2017 In Review: 10 Good Things Lisa Marie Saw on Television in 2017

Posted on January 12, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

So, here I am.

I’m sitting here and I’m trying to make out my annual list of the good things that I saw on television last year and I just realized something.

I didn’t watch much TV last year. Oh, don’t get me wrong. The television was often on, in order to provide background noise. I’m not a huge fan of silence. But it was usually just tuned to something random. It was rare that I ever said, “Oh my God, I have to watch this.”

Oh well. Let’s see what I can come up with:

Twin Peaks: The Return. I already devoted an entire post to how much I loved Twin Peaks: The Return. But literally, this was probably the only show that I really looked forward to watching on a weekly basis. This was the only show that I thought about between episodes. And this is the only show that continues to haunt me now that it’s over.
The original Twin Peaks. The first two seasons of Twin Peaks are available on Netflix. Jeff, Leonard, and I spent a month watching and reviewing them. Twin Peaks was definitely responsible for some of the best things that appeared on this site last year.
The Finale of Bates Motel. This one of the best finales that I’ve ever seen. This show, which I think everyone expected to fail, instead became one of the best shows on television and it ended perfectly.
Degrassi. I’ve had some issue with the last few seasons of Degrassi but it’s still my favorite Canadian television show.
The Deuce. David Simon’s look at Times Square in the 70s may not have reached the level of The Wire but it was definitely better than Treme.
Episodes. Showtime’s Episodes was never a good show but it certainly was fun to hatewatch.
Veep. Even though this was definitely the show’s weakest season, Veep still provided some of the best political satire around.
That episode of South Park where Donald Trump dared the North Koreans to nuke Tweek’s home.
All of the shows on ID and Crime and Investigation Network. All of the true crime programming may be disturbing but it’s also undeniably addictive.
Chiller. Chiller shut down on December 31st. I’ll miss it.

And finally, the worst thing that I saw on television in 2017:

The Murder of Laci Peterson. This multi-party A&E documentary was an obvious attempt to 1) duplicate the success of O.J.: Made in America and 2) exonerate Scott Perterson for the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci. Laci’s name may have appeared in the title but she was mostly an afterthought as the majority of the show’s running time was devoted to Scott’s creepy sister and her attempts to spring him from prison. Heavy-handed, manipulative, and way too smug for its own good, the show did inspire a lot of people twitter to declare their belief in Scott’s innocence. (The show’s argument, by the way, was that Laci was murdered by a Satanic cult because, as one Modesto detective put it, Meth addicts are very superstitious.)

Tomorrow, our look back at 2017 continues with my picks for the best novels of 2017!

Previous entries in the TSL’s Look Back at 2017:

Music Video of the Day: My Window by Jake Epstein (2008, dir by ????)

Posted on November 10, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi there! Lisa here, recovering from my birthday and bringing you today’s music video of the day!

Today’s music video of the day comes from a Canadian show that is very close to my heart … no, not Saved By The Bell: The New Class. That show wasn’t Canadian. I’m talking about Degrassi!

Starting with the second season, Jake Epstein was a regular on Degrassi. Epstein played Craig Manning, the bipolar photographer-turned-musician who, over the course of his time on the show, did everything from impregnating Manny to beating up Joey Jeremiah to eventually breaking the hearts of both Ellie Nash and Ashley Kerwin. He even befriended Kevin Smith!

In the middle of the fifth season, Epstein left the show and Craig left Toronto. However, even though he was no longer a regular character, Craig would occasionally return to Degrassi. For instance, during season 6, he came back to play a show and, as a result of snorting too much cocaine before taking the stage, ended up having a massive nose bleed in the middle of his performance. Agck!

Fortunately, Craig went to rehab and was able to return during the season 7 episode, Bust a Move. Playing a surprise show at a Canadian college and reconnecting with two of his exes, Craig also found time to perform My Window, a song that, in real life, was written by Jake Epstein.

The video above was released around the same time that Bust a Move premiered in the States. It’s an official video, even if it is mostly made up of clips taken from previous episodes of Degrassi. Unfortunately, most of those scenes were lifted from his season 6 return. I would have liked to have seen more scenes between Craig and Ellie. (I used to think that Ellie was totally me but, while recently rewatching the show, I realized that I actually had more in common with Ashley.)

