Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 3.21 “The Strippers”

Posted on May 19, 2025 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 Mondays, I will be reviewing CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983. The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!

This week, the hills have eyes.

Episode 3.21 “The Strippers”

(Dir by Don Weis, originally aired on February 16th, 1980)

Calm down, boys, we’re not talking those types of strippers!

This episode of CHiPs finds Ponch and Jon searching through the California hill country for two rednecks who are stealing cars and stripping them for the parts. One of the strippers is a fat guy who likes to sing while he’s working. The other is a guy played by Evan C. Kim, who later played Clint Eastwood’s partner in The Dead Pool. Baker’s girlfriend’s car gets stolen so this one is …. wait for it …. PERSONAL! Of course, this being CHiPs, the episode is still mostly about Ponch even though Baker’s the one with a personal stake in the case.

It turns out that Ponch and Jon aren’t the only ones investigating crimes in the hills of California. The DEA is investigating a drug-running operation and they really don’t want to two motorcycle cops getting in the way. (Doesn’t the DEA understand that motorcycles are cool? At least they’re not bike cops like those schmucks on Pacific Blue.) The head drug smuggler is played by Morgan Woodward, who was a veteran of the western genre. The old cowboys are smuggling cocaine into Los Angeles. It’s like an extremely depressing country song. There’s no more cattle but there’s plenty of the devil’s dandruff to be sold.

If I seem to be rambling, it’s because there’s not really much to say about this episode. Airing, as it did, late in the season, it’s hard not to feel that show’s writers were probably tired and out-of-ideas when it came to coming up with the plot for this one. Ponch and Jon catch the car strippers who have information on the drug dealers. The car strippers turn informant and hope that they’ll get a deal as a result. Let’s hope so because prison is not a friendly environment to snitches.

This episode did feature one nicely-filmed accident scene, featuring multiple cars flying through the air (in glorious slo mo of doom!) and a bunch of broken glass. Bonnie and Bear cleaned up the accident site so that Ponch and Baker could get back to searching for the car thieves. That was nice of them. It’s all about team work!

THE DEAD POOL – the 5th and final Dirty Harry adventure!

Posted on December 6, 2024 by Bradley Crain

Dirty Harry Callahan has brought so much joy into my life. I remember when I was in 5th Grade in 1983, the hot phrase was “Go ahead. Make my day.” You heard that phrase everywhere. It may have been said by Dirty Harry in the 4th Harry Callahan adventure, SUDDEN IMPACT, but it transcended the movie and became a cultural phenomenon. Somewhere between 1983 and 1988, I was able to watch all of the Dirty Harry films, DIRTY HARRY, MAGNUM FORCE, THE ENFORCER and SUDDEN IMPACT. I just loved Harry. He was always sticking it to his superiors, and then doing whatever it took to take out the bad guys. That was an amazing combination for me. I was 14 years old when the 5th and final Dirty Harry film, THE DEAD POOL, was released into the theaters in July of 1988. This was the first Dirty Harry film to be released after our family got our VCR in the mid 80’s. I couldn’t wait to rent it.

In THE DEAD POOL, Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) finds himself the target of crime boss Lou Janero, as Harry was crucial in his arrest and subsequent conviction. This high profile news story has caught the attention of the horror film director, Peter Swan (Liam Neeson). It’s seems Swan and some of his friends are playing a twisted game called “the dead pool” where they predict the deaths of certain celebrities based on various factors going on in their lives. Harry Callahan is a local celebrity and Swan includes him on his list due to his role in the Janero conviction. This “dead pool” game is leaked to reporter Samantha Walker (Patricia Clarkson) after the murder of Johnny Squares (Jim Carrey), who’s on Peter Swan’s list. As celebrities who are on Swan’s list continue to die, Harry and his partner Al Kwan (Evan C. Kim) try to figure out if Swan is behind the killings, or if someone else is trying to frame him, all while trying to keep themselves alive!

