Dorian Lopinto – 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 Thursdays, I will be reviewing Hunter, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1991. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!

This week, Hunter and McCall investigate a rich girl for murder.

Episode 2.4 “Rich Girl”

(Dir by James Whitmore, Jr., originally aired on October 19th, 1985)

When an elderly millionaire named Ralph Flagg (Robert Rockwell) is shot and nearly killed, his much younger wife, Ginger (Lois Hamilton), is arrested for the crime. Even though she’s acquitted, McCall and Hunter continue to believe Ginger tried to kill her husband for his money. When Ginger plunges off a balcony, they start to have their doubts. What if the mastermind behind the violence is actually Ralph’s daughter, Cynthia (Dorian Lopinto)? Hunter goes undercover as a former basketball player turned golf hustler and gets close to both Cynthia and her loutish boyfriend, Bradley (John Calvin).

The plot doesn’t provide as many twists as one might hope. From the start, it’s made clear that Cynthia and Bradley are the murderers. Bradley may be the more openly evil of the two, but Cynthia is definitely the mastermind. When it starts to seem as if Bradley is going to turn on her, Cynthia shoots him and then claims it was self-defense. When it appears that Cynthia is going to get away with that murder as well, Hunter and McCall convince Ralph to change his will so Cynthia must confess to her crimes if she wants to inherit his fortune. Cynthia responds by going home, grinding a couple of pills into her ice cream, and then apparently committing suicide while a tear rolls down her cheek.

Agck!

That ending really took me by surprise. Cynthia went from being the episode’s villain to an almost tragic figure. That said, I’m not really a fan of Hunter and McCall hounding people into suicide. I would much rather they just make good arrests, but that’s not their style.

At least this episode didn’t end with Hunter saying, “Works for me.”

Welcome to 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 the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986! The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!

This week’s cruise proves that you never knew who you would see on The Love Boat as both Jill St. John and Ron “Horshack” Pallilo set sail for adventure.

Episode 4.17 “Lose One, Win One/The $10,000 Lover/Mind My Wife”

(Dir by Jack Arnold, originally aired on January 31st, 1981)

I have often said that the least believable thing about The Love Boat has been its portrayal of Doc Bricker (played, in likable but mild-mannered fashion, by Bernie Kopell) as being a legendary seducer. This week’s episode, however, features something that is even less believable. Ron Pallilo (yes, Horshack from Welcome Back, Kotter) plays Casper Martin, the world’s most successful lover.

Yes, seriously.

Now, in the show’s defense, everyone points out that Casper is a bit on the …. nerdy side. Gopher even calls him a nerd and if there’s anything that Gopher knows about, it’s being a nerd. But apparently, women are supposed to find Casper to be irresistible. (Speaking for myself …. uhmm, no.) Though Casper himself doesn’t know it, he boards the ship just five sexual encounters away from setting the world record. On the first day of the cruise, he takes it down to just being two encounters away. (SERIOUSLY — WHO TAKES A CRUISE AND HAS SEX WITH HORSHACK!?) Casper’s friend, Tony Streeter (James Darren), works for The Encyclopedia of World Records and is keeping track.

But then Casper meets the equally quirky Norma Kittredge (Gina Hecht) and falls in love and decides that he’s ready to settle down. Will the record never be broken!?

Meanwhile, another passenger — Nick Rondo (Steve Marachuk) — is convinced that rich Priscilla Hensley (Dorian Lopinto) is actually Penny, a girl that he went to high school with. It turns out that he’s right but Priscilla is lying about her background so that she can marry a rich snob named Buckstone Cooper (Sam Chew, Jr.). Who will Penny pick? Blue collar Nick or snobbish Buckstone? Do you really have to ask?

Finally, Doc is excited because his old friend, Dr. Charlie Wilson (James MacKrell) has booked a cruise with his wife, Sandy (Jill St. John). Unfortunately, Dr. Wilson has to back out of the cruise to perform surgery so Sandy sails alone. Charlie asks Doc to look after his wife and Doc agrees. However, Doc soon comes to fear that Sandy is interested in more than just friendship. (Yes, this is the cruise where Horshack gets laid while Doc — for the first time ever — tries to resist temptation.) No worries, Doc! Sandy is more interested in Captain Stubing than her husband’s best friend.

This episode was a bit on the dull side. Perhaps if Barbarino or even Epstein has taken the cruise instead of Horshack, things would have been a bit more entertaining but, as it was, this cruise didn’t make much of an impression. Even the usually reliable Jill St. John seemed to be a bit bored by the whole thing. Hopefully, next week’s episode will have something for everyone.