Anyway, I can hear the eyes rolling already but cut me some slack. I love Degrassi! Add to that, this is actually a pretty good song. I love Jake Epstein’s voice. Along with appearing on Degrassi and countless Lifetime films, Epstein is also a respected musical theater actor. Among his credits: American Idiot, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

Enjoy!

Cleaning Out the DVR: The Wrong Crush (dir by David DeCoteau)

Posted on November 5, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

(Lisa is currently in the process of cleaning out her DVR! It’s going to take a while because Lisa has over 200 things recorded. However, one thing is for sure: it’s all getting erased on January 15th. Will Lisa be able to watch everything before doomsday? Keep checking here to find out! She recorded The Wrong Crush off of Lifetime on July 2nd!)

The mistakes of the past. Can we overcome them? Can we forgive ourselves? Can we convince others to forgive us? Can we ever recover or are we destined to be forever punished?

These are some of the questions asked in The Wrong Crush. Veteran Lifetime viewers will, of course, immediately recognize that this is one of the many “wrong” films that David DeCoteau has directed for Lifetime. There’s also The Wrong Roommate, The Wrong Student, and The Wrong Child. Myself, I always look forward to the latest “Wrong” film because they’re usually enjoyably (and intentionally) melodramatic and, as a director, DeCoteau always seems to have a sense of humor about going through all the of the required Lifetime “beats.” At times, the characters in these films almost seem to be aware that they’re appearing in a Lifetime film. Also, DeCoteau always seems to film in the nicest houses in Canada. One of the fun things about watching a Lifetime film is getting to see where everyone lives and the Wrong films always seem to take place in the right homes.

Anyway, in this one, Victoria Konefal plays Amelia. A few years ago, Amelia did nothing but party and drink. But then, after a car crash claimed the life of her best friend, Amelia straightened out her life. Though she’s still on probation and her own mother (Lesli Kay) doesn’t seem to want to have much to do with her, Amelia is doing her best not to fall back into her old ways. She doesn’t drink. She goes to therapy, even though she rarely agrees with what her therapist has to say. She’s channeled her anger into running and now, she’s the star of her high school’s track team. It even appears that she might set a few records before the year is over.

She’s even got a boyfriend. Well, kinda. Scott (Pedro Correa) is nice and super supportive but he only moved to town a year ago so he doesn’t know all of the details about Amelia’s former life. He’s heard rumors but he doesn’t know that she’s on probation or that some people still blame her for the death of her friend. Whenever he starts to get too close, Amelia pushes him away.

Plus, there’s a new guy at school! Jake (Ricardo Hoyos) is handsome, charming, and polite. And, like Amelia, he’s got some secrets in his past. He was kicked out of military school, for one thing. Soon, Jake and Amelia are growing close. Scott may not like it but Scott should be more concerned with the drugs that Jake’s hidden in his locker. See, Jake has an agenda of his own. He also has a really big knife that he’s not afraid to use…

For the most part, The Wrong Crush is an enjoyable Lifetime melodrama but Amelia’s strained relationship with her mother and her struggle to forgive herself serve to give this film a little more emotional resonance than the other Wrong films. Victoria Konefal and Lesli Kay both gave good performances and Ricardo Hoyos really threw himself into the role of Jake. Those who know Hoyos best for playing sweet-but-stupid Zig on Degrassi will be in for a surprise when they watch The Wrong Crush.

A Blast From The Past: Degrassi of the Dead

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, Halloween and this year’s horrorthon are both nearly over.

Since I started things off with The Curse of Degrassi, it only seems appropriate for me to end my part of it with Degrassi of the Dead! This 10 minute film takes a non-canonical look at what would happen to everyone’s favorite Canadian high school if there was a zombie apocalypse!

(By the way, I know what you’re thinking but this was actually made in 2007, long before the premiere of The Walking Dead.)

Enjoy watching Drake turn into a zombie!

Horror on TV: The Curse of Degrassi (dir by Stefan Brogren)

Posted on October 1, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Can you believe it? The first day of Horrorthon is nearly over! I’ve got tears in my mismatched eyes.

