Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 2.6 “The Bear Facts”

Posted on May 11, 2024 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!

This week, Howard helps Murray master the bush.

Episode 2.6 “The Bear Facts”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on November 7th, 1986)

Murray, the teenage stockboy played by Simon Reynolds, has a problem.

He’s in the Scouts. He promised his father that he would not leave the Scouts until he earned all of the badges. He only has one badge left …. the *snicker* Bushmaster Badge. In order to get *cough* Bushmaster Badge, he has to go camping with his father. However, Murray’s father is in the Merchant Marine and is far from home. Hey — maybe Howard could go camping with Murray and help him become a *chortle* Bushmaster!

Since Howard is actually being a nice guy in this episode, he agrees. (As I’ve mentioned many times in the past, this show is incredibly inconsistent when it comes to how Howard is portrayed. Sometimes, he’s a saint. Sometimes, he’s the boss from Hell.) Howard even puts on a scout uniform. While camping, Murray talks about how his parents split up 12 years ago but that he still hopes that they’ll get back together. (Awwww!) Howard admits that he has never asked Edna to marry him because he worries that it would end in divorce. Howard and Murray bond and you know what? It’s actually kind of sweet. Simon Reynolds is actually rather touching as the naive Murray while Don Adams, in the role of Howard, actually stops yelling long enough for us to see that Howard is a sensitive guy underneath all the bluster….

Of course, then a bear shows up and eats Murray.

Or maybe not. Howard sees the bear and he runs away, just to later realize that Murray didn’t run away with him. Howard assumes that Murray has been eaten. Instead of calling the police or Murray’s mother, Howard goes back to the store and tells Edna, Christian, and Leslie about what happened. No one seems to be that upset about Murray being devoured and that’s kind of sad.

Suddenly, Murray’s scoutmaster (Diane Douglass) shows up and says that she personally wants to give Murray his *ahem* Bushmaster Badge. Howard explains that Murray was possibly eaten by a bear. The scoutmaster is about to form a search party when suddenly, Murray shows up. It turns out he wasn’t eaten after all. The bear was really nice and Murray was not only able to escape but also make it through the untrimmed wilderness on his own. Everyone agrees that Murray has truly proven himself to be a master of the bush. Murray gets his final badge and, as a result, he can finally stop wearing his uniform. Yay!

This was a weird episode. It started out as very sincere and heartfelt and then it suddenly devolved into a bunch of jokes about a lonely teenage boy being eaten by a bear. I have to admit that I kind of dug this episode, precisely because it was so odd. The best episodes of Check It Out! are usually the ones where the show gets unapologetically weird and this one did just that.

Hopefully, next week will be even stranger.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 2.4 “Operation Bannister”

Posted on April 27, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Howard has an operation …. maybe.

Episode 2.4 “Operation Bannister”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on October 24th, 1986)

A foolish attempt to impress a blonde customer by lifting and carrying a crate full of bottles lands Howard in the hospital. He’s scheduled to have a hernia operation. It should be a simple procedure but there’s a problem. Howard’s a wimp.

Seriously, Howard spends this entire episode in a state of panic. First, he has to deal with an ER doctor who is — *gasp* — a woman! Then he discovers that the doctor who will be operating on him is barely out of medical school and looks like he’s about 16 years of age. Then, he discovers that his roommate at the hospital is full of horror stories. I guess it’s a good thing that Howard knows how to escape from hospitals because he ends up doing it several times. Of course, every time, he’s promptly recaptured and sent back for his operation.

This episode ends on a curious note, with the store’s staff putting on a “welcome back” party three days after Howard’s operation just for Howard to reveal that he once again escaped from the hospital and, instead of getting the operation, he spent three days hiding out in a hotel. He didn’t even let Edna know what he had done. Two burly orderlies show up at the store and drag Howard back to the hospital as the end credits roll.

So, did Howard ever actually have the operation? I’m going to assume that he did but it’s interesting that the episode leaves the storyline unresolved. Instead of being about the operation, the episode instead becomes a meditation on fear and the foolishness of trying to escape fate. Howard is very good at running away from his problem but, no matter how hard he tires, the orderlies always track him down. Like the Grim Reaper, Canadian hospital orderlies cannot be escaped.

