Welcome to 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 City Guys, which ran on NBC from 1997 to 2001.  Almost the entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

This week, City Guys finally comes to an end.

Episode 5.25 “And Then There Were None”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on December 8th, 2001)

Having graduated from Manny High, the gang (and Ms. Noble!) gather together at the Manhattan Diner so that they can remember all of the adventures they had over the past five years of high school.  I can understand a group of high school friends wanting to get together for one last time before going to college but what is the principal doing there?  I mean, Ms. Noble has retired.  Why isn’t she hanging out with her husband?  Why isn’t she in the Hamptons?  WHY IS SHE STILL HANGING OUT WITH THESE KIDS!?

Anyway, as you may have guessed, this is a clip show.  We get clips of Dawn crusading for the environment during the first season and then a scene of her getting drunk at Chris’s penthouse.  And then we get a clip of that weird time that Ms. Noble tricked L-Train into thinking she couldn’t walk.  We relive a few of the times that Al and L-Train did something stupid.  Cassidy remembers some cringey radio drama that she did with Chris and Jamal and, for some reason, she also remembers Chris’s terrible Austin Powers impersonation.  Finally, Chris and Jamal remember their stupid radio show.  After everyone has left, Chris and Jamal share one final embrace and then Chris leaves Manhattan Diner.  Jamal stands at the booth alone and …. wow, that’s kind of depressing.

In general, I loathe clip shows but I usually make an exception if they are a part of a series finale.  City Guys is a show that I grew tired of reviewing about halfway through the 4th season but the finale actually was kind of touching.  If nothing else, the cast themselves seemed to be genuinely emotional about filming their final scenes together.

However, this effective episode was not the final episode of City Guys to air.  There was one more episode to go….

Episode 5.26 “Al’s In Toyland”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on December 15th, 2001)

As I’ve often said while reviewing both City Guys and Hang Time, NBC didn’t really pay much attention to little things like showing episodes in the order in which they were supposed to be seen.  Nowhere is this more evident than with the final episode City Guys, which finds the gang back in high school despite having graduated and left for college in the previous episodes.  This is because Al In Toyland was not meant to be the series finale.  It was meant to air earlier in the season but it was pushed back because of the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001.

This episode opens by reminding us that Ms. Noble is a monster as she announces that she has signed Jamal, Chris, L-Train, Dawn, and Cassidy up for the marching band without telling them ahead of time.  She explains that they all need an elective arts credit.  (Cassidy has appeared off-Broadway but somehow doesn’t have an elective arts credit?)  The band, of course, practices on the roof of the school and the gang is horrified to discover how uncool the band kids are.

Why isn’t Al in the band?  It’s because he’s working in advertising!  The president of Snappy Toys has hired Al to do commercials for him because he was impressed by Al’s suggestion that “Snappy Toys Ain’t Just For Kids No more” could be their new slogan.  Somehow, this leads to L-Train starring in a commercial.  I mean, it’s strange enough that a company would put Al in charge of their advertising but why would they hire L-Train to star in their commercial?

Snappy Toys asks Al to develop a campaign for a toy gun known as the Annihilator.  L-Train tells a story about a friend of his who entered a store with a toy gun and got shot by the owner.  Al promises that he’ll develop a non-violent commercial for the gun but his boss says that he wants the commercial to look like the “opening scene of Scream!”

While Al works on his advertising career, Chris, Jamal, Dawn, Cassidy, and L-Train discover that the band kids really know how to party.  In fact, they’re throwing a rave …. on the roof of the school!  It turns out that the band has very high standards and, after a pep rally, they kick Chris, Jamal, Dawn, Cassidy, and L-Train out of the band for just not being cool enough.  I guess they listened to Chris and Jamal’s radio show.

Meanwhile, Al sees his younger sibling playing with the guns and pretending to be dead.  He decides that he can’t work for Snappy Toys.  He quits but his boss assures him that, “a kid like you, who stands up for what he believes in — you have a great future.”

And so ends City Guys!  And, to be honest, Al’s In Toyland wasn’t a terrible episode.  I liked the fact that Al’s boss was not portrayed as being some sort of sleazy, money-crazed villain but instead just as a reasonable businessman making business decisions.  And I even liked the band subplot, if just because it featured all of the main characters being put in their place for once.

What is left to say about City Guys?  City Guys was the show that I used to launch Reto Television Reviews.  I’ve been watching and reviewing the show for nearly a year.  At first, I kind of enjoyed the show and then I got kind of annoyed the show and, by the fifth season, I think it was pretty obvious that I was ready to be done with it.  That said, I do feel a little emotional saying goodbye to it.  City Guys was a show that had a few good moments, though it never really escaped the shadow of better Peter Engel-produced shows like California Dreams and Saved By The Bell.

Next week, we’ll be starting a look at a new show on Thursday.  Here’s a preview:

Welcome to 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 City Guys, which ran on NBC from 1997 to 2001.  Almost the entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

It’s taken nearly a year but we’re almost done with City Guys!  This week, it’s time for the last prom and graduation!