You may remember, from previous horrorthons, that I like to end each day in October by sharing a classic example of televised horror. Much as with the the horror movies that I share at the start of each day, it should be remembered that I’m a bit at the whim of YouTube here. If YouTube decides to yank down a video after I share it on this site, there’s nothing that I can do about it. That’s why I encourage everyone to watch these now! Don’t wait until 2024. Who knows if YouTube will even still be a thing in 2024?

Anyway, let’s start things off with The Curse of Degrassi!

This is a special episode of my favorite TV show of all, Degrassi! Originally airing on October 28th, 2008, The Curse of Degrassi features Degrassi’s main mean girl, Holy J Sinclair (Charlotte Arnold), getting possessed by the vengeful spirit of deceased school shooter, Rick Murray (Ephraim Ellis). Chaos follows! Fortunately, Spinner (Shane Kippel) is around to save the day. As any true Degrassi fan can tell you, only Spinner has a chance against the forces of the undead.

Enjoy!

(Before anyone asks, yes, I did share this same episode last October. What can I say? I really like Degrassi and forcing people to watch my favorite Canadian obsession is a bit of a tradition around here. We’re all about tradition here at the Shattered Lens.)

Music Video of the Day: Pretty Life by Jakalope (2004, dir by Lisa Mann and Vincent Marcone)

Posted on July 8, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The latest season of Degrassi dropped on Netflix today. Val’s already watched it and I’ll probably watch it this weekend.

In honor of this occasion, today’s music video of the day comes from the Canadian band, Jakalope. Not only was Jakalope’s best-known song, Feel It, prominently featured in the classic Ghost in the Machine episode of Degrassi but Jakalope also performed Degrassi’s opening theme song from season 4 to season 7. Part of my ritual, before watching any season of Degrassi, is to spend an hour listening to Jakalope. It gets me just in the right mood. My Canadian friends understand.

Pretty Life comes from Jakalope’s debut album, It Dreams. (It Dreams was co-produced by Trent Reznor and his unmistakable influence in present in both the songs and the videos.) After watching Pretty Life, be sure to check out the videos for Feel It and Go Away.

As an extra bonus, here is Jakalope performing the Degrassi theme song during season 4:

And here is the instrumental version that was used during seasons 6 and 7. These opening credits are taken from season 7. (If the opening credits seem a bit crowded that’s because, during season 7, apparently every teenager in Canada had a role on Degrassi.)

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Upfront With You By Universal Honey (1996, dir by ?????)

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As we all know, music video of the day has always been and always will be Val’s baby. Starting with If You Don’t Know Me By Now in June of 2016, Val has shared and analyzed over 300 music videos! It’s become one of my favorite of our regular features here on the Shattered Lens.

As most of you know, for health reasons, Val is taking a temporary break from this feature. Until Val comes back, I figured that I might occasionally share a video or two. Admittedly, I do not have Val’s encyclopedic knowledge of music (and I should admit that my musical taste pretty much begins and ends with EDM) but what Val and I do share is a deep appreciation for a little Canadian show called Degrassi.

See, it was that love of Degrassi that led me to the video below. Earlier tonight, I was rewatching Death of a Disco Dancer, the third episode of Degrassi’s fifth season. In this episode, Paige is upset that her friend, co-worker, and classmate, Alex, doesn’t seem to care about going to college. When Degrassi hosts a college fair, Paige attempts to entice Alex to attend by offering her a joint.

“Will you go if you’re high?” Paige asks.

“I’ll go if you’re high,” Alex answers.

The two of them duck into an alley and light up the joint. What follows is perhaps the best three minute montage in the history of Degrassi as a very stoned Paige and Alex walk through the fair, giggling at all the Canadian college recruiters. It’s all good fun until Paige discovers that a friend of her mother’s is at the fair. Uh-oh!

Anyway, I’ve always loved the song that plays during the montage. It’s called Upfront With You and it’s performed by a Canadian band called Universal Honey. After watching the episode tonight, I looked the song up on YouTube and that’s when I came across the video that was made for it in 1996.