I hate hospitals so I could relate a bit more to this episode than some of the other episodes that I’ve seen of this show. As an American who gets tired of hearing about every other country’s supposedly perfect health care system, I appreciated that this episode showed that hospitals suck no matter what country you’re in.

That said, I have to admit that, while watching, I got a bit annoyed with Howard. I mean, first off, he shouldn’t have tried to pick up that crate to begin with. Secondly, if you don’t want to have the operation, don’t have it. Don’t keep returning to the hospital just because Edna and a bunch of orderlies yell at you. And if you do decide to return to the hospital, own that choice and stick around until the operation’s done. I understood Howard’s feelings but he still came across as being a bit of a wimp in this episode. Nobody likes a wimp.

Next week, according to the imdb, Howard’s niece will make an appearance. Let’s hope she has more guts than her uncle.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 2.3 “Buddy, Can You Spare A Job?”

Posted on April 20, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Never hire a friend is the lesson of this week’s episode.

Episode 2.3 “Buddy, Can You Spare A Job?”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on October 17th, 1986)

Cobb’s has got a new butcher!

Curt Farquar (Billy Van, who was a prominent horror host in Canada) not only knows how to cut meat but he’s also been Howard’s best friend since childhood. When Curt approaches Howard and explains that his wife has left him and he desperately needs a job, there’s no way that Howard can turn him down. Unfortunately, Curt turns out to be a bit of a bully, yelling at both the customers and his other co-workers. He even yells at Mrs. Cobb. Howard knows that he has to fire Curt but he doesn’t have the guts to do it. He gets Christian to do it and then reverses course as soon as Curt confronts him.

It would be really nice if Check It Out! could decide just who exactly Howard Bannister is meant to be. There are some episodes where Howard is a such a competent manager that other companies try to lure him away. Then there are episodes where he is totally incompetent. There are episodes where he and Edna are practically married and then others where they can barely stand each other. There are episodes where Howard is a sharp-tongued leader who won’t let anyone push him around and then there are ones, like this one, where he has to be coaxed out of his office. Sometimes, Howard is a tyrant. Other times, he’s a wimp. There’s never been any sort of consistency with how Howard has been portrayed and, as a result, I still don’t feel like I know the character.

That’s a problem for an episode like this one, where all of the humor centers around Howard’s inability to take an honest look at his friendship with Curt. The Office did several good episodes that centered around Michael Scott’s toxic friendship with Todd Packer. It was hard not to think about those episodes as I watched Howard fumble his way through Check it Out! On The Office, Michael’s one-way friendship with Packer told the viewer everything they needed to know about Michael. On Check It Out!, Howard’s friendship with Curt tells us nothing because the Howard who we’ve seen in previous episodes of Check It Out! would never have a friend like Curt.

For the record, Howard does eventually work up the courage to fire Curt. And Curt actually thanks Howard for firing him because it gives Curt the time to patch up his marriage. But first, of course, we have to sit through Curt threatening to jump off the roof of Cobb’s, just to teach Howard a lesson about …. something. Who knows?

On the plus side, the always funny Gordon Clapp was heavily featured in this episode. Viker convinced everyone to give him money so that he could send off for everyone’s family tree. Viker discovered that he was descended from an axe-sharpener. Marlene was descended from wolves. Howard was descended from Napoleon, which of course led to Don Adams putting his hand in his suit. And Christian …. Christian didn’t have a family tree because “your cheque bounced.”

(The closed captioning apparently understood that Check It Out! was a Canadian show.)

The Viker stuff was funny, largely because of Gordon Clapp’s ability to deliver the most absurd dialogue with a totally straight face. The Howard/Curt stuff was kind of boring. This was not a memorable episode to check out.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 1.22 “Sex Appeal”

Posted on March 30, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the first season comes to an end! Will Howard be promoted and, if he is, will there be a season 2? Let’s try to find out.

Episode 1.22 “Sex Appeal”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on March 12th, 1986)

Who will be the new vice president of the Cobb Corporation? Will it be Howard or will it be another store manager? Mrs. Cobb has sent her daughter, Tiffany (Ruth Buzzi), to interview and test both men. When Tiffany arrives at Howard’s store, she takes one look at him and decides that she’ll promote him but first, she wants to seduce him. Soon, Tiffany is forcing Howard to identify all of the items in the produce section with his eyes closed. When she places his hands on her face, Howard says, “Uhmmm …. pineapple! Moldy peaches!”