There are so many cool and interesting things about THE DEAD POOL. First, there has never been a character any more awesome than Harry Callahan, as played by Clint Eastwood. He will do whatever it takes to get the bad guys, regardless of what his superiors think. As a rule follower, I absolutely love Harry’s approach to life and live vicariously through him. Only vigilante Paul Kersey, played by Charles Bronson in the DEATH WISH films, rivals Callahan in his willingness to fight for justice, everyone else be damned! Second, future superstar actor Jim Carrey has the role of Johnny Squares, the drug-addicted rocker whose death kicks off the public’s knowledge of the dead pool. In hindsight, it’s fun seeing Carrey as a working actor in 1988, while also knowing that he’d become one of the biggest stars in the world over the next decade. It’s also pretty cool seeing a pre-superstar Liam Neeson as horror director Peter Swan. Third, in the late 80’s, I loved the rock group Guns N Roses. The group members are in this film in two places. They’re in the sequence where a harpoon stunt goes wrong, as well as at the funeral of Johnny Squares. Hell, guitarist Slash gets to fire the harpoon! Their hit song “Welcome to the Jungle” also has a prominent part in the film. I loved their other hits “Sweet Child of Mine,” and “Paradise City,” when I was a teenager. Fourth, I always love Harry’s catchphrases from the films. Each Dirty Harry film has its own catchphrase, including examples like “Do you feel lucky?” and “Go ahead. Make my day.” In THE DEAD POOL, various bad guys get “you’re shit out of luck.” Shit is a favorite curse word of my family, so I like this one. Fifth, THE DEAD POOL has a crazy car chase sequence. In this sequence, Harry and his partner Al Kwan find themselves chased by a remote-controlled car packing a bomb. It makes for some interesting visuals as the tiny car chases them through those familiar streets of San Francisco. It’s not often that filmmakers can come up with a new way to present a car chase, but they do a great job here. Finally, I enjoy seeing the media getting skewered in THE DEAD POOL. Patricia Clarkson’s reporter character has a solid arc as she goes from someone at the beginning of the movie who will do anything to get an exclusive story, to someone who is even willing to forego the exclusive if it’s the “right thing to do.” Our media is a hopeless mess these days where opinion is treated as facts, and actual facts are treated as an option. Where’s Dirty Harry to clean this up in 2024?

I’m a fan of THE DEAD POOL, and I probably watch it every year or two. If you haven’t ever seen it, or if it’s been a while, I’d definitely recommend it!

Film Review: Cocaine and Blue Eyes (1983, directed by E.W. Swackhamer)

Posted on June 13, 2019 by Jedadiah Leland

When San Francisco-based private investigator Michael Brennen (O.J. Simpson) gives a ride to Joey Crawford (John Spencer) on Christmas Eve, he doesn’t know that it’s going to lead to the biggest case of his career. When Joey asks Michael to help him track down his ex-girlfriend, Michael assumes that Joey would never be able to pay for his investigative services. But one week later, Michael gets something in the mail from Joey. Inside the envelope, there’s a picture of both Joey’s ex and a thousand dollar bill. Ever after he discovers that Joey was mysteriously killed the night before, Michael decides to take on the case. His investigation will take him not only to Joey’s ex but it will also lead to him uncovering a drug ring that involves one of San Francisco’s most prominent families.

Simpson not only starred in this made-for-TV movie but he also served as executive producer. Watching the movie, it’s obvious that it was meant to serve as a pilot for a Michael Brennen TV series and it’s also just as obvious why that series never happened. O.J. Simpson was not a terrible actor but, ironically for someone who set records as an NFL player, there was nothing tough about him. Simpson may be playing a two-fisted, cash-strapped P.I. but, in every scene, he comes across like he can’t wait to hit the golf course. Simpson’s pleasant demeanor may have served him well in other areas of his life but it didn’t help him with this role. Whenever Simpson has to share a scene with John Spencer, Candy Clark, Cliff Gorman, or any of the other members of this film’s surprisingly talented supporting cast, Simpson’s bland screen presence and lack of gravitas becomes all the more apparent.

Of course, when seen today, the main problem with Cocaine and Blue Eyes is that it’s impossible to watch without thinking, “Hey, didn’t the star of this movie get away with killing his wife and an innocent bystander?” Even the most innocuous of lines take on a double meaning when they’re uttered by O.J. Simpson. It doesn’t help that the movie opens with Michael visiting his estranged wife and their children on Christmas Eve and getting chased around the neighborhood by a guard dog. When the movie was made, this scene was probably included so that O.J. could show off some of the moves that made him a star at UCLA and with the Bills. Seen today, the scene takes on a whole different meaning.

