Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/22/24 — 12/28/24

Posted on December 28, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here are a few thoughts about what I watched during the final week of 2024.

Check It Out (Tubi)

Look for my review of this show next Saturday.

Degrassi High and Degrassi: The Next Generation (Tubi)

I’ve had a cold since the day after Christmas so I’ve been spending a lot of time in bed and rewatching the Degrassi franchise.

Dragnet (YouTube)

Joe Friday and Bill Gannon kept the streets safe in the episodes that I watched on Friday as I tried to get over my cold. Good for them!

Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)

In order to get a head start on 2o25, I watched an episode of Friday the 13th this week. Look for my review next Friday!

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown (Apple TV+)

I watched this classic special with Erin on Thursday. Someone needs to check on Charlie Brown. He’s sleeping in the snow! He’ll never finish War and Peace if he gets pneuomonia!

Highway to Heaven (Tubi)

I returned to Highway to Heaven this week. Look for my review next week!

Homicide: Life On The Street (Peacock)

Look for my review next week!

King of the Hill (Hulu)

Hank rented a truck for the holidays! “You mean …. a convoy!?” Absolutely one of my favorite episodes of this classic show and I was happy to watch it on Monday.

I went on to binge a few more episodes on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I’ve had a cold and this show has definitely kept me entertained as I’ve tried to will myself into good health.

The Love Boat (Paramount+)

I watched an episode of The Love Boat this week. Look for my review next week!

Malibu, CA (YouTube)

I forced myself to watch two episodes of this show on Sunday. Look for my reviews in 2025!

Monsters (YouTube)

I returned to Monsters this week. Look for my review next week!

Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (Sunday Night, ABC)

I watched this holiday classic with my sisters on Sunday night. It made me smile, as it always does. I love the holidays!

Seinfeld (Netflix)

I watched the Festivus episode on Monday (which, appropriately enough, was Festivus!). I always enjoy it when Bryan Cranston shows up as the decadent dentist.

St. Elsewhere (Hulu)

Look for my reviews to return next week!

TV 2000 (Night Flight+)

I watched an episode of this 80s music video program on Friday night. They were really wild about Bruce Springsteen. I’ve never really gotten his appeal but then again, I’m not from New Jersey.

Welcome Back, Kotter (Prime)

I’m continuing my way through the fourth and final season. My reviews will return in 2025.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/10/24 — 11/16/24

Posted on November 16, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I got caught up with a few shows this week. Here’s my thoughts on what I watched.

Accused (Tuesday Night, Fox)

I watched the three most recent episodes of Accused this week. The road rage episode had its good moments and it kept my guessing, though I would have appreciated a bit more of a twist at the end. The episode with Nick Cannon was so bad that it felt like a parody of woke programming. (It’s kind of funny how everyone apparently just agreed to forget about Cannon’s history of making anti-Semitic statements.) The episode with Michael Chiklis as the wrestling coach was much better, though I kept expecting the coach to reveal that he was actually the wrestler’s father. That would have been a neat twist.

Accused is an uneven show but it’s pretty interesting when it works. And when it doesn’t work, it’s interesting in an entirely different way.

American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez (Tuesday Night, FX)

As I’ve said before, this miniseries started out strong but, as so often happens with these Ryan Murphy-produced true crime things, it went downhill quickly. The final episode was perhaps the worst of the series, if just because it tried to turn Hernandez into some sort of victim. I have no doubt CTE played some role in his actions but so what? In the end, at least one man is dead because of Aaron Hernandez. Ask Odin Lloyd’s family if they care about Aaron Hernandez’s struggle to adjust to living in prison. I don’t care if he felt uncomfortable with his sexuality. I don’t care if he was put under tremendous pressure by his coaches. I don’t care if he was molested when he was a child. Aaron Hernandez made his decisions and he suffered the consequences and the last thing he deserves is sympathy.

Baywatch Nights (YouTube)

I reviewed Baywatch Nights here!

Check It Out! (Tubi)

My review of Check It Out! will be posting shortly.