When Edna comes to the office late and discovers Howard and Tiffany in what appears to be a compromising position, she is scandalized. Howard insists that nothing happened and that Tiffany came onto him. He announces that he is charging Tiffany with sexual harrassment….

….and this somehow leads to a mock trial that is held in the breakroom, with all of the employees watching and Mrs. Cobb acting as judge. Is Mrs. Cobb really the best person to judge an accusation made against her daughter? Is this how they do things in Canada?

Howard is, of course, cleared of any wrong-doing. We all knew that was going to happen, largely because Tiffany is portrayed as being insane from the minute she shows up at the store. So, we get a resolution as far as the harassment is concerned but the whole storyline about Howard wanting a promotion is forgotten about and left unresolved.

And so, the first season ends with a bit of whimper. The first season was uneven. At its best, season one of Check It Out! had some episodes that were enjoyably weird. Any episode in which Gordon Clapp, Kathleen Laskey or Jeff Pustil were allowed to take center stage was guaranteed to be memorable. But there were also plenty of episodes like this one, where the show couldn’t seem to figure out whether or not Howard was a competent, well-meaning professional or a total and complete moron. Regardless of the individual content of each episode, there was never anything particularly subtle about Don Adams’s performance as Howard. For some episodes that worked. And, in episodes like this one, it definitely did not.

Next week, we start season 2! Two cast members say goodbye while Gordon Clapp’s Viker becomes a regular. Since season 2 is still taking place in the supermarket and Howard is still the manager, I’m going to assume that the other guy got the promotion.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Check It Out! 2.21 “Jack Be Numbskull”

Posted on March 23, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week’s episode defies description. Read on.

Episode 2.21 “Jack Be Numbskull”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on March 5th, 1986)

Awwww, look how cute these two are!

After an office party, Marlene and Christian go home together. The next morning, Christian has decided that he is totally in love with Marlene while Marlene will do just about anything to get Christian to stop bothering her with his romantic declarations. (In real life, Kathleen Laskey and Jeff Pustil have been married since 1990.)

Marlene’s solution to her Christian problem is to invite her ex-boyfriend, the brutish Bruno (Eric Keenleyside), to the store and to tell him to threaten to beat up Christian, just to scare him off. Marlene doesn’t want Bruno to actually hurt anyone, of course.

Bruno, however, mistakes Howard for Christian and threatens him. When Howard makes a sarcastic comment about how he is going to fight Bruno in the alley, a visiting Mrs. Cobb (Barbara Hamilton) overhears and decides that sponsoring a boxing match between Bruno and an employee will be the perfect way to advertise Ka-Blam, a vitamin supplement that is so powerful that it’s sold in a container that looks like a hand grenade. Mrs. Cobb also decides that Bruno will be Mr. Ka-Blam.

So, to make clear:

Mrs. Cobb thinks it will be a good idea to have a fight in one of her stores
Mrs. Cobb thinks hiring a violent criminal to be a store mascot is a good idea
Mrs. Cobb wants to have Bruno beat up one of her store managers
Mrs. Cobb wants the manager to get beaten up while the customers watch.

Yeah, it doesn’t make much sense to me, either.

A few hours before the boxing match, Howard breaks his hand so he has to find a replacement to fight Bruno. Christian volunteers.

Christian is not much of a fighter but he impresses everyone with his refusal to surrender or throw in the towel. However, after an illegal blow sends Christian to the canvas, Howard rushes into the ring and punches Bruno in the stomach and then knocks him out with an uppercut. Wait a minute, I thought Howard’s hand was broken….

This episode was just silly. It was so silly that it almost worked, just on the basis of weirdness alone. The action played out like a fever dream and logic was abandoned early on and perhaps that was for the best. This episode was so strange that it defies a traditional review but I will say that Christian and Marlene did make for a cute couple so I hope this is something that the show continued to explore.

Next week, the first season comes to a close!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 1.20 “Edna’s New Friend”

Posted on March 16, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Edna and Leslie discover they have a lot in common!