Without O.J. Simpson, Cocaine and Blue Eyes could easily pass for being an extended episode of Magnum P.I., Simon and Simon, or any other detective show from the 80s. With Simpson, it becomes a pop cultural relic. I don’t think it’s ever been released on DVD but it is available on YouTube, where it can be viewed by O.J. Simpson completists everywhere.

Film Review: The Dead Pool (directed by Buddy Van Horn)

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi there! Today, I will be concluding my look at the Dirty Harry series with the final film in the franchise, 1988’s The Dead Pool.

Harry’s back and he’s still carrying a gun. He’s also older, wrinklier, grouchier, and suddenly famous because he’s just given testimony in a mob boss’s trial. You would think that Harry would already be famous seeing as how he not only killed the Scorpio Killer but he also rescured the Mayor from all those communists. But, I guess that’s what Harry gets for living in the same city that’s been sending Nancy Pelosi to Congress for the last 100 years.

Harry and his new partner (Evan C. Kim) are assigned to investigate the death of rock star Johnny Squares (Jim Carrey). Harry immediately suspects that the murderer was pretentious film director Peter Swan (Liam Neeson). This is largely because Swan makes the type of horror films that inspire Harry to snarl with disdain. It also turns out that Swan has been playing a “dead pool” game and that the various celebrities on his list have been getting killed. And guess what? Harry’s name is also on that list…

The Dead Pool was the final Dirty Harry film and, in many ways, it also feels like the most generic. Whereas Dirty Harry actually had quite a lot on its mind and the first three sequels at least pretended to be concerned about something more than just mayhem, The Dead Pool is often content to be a rather cartoonish action film. With the exception of a rather witty car chase involving a remote-controlled toy car that’s been strapped with an explosive, the action scenes are predictable and Eastwood’s character could just as easily have been named Spinner Mason or Eli Goldworthy. There’s simply no huge reason for this film to be a Dirty Harry film, beyond the fact that it wouldn’t show up on AMC every few weeks if it wasn’t.

And yet, it’s impossible for me not to like The Dead Pool. Though the film might feel generic overall, there’s still the occasional moments that hint that the movie is actually a bit smarter than it might first appear to be. Considering that the film largely takes place on a movie set and features a film critic among its victims, it’s tempting to see The Dead Pool as being almost a spoof on both the Dirty Harry films themselves and the controversy that’s been generated by their violent content. It makes sense that Harry Callahan’s name would appear on Swan’s dead pool list because, after spending four films battling serial killers, fascists, communists, gangsters, white trash, and a countless amount of bank robbers, the only opponent left for Harry to face is his own reputation.

The Dead Pool has one of the more interesting casts of the Dirty Harry films. After dominating the previous films in the series,Clint Eastwood steps to the side and instead, allows his supporting cast to run off with the movie. It’s a little bit bizarre to see Jim Carrey playing a rock star (and even more bizarre to see him lip-synching to Welcome to Jungle) but that odd touch seems strangely appropriate for a film that doesn’t seem to be too concerned with much more than being entertaining. Evan C. Kim is one of Harry’s more likable partners and Liam Neeson, complete with pony tail and superior attitude, is a lot of fun to watch as he spoofs every single pretentious filmmaker that you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to have taken a film class with.

For a lot of reasons, The Dead Pool was the last of the Dirty Harry films. It was a box office disappointment and, even way back in 1988, Eastwood looked a just little bit old for an action hero. Eastwood has said that he has no interest in playing the character again and that’s probably for the best because, after five films, you have to wonder just what exactly was left for Harry to deal with. (That said, I’ve always thought of Gran Torino as being the unofficial sixth Dirty Harry film.)

Well, that concludes my look at the Dirty Harry film series and, not coincidentally, it also concludes the month of September as well! Starting tomorrow, along with all the other usual great stuff that you expect from us at the Shattered Lens, we’re going to be starting horror month!

Enjoy!