viewer apparently just never noticed them before.

This was a rare good episode. Next week, we conclude season two!