Episode 1.20 “Edna’s New Friend”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on February 26th, 1986)

Brace yourself. We are once again about to explore Howard and Edna’s relationship.

Check It Out!, at least during its first season, was never particularly consistent when it came to the details of Howard and Edna’s relationship. Sometimes, Howard was the most romantic man on the planet and then, other times, he was an insensitive jerk who was incapable of understanding why Edna wouldn’t want to spend all of her time watching television at his apartment. Sometimes, Edna was down-to-Earth and realistic and, other times, she was flighty and seemingly living in a world of her own. In this episode, we’re back to Howard being a jerk and Edna wanting to experience life outside of going to work and then over to Howard’s apartment.

Edna has tickets to the ballet. As she explains, they cost her a lot of money and she’s superexcited about having managed to get them. However, Howard doesn’t care about the ballet (“I don’t like Russian ballerinas,” he explains) and he’s already made plans to watch television that night. Edna asks Jennifer if she wants to go but Jennifer has an appointment at a tanning salon. Marlene has a date and is planning on taking him to a “slam dance, so if I don’t like him, at least I’ll get to hurt him.” Finally, Edna asks Leslie, who once lived in Paris and who is a ballet fanatic!

Leslie is also a guy but he’s gay so Howard isn’t concerned about him going out with Edna. Or, at least, Howard isn’t worried until Christian suggests that Edna might try to “convert” Leslie because “women love a challenge.” Howard starts to panic….

Of course, what Howard should be panicking about is the super cheap beef that Christian has been buying and re-selling in the store. It’s not beef, at all. It’s horse meat! When the truth comes out, the customers form an angry mob. Marlene even joins them because “it was either be destroyed or become their leader.”

The character of Leslie has been one of the more interesting parts of the first season of Check It Out! Today, of course, it doesn’t seem like a big deal for a show to feature a regular character who is gay. But, by the standards of most 1980s sitcoms that I’ve seen, Check It Out! was often downright progressive in its portrayal of Leslie as being an openly gay, angst-free, and happy man who was a friend to and respected by all of his co-workers, even the stupid ones. And while this episode does feature some humor centered around Leslie’s sexuality, the target of the joke is always Howard’s insecurity and Christian’s ignorance. Again, this might not sound like much but you have to keep in mind that this is a nearly 40 year-old show. When Check it Out! aired, most gay characters were either over-the-top caricatures that audiences were invited to laugh at or special guest stars who only existed to teach a lesson to the show’s regulars and who certainly didn’t return for a second appearance. As corny and old-fashioned as Check it Out! could be, it was ahead-of-its-time when it came to Leslie.

As for the episode itself, it’s okay. This is one of those episodes that leaves you wondering why Edna puts up with Howard but the stuff with the horsemeat was funny. Marlene deciding to join the angry mob made me laugh. Marlene is a force of chaos! That’s something that this uneven but often funny show really needed.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check it Out! 1.19 “My Darling Serpentine”

Posted on February 24, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Cobb’s descends into chaos!

Episode 1.19 “My Darling Serpentine”

(Dir by John Bell, originally aired on February 19th, 1986)

Last week, Edna left Howard after an argument and Howard had an affair with her replacement. It was implied that Edna leaving Howard was a frequent occurrence and that Howard was the least romantic man alive.

This episode, Edna and Howard are once again totally in love and Howard is so romantic that Edna can even brag about all of the presents that he’s given her over the years.

Continuity, what is it?

This year, Howard is busy at the store so he makes the mistake of sending Alf the security guard out to pick up a piece of jewelry for Edna. Alf, however, gets distracted while walking by a pet store and instead, he returns to the store with a hamster. Edna freaks out about the idea of owning a rodent and instead, she gives it to Murray. The hamster then escapes into the store, which isn’t good since there’s a health inspector in the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, it’s prom night for Murray and he needs a date. Not surprisingly, he asks supercool Marlene to be his date. Also not surprisingly, Marlene laughs in his face. However, after thinking about how she never got to go to her prom because she dropped out of school, Marlene changes her mind. Murray is super-excited until Christian and Alf suggest that Marlene is going to take his virginity. When Marlene shows up in the break room in her prom dress and a blue wig, Murray freaks out.