Now, despite doing a handful of Google searches, I can’t tell you who directed or worked on this video. I can tell you that Universal Honey has been around since 1992 and the band is made up of Leslie Stanwyck and Johnny Sinclair. (Before Universal Honey, they were both in a band called The Pursuit of Happiness.) Up Front With You is off of their first album, Magic Basement.

Not surprisingly, this is a Canadian band. One of the great things about Degrassi is that it exposed me to a lot of Canadian bands that I, as an American, might otherwise have never heard of.

Anyway, enjoy!

Horror on TV: The Curse of Degrassi (dir by Stefan Brogren)

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, can you believe it? Halloween is nearly over! In just four more hours, it will be midnight on the West Coast and October will officially be ended and so will our annual horrorthon. Thank you to everyone who contributed and read and commented this year! Y’all make all the hard work more than worth it!

Well, here’s our final excursion into the world of televised horror. Ready for it? I’m getting a little teary-eyed.

This is a special episode of my favorite TV show of all, Degrassi! Originally aired on October 28th, 2008, The Curse of Degrassi features Degrassi’s main mean girl, Holy J Sinclair (Charlotte Arnold), getting possessed by the vengeful spirit of deceased school shooter, Rick Murray (Ephraim Ellis). Chaos follows!

Happy Halloween and Enjoy!

Love you!

The TSL’s Daily Horror Grindhouse: The Night Before Halloween (dir by Sheldon Wilson)

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

‘Twas the night before Halloween

when all through the house

not a creature was stirring

except for a Bowman

whose name was Lisa Marie”

— Traditional Bowman Folk Song

And why was I stirring?

Well, first off, that’s what I tend to do. However, on top of that, I was also stirring because I was watching SyFy’s latest original film, The Night Before Halloween. I was excited because The Night Before Halloween was full of Degrassi actors!

For instance, Jahmil French played the nerdy but cool Dave Turner on Degrassi. In The Night Before Halloween, he plays Kyle. Kyle’s a teenager with a curse. Basically, unless he can trick someone into killing another person, a supernatural creature will kill him on Halloween night. It’s a bit like the It Follows curse, except that the curse isn’t passed on by sex. Instead, it’s passed by fooling someone else into committing murder. In other words, transmitting The Night Before Halloween curse is a lot less fun than transmitting the It Follows curse.

On Degrassi, Justin Kelly played Jake Martin, a handsome and lovable stoner. In The Night Before Halloween, Justin Kelly plays Adam, who is handsome and lovable and probably likes to get high, even though we never see him do so in the film. Adam, unfortunately, is friends with Kyle. When Kyle tricks Adam in taking part in a prank that leads to the electrocution of Beth (Natalie Ganzhorn), Adam finds himself being pursued by the monster. Can he and his girlfriend, Megan (Bailee Madison), survive?

On Degrassi, Alex Harrouch played Leo, the abusive boyfriend (and briefly, husband) of Alli. In The Night Before Halloween, Harrouch plays a much more sympathetic character, Wyatt. At first, Wyatt is likable and nerdy but then Kyle tricks him into helping to kill Beth. Leo is the first of the friends to understand what has happened but, when he tried to inform his friends, they ignored his calls and texts. So, as Leo puts it, he made some new friends, with names like Benny and Oxy. Leo has had to do some terrible things to survive and he’s been left a haunted shell of his former self.

The final member of this group of friends is Lindsay. Lindsay is played by Kiana Madeira, who does not have a Degrassi connection but still does a good job in her role. Lindsay may start as a skeptic but soon, she’s willing to do almost anything to get rid of the curse.

Anyway, of all the It Follows-inspired films that showed up on SyFy this October, The Night Before Halloween was definitely the best. It was well-acted and directed and the supernatural monster (which usually manifested itself as a swarm of flies) was creepy. Best of all, the film fully embraced and explored the question of how far people would go to survive. In The Night Before Halloween, the only way to escape the curse is to betray someone. While you may not be surprised when the friends start to betray each other, you’ll still never guess just how far one of them is willing to go. You may even find yourself considering just how far you would go to save your life.

The Night Before Halloween is a very well-done SyFy shocker. Even if it didn’t have the Degrassi connection, it would still be one to track down.