CHiPs (Freevee)

I reviewed CHiPs here. I had a bit of panic when I read the Freevee was shutting down, as I’ve still got many episodes of CHiPs to review and watch. I’ve been told, however, the shows on Freevee will also be “free” on Prime. We’ll see! I’m nor sure that I would want to pay money just for the chance to watch Erik Estrada.

Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)

You can read my latest review of Friday the 13th here!

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, Fox)

My heart broke for Anthony this week! I took some comfort that Chef Ramsay seemed to be just as said as I was to watch Anthony go. I was glad Anthony was allowed to keep his jacket.

Highway to Heaven (Hulu)

I reviewed Highway to Heaven here!

Inmate To Roommate (Hulu)

Earlier this year, I enjoyed what I saw of the second season of this A&E show. (When my Dad had his accident, I stopped watching Inmate to Roommate because taking care of my Dad took priority over any television show.) This week, I decided to watch the first season of the show on Hulu. The first season felt a bit more staged than the second season. If the second season had a raw authenticity to it, the first season was marred by too many scenes that were obviously just done for the cameras. Still, I appreciate any show that encourages people to give ex-convicts a chance to prove themselves.

Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson (Netflix)

I watched a little of this with Jeff on Friday night. I was pretty bored with it but at least it was filmed in Texas. That said, due to my obligations as the hostess of #FridayNightFlix, I stopped watching before either Jake or Tyson left their dressing rooms. Jeff wrote about the fight here and here!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I reviewed The Love Boat here1

Malibu CA (YouTube)

For my sins, I reviewed Malibu, CA here!

Miami Vice (Prime)

I reviewed Miami Vice here!

Monsters (YouTube)

I reviewed Monsters here!

Rockin’ Ronny (Night Flight Plus)

This special originally aired in 1986. It featured a collection of clips from Ronald Reagan’s movies, mixed in with footage of him as president. Obviously, the show was meant to poke fun at and be critical of Reagan but it didn’t really work. Rather than coming across as being any of the bad things that this special seemed to be trying to suggest that he was, Ronald Reagan just came across as being a likable old man. Certainly, he seemed more presidential than any of the folks we’ve recently elected here.

Say Nothing (Hulu)

I am about halfway through this new miniseries about The Troubles in Northern Ireland. So far, it’s been a powerful few hours. I’ll share more of my thoughts after I’ve watched the remaining episodes.

St. Elsewhere (Hulu)

I reviewed St. Elsewhere here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Prime)

I can’t believe I’m paying money for this show. You can read my latest review here!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 2.19 “Only God Can Make A Tree”

Posted on November 9, 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 goes to jail!

Episode 2.19 “Only God Can Make A Tree”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on March 1st, 1987)

Old George is coming down!

Who is Old George? Actually, it’s more a question of what is Old George? Old George is a tree that stands a few feet away from Cobb’s. Apparently, Howard spent a good deal of his youth hanging out around Old George. He and his father used to have picnics under Old George. He and his friends use to climb Old George. Howard decides that Old George must be saved so he organizes a protest. He forces Christian, Leslie, and Viker to join him in trying to keep the city contactors from chopping down the tree. As a result, Howard and his three employees are arrested and sent to jail.

(Can you sue if your boss forces you to do something that gets you arrested? It seems like you should be able to. Of course, I’m not really sure how the law works in Canada.)

In court, the four men decide that, instead of getting a lawyer to defend them, they’ll just let Howard be in charge of their defense. I guess they all want to go to jail. Edna brings Howard several law books but she brings them to the trial so Howard has to skim them while the arresting police officer (Bob Bainborough) gives his testimony. That seems counter-productive but whatever. The law books aren’t necessary because, instead of arguing the law, Howard just tells the judge how much the tree meant to him. Howard and his employees are set free by the judge (Jack Mather). Then Old George is promptly chopped down because it has Dutch Elm disease. So, it was all for nothing!