Murray runs away and disappears into the store. Now, everyone not only has to look for the hamster but also for Murray.

This episode is a bit frantic but it made me laugh. A lot of that was because Gordon Clapp made his third appearance on the show, playing the cheerfully dumb Viker. Previously, Viker was the store’s electrician. In this episode, he’s suddenly a pest control expert. In order to track down the hamster, he released a snake into the store. In order to track down the snake, he releases a mongoose. “I’m glad I don’t shop here,” Viker says. Gordon Clapp delivers all of Viker’s lines with such sincerity that his brief appearance elevates the entire episode.

In the end, thinks work out. The snake is caught when it attacks Howard. Marlene forgives Murray and they head off to prom. The hamster runs off with Marlene’s blue wig. And Edna is surprisingly forgiving about Howard telling the security guard to buy her an anniversary present. As for the mongoose …. well, I’m sure it found a good place to live. The important thing is that this episode made me laugh more than the typical episode of Check It Out! I enjoyed it.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Check It Out 1.18 “Store Wars”

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, both Cobb’s and Edna get some competition!

Episode 1.18 “Store Wars”

(Dir by John Bell, originally aired on February 12th, 1986)

Odd episode, this week.

After having a fight with Howard, Edna abruptly leaves town for Florida. Apparently, this is something that she does frequently. (We are 18 episodes in and this show has yet to come up with a consistent portrayal of Howard and Edna’s relationship.) I have to admit that I’ve never worked retail so I’m not totally sure how these things work but can you just stop going to work whenever you feel like it and still have a job? It seems like this is the sort of thing that would get most people fired. Maybe it’s different when you’re sleeping with the boss.

Anyway, Howard gets a new secretary and he is shocked to discover that Irene (Cynthia Belliveau) is young and attractive and totally into him. Soon, Howard is wearing an earring, sunglasses, and dressing like Bruce Springsteen. Irene even teaches Howard how to do yoga.

All of this leads to Howard getting distracted from the latest work crisis. A new store has opened up across the street. Just Food sells …. well, just food. There are no bag boys or special displays or anything else that would cost any extra money so Just Food can lower their prices. Soon, all of Cobb’s customers are going to Just Food! Even when Christian lowers the prices at Cobb’s, Just Food lowers their prices even more. Is it possible that Just Food could have a spy in the store?

Yes, there is a spy and, as you probably already guessed, the spy is Irene. (How did Irene get the job? Didn’t she have to go through a background check? Do they not do that in Canada?) Howard eventually figures it all out but he feels a little better when Irene tells him that, even though she was a spy, she truly did fall for him. They share a passionate kiss and the audience applauds. Then Irene leaves and Howard calls Edna to ask her to come back home. “Awwwww!” the audience says.

Uhmmm …. yeah. Thanks for the mixed signals, studio audience. Howard basically cheated on Edna while she was gone but apparently that’s okay because, afterwards, Howard asked her to come back home. Is Howard ever going to tell Edna about Irene? She’s going to find out as soon as she asks either Marlene or Jennifer about what happened at the store while she was gone. Unless Edna was hooking up with a 21 year-old life guard in Florida, Howard’s screwed either way.

This episode just felt off. Howard can be a jerk but he’s always been loyal to Edna, even when they’ve fought in the past. The “Store Wars” storyline had potential but it was pretty much overshadowed by Howard trying to be Springsteen. This episode just didn’t work.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Check It Out! 1.17 “Banzai”

Posted on February 10, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, I finally get a chance to review the episode that I should have reviewed last week. Nature is healing.

Episode 1.17 “Banzai”

(Dir by John Bell, originally aired on February 8th, 1986)

Mrs. Cobb (Barbara Hamilton) has decided that it would be a good idea to send someone over to Japan to study how the Japanese have become such efficient employers and employees. That is an idea that actually isn’t bad and totally makes sense. Give some points to the show for having a good idea for once.

However, for some reason, Mrs. Cobb wants to send over not an executive and not a store manager but an assistant store manager. That makes no sense. If you want to make changes, why wouldn’t you send someone over who has the authority to do so? As usual, Mrs. Cobb wants it to be someone from Howard’s store. The show has always implied that Mrs. Cobb is the richest woman in Canada and that she actually owns several businesses across the North American continent. It’s odd that the only one she ever seems to care about is Howard’s store.