Back to School Part II #44: Degrassi Takes Manhattan (dir by Stefan Brogren)

Posted on September 17, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Cassie Steele, Mike Lobel, Miriam McDonald, and Shane Kippel in Degrassi Takes Manhattan

(Much as with my previous post, this review probably will not much sense to you unless you’re a longtime Degrassi fan like me. Sorry!)

One year after Degrassi Goes Hollywood, the third Degrassi movie was released. Degrassi Takes Manhattan was broadcast on July 9th, 2010 and, ratings-wise, it was a huge success. Not only did it bring TeenNick its highest ratings ever, it was the number one show viewed by teens that summer.

Why was it such a huge success?

Largely, it was because Degrassi Takes Manhattan served as not only the conclusion to season 9 but it was also the finale of Degrassi: The Next Generation. By the end of Degrassi Takes Manhattan, all of the original Degrassi: TNG plotlines had been resolved. Emma Nelson, who was the show’s main character for 6 seasons, married Spinner Mason. When the series returned for season 10, it would drop The Next Generation from its title and it would simply be known as Degrassi. All of the original characters would be gone, replaced with new students. Degrassi Takes Manhattan was a chance to celebrate what had been and a chance to say goodbye.

And yet, Degrassi Takes Manhattan remains very controversial among the Degrassi fandom. To be honest, a lot of people can’t stand it. My feelings on it are mixed, though I tend to like it more than some.

One of the big problems with Degrassi Takes Manhattan is that none of the original characters actually go to Manhattan. Emma, Manny, Spinner, and Jay all remain in Canada. Instead, the Manhattan portion of the film features Holly J. Sinclair (Charlotte Arnold), Fiona Coyne (Annie Clark), Jane (Paul Brancati), and Fiona’s creepy twin brother, Declan (Landon Liboiron). The New York portion of the film deals with Fiona, Holly J, Declan, and Jane all staying in a Manhattan penthouse and having various adventures in New York. As seems to happen to at least one Degrassi student ever semester, Jane launches a singing career. Holly J interns and falls in love with Declan. Fiona get jealous. It’s nothing all that interesting though it does feature the classic line, “This is New York Holly J, bitch!”

(Say what you will about the character she was playing, Charlotte Arnold was always great at delivering angry one-liners.)

Instead, the part of the film that everyone remembers is Emma (Miriam McDonald) falling in love with Spinner (Shane Kippel) and drunkenly marrying him at Niagara Falls. After Spinner and Emma first look into getting an annulment, they suddenly realize that they really do want to spend the rest of their lives together and they have a recommitment ceremony at the beach!

And it’s actually a pretty sweet scene. As someone who has watched every season of Degrassi, I liked the scene at the beach. It provided closures for a lot of characters. But, that doesn’t change the fact that it didn’t make any sense! In the 9 seasons that led up to Degrassi Takes Manhattan, Spinner and Emma interacted with each other a few times during the first season but, otherwise, they never had much to do with each other. The two of them falling in love came out of nowhere and, at the risk of being dramatic, it almost felt like a betrayal. Anyone who has ever watched Degrassi (and those would be the only people who would really have a reason to watch Manhattan), knows that Emma’s soul mate was Sean Cameron. As for Spinner — well, he dated pretty much everyone on the show at some point, with the notable exception of his future wife, Emma. I always thought he and Darcy made a good couple but, by the time Manhattan went into production, Shenae Grimes was starring on 90210 and presumably wasn’t available to return so that Darcy could get married.

(One thing I did like about the ceremony is that it was conducted by Jay Hogart — played, of course, by Mike Lobel. Jay, of course, was once responsible for Emma getting gonorrhea so it’s nice to see that she’s so forgiving. That said, Jay did look pretty hot all dressed up…)

In the years since this movie aired, snarky fans like me have been joking about how Spinner and Emma probably got divorced a week after the beach ceremony. But, as we all learned from watching the recent reunion episode on Netflix, Spinner and Emma are apparently still married! Well, good for them.

Anyway, controversy aside, I still liked Degrassi Takes Manhattan but, then again, I like anything related to Degrassi. As opposed to School’s Out and Degrassi Goes Hollywood, Degrassi Takes Manhattan is for hardcore Degrassi fans only.