Because Howard’s Aunt Lil (Kay Tremblay) was visiting, we did learn a bit about Howard’s background. After his father died, Howard was raised by his aunt. He grew up in the same neighborhood where he works. All of his friends grew up to be doctors and lawyers and scientists while Howard grew up to manage a grocery store. He’s been living with Edna for seven years but doesn’t have any plans to marry her. Edna desperately wants to have grandchildren but again, Howard’s in no huray to get married …. you know, when you combine all of this with the tree ultimately dying, this is probably the most depressing episode of Check It Out ever shot.

This was a weird episode. While I can respect Howard’s desire to protect Old George, I can’t respect him requiring his employees to join with him in the protest. It’s also strange to me that they protested while they were still on the clock. Did the store just shut down while they were all sitting in jail? All of this seems like bad boss behavior to me. Jeff Pustil, Aaron Schwartz, Kathleen Laskey, and Gordon Clapp all managed to get in a few good lines but Don Adams himself seemed confused as to whether he should play Howard as being an earnest tree-lover or as just a pompous ass. That’s not really Adams’s fault. This show has never been particularly consistent in the way that Howard is portrayed.

That said, I would have tried to save Old George as well. From what I saw of him, he was an impressive tree.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/3/24 — 11/9/24

Posted on November 9, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

2024 U.S. Presidential Election Coverage (Tuesday and Wednesday)

On Tuesday, I swore to myself that I was going to vote and then we were going to go up to the lake and my plan was to basically stay off the grid until Friday. I wasn’t even going to think about the election. That did not last. As much as I tried to avoid the news, I still saw a few updates on twitter and soon, I was switching back and forth from Fox to CNN to MSNBC and then to all the other news stations.

To be honest, I kind of suspected Donald Trump was going to win after Kamala Harris picked Tim Walz for her vice president. The week leading up the election, however, I started to think that Harris was probably going to win. I started remembering how 2022 seemed like it was going to be a big year for Republicans, just for the Red Wave to fizzle on election night. I thought about how polls have never accurately reflected either Trump’s support or how Dobbs turned a lot of people into one-issue voters. I thought Harris would sweep Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin and win the election. It turns out that I was wrong about most of that!

This was the third presidential election in a row where I swore to myself that I wouldn’t think about it after I voted, just to later find myself then obsessively watching as the results came in.

American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez (FX, Tuesday Night)

The ninth episode focused on how the women who knew Aaron Hernandez dealt with him being arrest for murder. And to that, I can only say, “Who cares?” After nine hours of this show, the only lesson that I’ve learned is that Aaron Hernandez was a tremendous dumbass and the same can be said of the majority of the people around him.

I was super-excited because I thought this week’s episode was the series’ finale. It turns out that there’s one more episode to go. Next week, this show will finally wrap up and I won’t have to complain about it anymore.

Bar Rescue (Paramount, Weekday Mornings)

On Tuesday, I watched an episode in which Jon Taffer turned a failing Irish bar into a failing western saloon. It wasn’t as much fun as the Pirate Bar episode.

Baywatch Nights (YouTube)

I wrote about Baywatch Nights here!

Check it Out! (Tubi)

My review of this week’s episode of Check It Out! will be posted in about 30 minutes.

CHiPs (Freevee)

I wrote about CHiPs here!

Degrassi Junior High (YouTube)

I wrote about Degrassi Junior High here!

Dragnet (YouTube)

On Tuesday, I took a break from the election coverage and rewatched my two favorite episodes of Dragnet, the talk show episode and the night school episode.

Fantasy Island (DVR)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)

You can read my review here!

Good Times (Get TV, Weekday Afternoons)

I watched two episodes of this 70s sitcom on Monday afternoon. Carl, a grumpy old man, discovered that he had cancer and he left Chicago for Arizona so that he could deal with it. The most memorable moment of the two episodes came when Carl told Florida that he felt they should break up. “Oh my God!” someone in the studio audience shouted.

Hell’s Kitchen (Fox, Thursday Night)

Just as happened last week, the Blue Team triumphed and the Red Team crashed and burned. I’m enjoying this season. I like the fact that they’re all strong chefs. At this point, I feel like anyone could win.

Highway to Heaven (Tubi)

I wrote about Highway to Heaven here!

Homicide: Life on the Street (Peacock)

I wrote about Homicide here!

King of the Hill (FXX, Weekday Morning)

Before I left to vote on Tuesday, I watched four episodes of King of the Hill. What a great show, that was. To be honest, the fact that King of the Hill was canceled but Family Guy is still in production is all the evidence you need about the decline of American culture. As for the episodes I watched, my favorite was the one where Luanne became a boxer and George Foreman appeared as himself. “Novelty grill!?”

The Love Boat (Paramount+)

I watched The Love Boat on Tuesday night, while sitting outside on the deck of my family’s lakehouse. That’s the best way to watch anything! I wrote about The Love Boat here.

Malibu, CA (YouTube)

I wrote about Malibu, CA here!

The Megyn Kelly Show (YouTube)

On Friday, I watched the post-election episode of the Megyn Kelly Show. Whether you love her, hate her, or if you’re indifferent to her (as I often am), it was hard not to agree with her post-mortem on the election and the Harris campaign.

Miami Vice (Prime)

I wrote about Miami Vice here!

Monsters (YouTube)

I wrote about Monsters here!

St. Elsewhere (Hulu)

You can read my review here!

TV 2000 (Night Flight Plus)

I watched an episode of this old 80s music video program on Friday night. The music was good.

Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

I can’t believe I paid money to watch this episode. You can read my review here.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out 2.18 “My Girl Friday, Saturday, Sunday”

Posted on November 2, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Howard runs afoul the mob. Don’t worry, it’s only the Canadian mob.

Episode 2.18 “My Girl Friday Saturday Sunday”

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

While taking Edna to the airport (and seriously, how many vacations does Edna take during the year?), Howard is the victim of a hit-and-run. Another car literally takes off Howard’s driver’s side door. Howard is determined to find out who was driving the car and make them pay for his door.

After Marlene puts signs up around the airport asking if anyone witnessed the accident, Howard learns that the other car belonged to Canadian gangster Meatloaf Rothko (Chuck Shamata) and it was being driven by his mistress, Jerri (Heather Smith). Of course, Meatloaf already knows whose car Jerri hit and, in fact, he’s arranged for Jerri to get a job as Edna’s temporary replacement at Cobb’s.

Meatloaf requests that Howard meet with him at an Italian restaurant. Howard is hesitant but finally agrees to not only meet with him but to wear a wire. But, it turns out that Meatloaf is actually a nice guy who is willing to give Howard $10,000 to keep quiet about the accident. So, in other words, there really wasn’t much point to any of this.

As you probably already guessed, the plot of this episode was dumb. As I’ve often commented in the past, Check It Out has never been able to figure out who Howard Bannister is supposed to be. Sometimes, he’s the best boyfriend in the world and a respected father figure to all of his employees. This week, however, his employees are back to having no respect for him and Howard starts to hit on Jerri as soon as she shows up in the store. (Sorry, Edna, I hope going on your tenth vacation of the season was worth it.) Sometimes, Howard is a brilliant guy who always tries to do the right thing. This episode, he’s back to being a coward who has to be pressured into standing up for himself. Considering that the episodes in which Howard is a good boss are a hundred times better than the ones where he’s a total jackass, it’s a bit annoying that the jackass version of Howard seems to be the one who shows up the most.

On the plus side, this episode featured a lot of funny bits from the show’s supporting cast. Kathleen Laskey, Jeff Pustil, and Gordon Clapp all got in a few good one-liners. Of course, it helps that Laskey, Pustil, and Clapp all play characters who behave in a consistent manner. Jeff Pustil’s Jack Christian is always going to be smarmy in an oddly likable way. Gordon Clapp’s Viker is always going to be earnestly dumb. Kathleen Laskey’s Marlene is always going to be a sarcastic agent of chaos. Their characters have been consistent since the show started and, as a result, a lot of the humor comes from knowing how they’re going to react to certain situations. I will sit through an entire episode just to hear Marlene’s sarcastic response to whatever plan Christian comes up with. They’re funny characters.

So, my feelings about this episode were mixed. The story was incredibly dumb and Howard was incredibly annoying. But the employees of Cobb’s made me smile more than once. This episode wasn’t particularly memorable but it amused me. I’ve learned that’s the best one can hope for with this show.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 10/27/24 — 11/2/24

Posted on November 2, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last Sunday, I took part in one of my favorite October traditions and I watched It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown with my sister, Erin. I always enjoy watching these old Peanuts specials with my sister. It’s been a part of our holiday tradition for as long as I can remember. You can read Erin’s thoughts on the Great Pumpkin here.

I watched the latest episode of American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez. This week, Aaron murdered Odin Lloyd. This was the crime for which Hernandez was arrested and eventually sent to prison. You would think that this would have been a major episode of the show but it was actually pretty meh. Who cares? Everything that this show had to say about Aaron Hernandez and his crimes was said several episodes ago.

I enjoyed the latest episode of Hell’s Kitchen on Thursday. The Blue Team is finally getting it together. Chef Ramsay is being a bit nicer than usual this season but he’s still entertaining. I actually kind of like it when Ramsay’s nice. One gets the feeling that he really does want everyone to reach their full potential.

How did I not know that Dr. Phil started his own television network? On Friday, I came across it while looking for something to watch in the afternoon. I ended up watching two episodes of Jail. Usually, the cops and guards on Jail get on my nerves but, in these two episodes, they actually did a pretty good job and treated everyone with a modicum of respect.

On Friday night, I watched two episodes of Night Flight. It was all about 80s music and 80s films. I enjoyed them.

Today, I watched an old episode of Dragnet from 1970. Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb) was enrolled in night school. An anti-cop professor tried to kick him out of class. Fortunately, one of Joe’s classmates was an attorney and threatened to sue the college on Joe’s behalf.

As far as my retro television reviews are concerned, I finished up T&T finally. I also watched and reviewed Friday the 13th, Welcome Back, Kotter, and Check It Out. Welcome Back, Kotter is no longer on Tubi so I had two bucks to watch this week’s episode on Prime. Welcome Back, Kotter’s later seasons are far more tolerable when you can view them for free.

Horrorthon is over! I’ve got a lot of television to get caught up on, starting this upcoming week. Apparently, I’m being given an extra hour to do so. That was nice of whoever’s in charge of all that.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 2.17 “Chain Reaction”

Posted on October 26, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, a wave of bad luck crashes into the store.

Episode 2.17 “Chain Reaction”

(Dir by Stan Jacobson, originally aired on February 15, 1987)

This is a bit of an odd episode.

For one thing, neither Jeff Pustil nor Gordon Clapp appear in this episode. As Pustil and Clapp were two of the more consistently funny performers on this show, their absence is definitely felt.

Since Pustil’s assistant manager character is said to be on vacation, Murray is temporarily promoted to assistant manager and spends this episode wearing a suit and making smarmy comments that are totally out-of-character for him.

There’s a new cashier named Amy (Kathryn Rose). We’ve never seen her before but everyone on the show acts as if she’s always been there.

This episode features everyone at a store getting a chain letter, which was an annoying thing where someone would send you a letter and tell you to send a copy of the letter to ten other people for good luck. (It’s the sort of thing that was apparently popular in the years before email.) Everyone at the store takes their chain letter seriously, except for Howard. Howard sets his chain letter on fire.

Immediately after Howard destroys the letter, ominous thunder rumbles. A fire breaks out in Howard’s office and Howard uses Edna’s sweater to put it out. A terrible smell spreads through the store, chasing away the customers and forcing the health department to order the place closed until it’s gone away. An old woman gets food poisoning from can of Pears and sues the store. Finally, Marlene tells Howard that this is all his fault, Howard insults Marlene’s hair, and Marlene quits.

Marlene is later in an accident and taken to the hospital. Howard and the gang (including the mysterious Amy) rush over to the hospital to check on Marlene. Howard goes in Marlene’s hospital room and finds a patient covered in bandages. Assuming the patient is Marlene, Howard calls her the daughter he never had and promises to rehire her and give her a raise. Surprise! The patient wasn’t Marlene but Marlene was standing behind Howard and listening the whole time.

It’s sweet but it’s also a reminder that Check It Out rarely made much effort to maintain a consistent continuity. Just a few episodes ago, Howard went undercover to save Marlene from a cult. In this episode, they act as if they’ve never had a good relationship.

This episode just feels off, to the extent that I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had ended with Howard waking up and realizing it was all a dream. The absence of Pustil and Clapp is strongly felt and the remaining characters don’t seem to be acting like themselves.

On the plus side, this episode features Marlene’s best hair yet.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 2.16 “The Oddest Couple”

Posted on October 19, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Viker needs help!

Episode 2.16 “The Oddest Couple”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on February 8th, 1987)

Viker has been kicked out by his wife, Mrs. Viker (Laura Henry). Mrs. Viker apparently doesn’t have a first name. Even Viker calls her “Mrs. Viker” whenever he talks to her. Because he has been kicked out of his house, Viker has started sleeping on Howard’s couch.

Howard tells Viker that he can’t sleep on his couch, which just leaves Viker with one other option. He moves in with Howard! Normally, I’d wonder how Edna would feel about this but Edna is not in this episode. In fact, there’s no mention of Howard being involved and his apartment suddenly looks like a tacky bachelor pad. He even has a round bed in the living room.

As you can guess by the episode’s title, Howard and Viker make for an odd couple. It’s not a case of one of them being a neat freak and one of them being a slob. In fact, they’re both pretty neat. It’s just that Viker can be a little weird. He gargles extremely loudly. He takes everything that he hears literally. He spends a lot of time talking about his bunions.

Howard attempts to bring Viker and Mrs. Viker together but, when Mrs. Viker catches Viker teaching Marlene how to dance (more about that in a minute) in the store’s aisles, she declares that she can’t trust Viker. But then Howard invites Mrs. Viker to his apartment, where he has prepared a romantic dinner for the Vikers. That’s all it takes for the Vikers to fall back in love and apparently have sex in Howard’s living room bed while Howard waits in the hallway outside.

Why is Viker teaching Marlene how to dance? Because a good-looking customer named Philip (Richard Hardacre) has asked Marlene to come to his country club! Marlene gets all dressed up, does her hair nicely, and looks forward to her date. But then Richard shows up looking like he’s the bassist in Sex Pistols cover band. Richard says that it’s “punk night” at the country club and he wanted to impress his friends by bringing “an actual punk.” Realizing that she was being used, Marlene tells Richard to get lost and then she, Murray, and Christian go out for pizza. Awww! Since this show usually features those three characters at odds, it’s kind of nice to see them all going out as friends in this episode.

(In real life, Kathleen Laskey, who plays Marlene, is married to Jeff Pustil, who played Christian. Even though their characters are usually rivals, the chemistry between the two performers is obvious.)

This was an okay episode. It made me chuckle a few times. It’s obvious that, after the first half of the second season, the showrunners realized that Don Adams and Gordon Clapp made a great comic team. Check It Out is a show that works best when it embraces absurdity and few characters are more absurd than Gordon Clapp’s Viker.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 2.14 “Let’s Get Metaphysical”

Posted on October 5, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Howard goes on a mission to save Marlene.

Episode 2.14 “Let’s Get Metaphysical”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on January 25th, 1987)

Marlene’s been showing up late for work!

Christian thinks that it’s a big deal that Marlene isn’t showing up for work. I’ve never had a retail job or a job where I had a boss who required me to do things but I do have to say that I think Christian has a point. Since it appears that Cobb’s only has seven employees and it appears to be a rather large store with several different departments, I imagine it is a bit difficult when one of them doesn’t show up.

(Actually, two of them. For some reason, Edna is not in this episode.)

Howard, however, says it’s no big deal because Marlene is only late because she’s in love with a new guy and this guy apparently likes to stay up all night and discuss philosophy. (Bleh! Sounds like she’s dating a real bore.) But when Marlene starts lecturing at her register about how unfair it is to charge people for food, Christian feels that he has no choice but to fire her. Marlene thanks Christian for setting her free and then leaves the store for her new home at the local commune.

Uh-oh …. MARLENE HAS JOINED A CULT!

Wanting to free her from the Order of Eternal Light, Howard decides to go down to the commune. Accompanying him is Viker and I was happy about that because, as played by Gordon Clapp, Viker was a character who made any scene funnier by his very presence. The head of the cult is a bearded man who calls himself Solar (Sam Moses). Solar preaches a life of simplicity while living in a mansion and driving a Ferrari.

Howard decides that the best way to free Marlene is to go undercover and pretend to join the cult. Over the next few days, Howard doesn’t show up at work but Marlene does. Marlene explain that she left the cult after talking to a strange man with a beard. She also says that she never saw Howard at the cult.

Suddenly, Howard shows up, wearing love beads and speaking in an Indian accent. Marlene throws water on his face, which magically sets Howard free from Solar’s brainwashing. Marlene tells Howard that she left on her own after talking to the bearded man. Howard reveals that he was that bearded man….

Wow, it sounds like a lot of interesting stuff happened off-camera! In fact, that’s the main problem with this episode. Almost all of the interesting stuff — Marlene getting brainwashed, Howard going undercover, the police raiding the commune and arresting Solar — happens off-screen. What we’re left with is okay but never quite as funny as it potentially could be.

Still, at least Marlene’s back! Someone has to keep the sharp insults flying in that store and no one’s better at it than Marlene.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 2.12 “High Tech”

Posted on September 21, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Howard once again ruins Edna’s life.

Episode 2.12 “High Tech”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on January 11th, 1987)

Howard has a gambling problem!

Wait a minute …. I thought that was the plot of last week’s episode.

Well, it’s the plot of this week’s episode as well. After Howard invests Edna’s life savings ($10,000, though it should be remembered that this is Canadian money) in a Venezuelan gold mine, Edna can only watch in horror as an earthquake rips through Venezuela and wipes out the gold mine. (She should just be happy that she invested before Chavez and Maduro came to power.) Howard, however, is sure that he can win her money back because he has a tip about a sure thing in an up-coming boxing match….

That’s it! Edna demands that Howard go to therapy.

Which Howard does. Dr. Cravitz (John Stocker) seems to be a little crazy himself, especially when people accidentally call him “Clavitz.” The doctor does help Howard to realize that he has a gambling problem. His mother used to take him to bingo halls while his father spent all of his time playing poker. Howard is a bad gambler because he’s trying to both win his parent’s love and get back at them for neglecting him while he was growing up. Damn, that’s depressing.

Howard returns to the store, diagnosed but hardly cured. Fortunately, he gets a call from his stockbroker, telling him that the gold mine is now worth $10,000 because there’s oil underneath the gold. Edna gets her money back, minus the money that Howard lost on the boxer.

This episode is another one where Howard is a complete and total buffoon. I prefer the episodes where Howard is an idiot to the ones where he’s actually competent. A competent manager is not a funny manager but a buffoonish boss who makes life difficult for the people working under him …. hey, who can’t relate to that? That’s why The Office was better when Michael was boss than when Andy took over. No one watches a show like this to root for management.

This episode had some funny moments. There was an entertaining B-plot about Christian installing a new computerized checking system and accidentally ordering three-years worth of potatoes at one time. (I had to smile when a jump cut revealed that every display in the store was now potato-related.) Even better, Gordon Clapp finally returns as the dim-witted handyman, Viker. Clapp’s ultra sincere line delivery made Viker into a hilarious character and the scenes where Viker gets on Howard’s nerves are always entertaining. When we first see Viker, he’s upgrading his lunchbox. Later, he tells Howard that “an important person called with an important message, that’s all I remember.” This show works best when it embraces absurdity and Viker is so wonderfully absurd that you can’t help but love the character.