Assistant Store Manager Jack Christian is on vacation in Fiji so Howard has to pick a temporary replacement who can go to Japan. Mrs. Cobb tells him to pick a woman and since Marlene has a criminal record and Jennifer is not in this episode, the job falls to Edna.

Edna goes to Japan and then returns with a lot of ideas for how to make Cobb’s better. Cue Howard’s comic exasperation as Edna demands informality in the workplace, a lack of walls, and a mandatory exercise period. Also cue the two Japanese workers that Edna brought back with her, who proceed to tear down the walls of Howard’s office.

Watching all of this, I had to wonder just how long Christian’s Fiji vacation lasted. This episode seemed to take place over the course of a month, maybe even longer. It lasted long enough for the staff to rebel against Edna and for Mrs. Cobb to change her mind about using Japanese methods in her business. And it lasted long enough for Edna to decide that she would rather go back to being Howard’s administrative assistant. Jack Christian did return by the end of the episode, which is good since Jeff Pustil (who played Christian) and Kathleen Laskey (who played Marlene) were the show’s two most consistent comedic performers. (Interestingly enough, they’re married in real life.)

This was actually not a bad episode. I always cringe a bit whenever I see any 80s or 90s sitcom attempting to deal with cultural differences, especially when the other culture is Japanese. Just judging from a lot of the shows that I’ve seen, it would appear that many Americans (and I guess Canadians) in the 80s felt like the only way to deal with Japan’s competitive economy was to make often juvenile jokes about Japanese tourists with cameras and the poor dubbing that most Japanese films suffered on their way to American screens. This episode of Check It Out! is actually respectful of Japanese business culture, even if the show’s message seems to be that it ultimately isn’t right for the more laid back culture of Canada.

As for what happens in next week’s episode — who knows? We’ll find out.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 2/4/24 — 2/10/24

Posted on February 10, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

You would think that, being stuck on the couch with an injured ankle, I would have watched a lot of television this week. I didn’t. Instead, I barely turned on the TV. Instead, I spent most of my time listening to music and wondering if this year is going to continue in a sucky direction or if its going to redeem itself.

Here’s a few thoughts on what little I did watch:

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

Abbott Elementary, the most acclaimed sitcom on network TV, started its 3rd season this week with a special hour-long episode in which Janine left her teaching job and took a job with the school district. Meanwhile, her relationship with Gregory continued to be awkward, Barbara continued to be the voice of wisdom, Ava briefly tried to be a good principle before returning to her old ways, and Melissa broke up with her latest boyfriend. And, of course, Career Day was a disaster.

The premiere had its amusing moments but …. I don’t know. Something felt a bit off to me. I’m not really sure I like the idea of Janine working for the school district. It seems like one of those storylines that is just going to be dragged out for way too long and, even worse, it feels like it was mostly included so the show could find another excuse to keep Janine and Gregory from getting together. Gregory’s social awkwardness, which was so likable during the previous two seasons, is starting to feel a bit old now. You’ve been at the school for three years, dude! YOU CAN SMILE! On the plus side, quarterback Jalen Hurts was good playing himself. (“My boundaries are extremely porous.’) We’ll see how things go with the rest of the season. I have faith in Abbott.

Check it Out (Tubi)

I re-watched last week’s episode Check It Out! earlier today. My review should be dropping soon.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

It was a good episode this week. Nolan Price got his conviction but at the cost of giving immunity to one of the sleaziest characters to ever appear on the show. That led to another recriminating glare from Maroun. As for the cops are concerned, I’m liking the laid-back vibe that Reid Scott is bringing to his role. Until this season started, I never realized how nervous I would get whenever I had to watch any scene featuring Jeffrey Donavon as the ultra-intense Cosgrove. With Reid Scott, I feel like I can actually breathe.

Snub (Night Flight Plus)

This was a BBC music show from the 80s, featuring independent British bands. I watched an episode on Friday night, featuring a bunch of British rappers. It was okay. For the most part, I liked the no-nonsense, no apologies attitude of the hosts. They were British, working class, and proud of it.

Watched and reviewed elsewhere: