Dallas Cole | Through the Shattered Lens

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.

Episode 4.4 “Down and Out In Bulls Stadium”

(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on October 26th, 1988)

The first game of the year is approaching and the Bulls, now owned by the Dobbs Corporation, have got a lot to deal with.

Mad Dog has to explain to an aspiring cheerleader (Christie Claridge) that he no longer has the power to make her a Bullette, despite the fact that he promised that he would do so when he was trying to get her to sleep with him.

New quarterback Doug Clayton (Scott Geyer) has to prove that he can lead the team, despite having a reputation for being an intellectual. Doug gave up a Rhodes scholarship so that he could play professional football. That doesn’t sound that smart, to be honest. I mean, will Oxford still be willing to give Doug a chance after he’s suffered twenty concussions?

TD Parker (OJ Simpson) must now work for the Dobbs Corporation, despite previously criticizing the corporation for not promoting enough minorities. TD explains to the press that he and the new owners came to an agreement. He also mentions that the corporation agreed to pay him a lot of money. So, I guess TD’s days as a radical labor leader have been slashed short.

Finally, after Bubba and Jethro spot him living in a parking lot and wiping windshields for a living, they convince TD to hire Joe Hearns (Harold Sylvester) as a defensive coach. Hearns was once a linebacker, which I guess is a defensive position. His career came to an end when he crippled a wide receiver. As a defensive coach, Hearns is a wash. At one point, he nearly runs out onto the field to tackle an opposing player. To me, that would indicate that Hearns has some mental issues and poor impulse control. To Coach Denardo, it means that Joe should be playing instead of coaching. Hearns returns to the lineup and promptly starts to have nightmares about the player he crippled.

Here’s the important thing, though. Doug leads the Bulls to victory in their first game and he makes it a point to praise defensive players like Mad Dog and Dr. Death. Tim Yinessa? Who needs him! Team Doug all the way!

This episode …. actually, it wasn’t that bad. I will admit that I laughed when Hearns had a vision of a wheelchair-bound football player rolling straight at him but that’s just because it was such an absurd image. Harold Sylvester actually gave a pretty good performance as the emotionally damaged, guilt-ridden Joe Hearns. I’m interested in seeing what the show is going to do with the Hearns character and Doug is far more interesting quarterback than the somewhat whiny Yinessa.

This season might be okay!

Welcome to 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 St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988. The show can be found on Daily Motion.

I miss when this show on Hulu and available to rent on Prime. The Daily Motion uploads are not the best (especially where sound quality is concerned) but, for now at least, that’s what I’m having to go with.

Episode 3.8 “Sweet Dreams”

(Dir by Mark Tinker, originally aired on November 14th, 1984)

This week’s episode was all about sleep and the dreams that might come with sleep.

Westphall, as usual, gets the most depressing storyline. He can’t sleep. He has insomnia. Of course, he does. Anything depressing that doesn’t happen to Dr. Morrison will inevitably happen to Dr. Westphall instead.

Dr. Craig tries to figure out why one of his patients died in his sleep with a terrified look on his face. Can a nightmare cause someone to have a heart attack?

Dr. Cavanero diagnoses a man with sleep apnea.

Meanwhile, we get a peek at the dreams of three members of the St. Elsewhere staff.

Luther dreams of being kicked out of the hospital by two security guards. Fortunately, ZZ Top is standing outside of the hospital and they order three women to kidnap Luther in a big red car and turn him into a sharp-dressed man. Luther and his new friends invade the hospital, toss out the security guards, and invite Warren Coolidge to come hang out with them. ZZ Top performs Legs, which seems odd since the song is about a woman who has legs and knows how to use them but Luther is the one getting the makeover. Well, whatever. It’s a cute dream and a nice break from Dr. Westphall looking depressed.

Both Victor and Jack agree to take part in a sleep study. Victor is yanked out of the study by Dr. Craig but, before that happens, we do get to see Victor’s dream of washing up on an island that is ruled by Amazons.

As for Jack Morrison’s recurring dream, it’s just about as dark as you would expect when it comes to the only character who has suffered more heartache than Dr. Westphall. In Morrison’s dream, he finds himself wandering around the deserted hospital. He hears someone playing Led Zeppelin in the morgue. He goes down there and discovers Peter White waiting for him.

Morrison and White speak. Even in death, White is whiny and defensive. Morrison repeatedly asks whether or not White was the ski mask rapist and, every time, White refuses to give a direct answer. However, when Morrison is about to leave the morgue, White is suddenly wearing a blue ski mask. Morrison wakes up from each dream with a jolt, terrified to face the truth about the man who he defended against his better judgment.

(I have to admit that, if I was a nurse or a doctor at St. Eligius, I would have mixed feelings about Morrison. Yes, he seems to be well-meaning and he’s suffered his share of tragedy. But the fact that he continued to be a friend — albeit with a certain ambivalence — to Dr. White would make me very uncomfortable. I know that Morrison would probably point out that Dr. White was acquitted but everyone at the hospital knew he was guilty. Everyone but Morrison, apparently.)

This was a good episode and a bit of a reset after all the drama of the Peter White storyline. Well-directed, well-acted, and very atmospheric, this was St. Elsewhere at its best.