Episode 5.23 “Prom-Lems”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on December 1st, 2001)

It’s time for the last prom of the graduating class of Manny High!  Al and Dawn decide that, even though they are broken up, they will still go to the prom together.  L-Train and Jamal try to show their dates a wonderful night but first the limo they ordered cancels and then L-Train fails to make the reservations for dinner at Tavern in the Green.  Not surprisingly, their dates are a bit less than impressed with the idea of having jambalaya at the Manhattan Diner.  Meanwhile, Ms. Noble won’t stop going on about how she doesn’t have anyone to go to prom with because her husband is out of town.  Ms. Noble, once again …. YOU’RE THE PRINCIPAL!  PROM IS NOT ABOUT YOU!  Anyway, Ms. Noble’s husband does come back home in time to take her to prom so, fortunately, everyone is spared from having to listen to Ms. Noble whine about it.

The majority of the episode focuses on Chris and Cassidy.  Chris and Cassidy should be happy because they’re named Prom King and Queen but there’s an issue that could have easily been resolved by everyone not being an idiot and not jumping to conclusions.  When Cassidy learns that Chris is going to give her a ring at prom, she thinks that Chris is not only going to ask her to marry him but that he is also pressure her to go to Duke with him and leave behind her plans of attending Cal Arts.  But, it turns out that Chris just wanted to give her a ring because it seemed like a romantic thing to do.  This is another one of those issues that could have been resolved by Cassidy just asking Chris about the ring.

Every high school show produced by Peter Engel featured a “final prom” episode and, by that time City Guys got around to it, the show and its writers were obviously just going through the motions.  It’s a pretty boring prom, to be honest.  It’s nowhere near as touching as the California Dreams playing their final gig or Jessie and Slater sharing one last dance.  It’s just another night at Manny High.

(Why were teenagers in Peter Engel sitcoms always applying to Duke?)

Episode 5.24 “Goodbye Manny High”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on December 8th, 2001)

Graduation is approaching but life at Manny High is still as pointlessly complicated as ever.

For instance, Dawn has been entrusted with ordering the school’s diplomas.  Why would that be Dawn’s job?  Shouldn’t that be Ms. Noble’s job or maybe the job of the school district?  Well, needless to say, Dawn screws up and ends up getting a bunch of diplomas that were supposed to go to a private school in Canada.  Al, however, says that his cousin can get them some new diplomas before Ms. Noble ever finds out.  Again …. WHY ARE STUDENTS IN CHARGE OF THIS!?  Here’s the thing with diplomas.  They’re kind of important.  You don’t just hand out homemade diplomas.  When the students of Manny High are applying for their first post-High School jobs, I can only imagine how their potential employers are going to react to being handed a home-made diploma.

Meanwhile, Chris and Jamal have to figure out the best way to end their stupid radio show.  Even after Chris puts on a turban and speaks in a fake Indian accent (and yes, it is all incredibly cringey), Chris cannot figure out how he and Jamal should say goodbye to Manny High.

But the biggest problem might be L-Train’s!  After being held back three times, L-Train is excited because he’s finally going to graduate.  Except …. he’s not!  He’s short one credit and there’s no way he can make up that credit in just four days so it looks like the Bayside Gang is going to have to figure out a way to help Zack graduate.  Oh wait, I’m sorry.  I got confused as to which Peter Engel-produced show’s graduation episode I was reviewing.  It’s understandable as the exact same thing that happens to L-Train also happened to Zack Morris at the end of Saved By The Bell.  It’s almost as if Peter Engel’s stable of writers had collectively given up on coming up with new ideas during the final two seasons of City Guys.…

Anyway, just as how the Saved By The Bell girls totally ruined their final ballet performance so Zack could get his final credit, Cassidy decides to put on a one-act play, starring L-Train.  The play is called For Girls Only and, of course, it requires that L-Train put on a wig and speak in a slightly higher voice.  The school board is impressed with the play and gives L-Train his elective credit.  L-Train graduates!  L-Train thanks Ms. Noble for helping him to go from being a bully to being a high school graduate and, as was so often the case with this show, Steven Daniel’s sweet sincerity makes the scene work, despite the somewhat overwritten dialogue.

As for the other storylines, Chris and Jamal end their final show by announcing, “Goodbye, Manny High!”  The fake diplomas arrive just in time for graduation.  Everyone puts on their red robes and, after five long and punishing seasons, they receive their diplomas.  The camera glides through Manny High’s empty hallways and we hear dialogue from past episodes.  For all the silliness of this episode and the show in general, these final moments were kind of touching, if just because it reminded me of my own feelings when I graduated high school.  Plus, an empty school hallway always feels like the perfect way to wrap up any show about high school.

Yay, it’s over!  City Guys is over!

Except it’s not.  There’s still more two episodes to go.  We’ll get to them next week and then, City Guys will finally be over.

Welcome to 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 City Guys, which ran on NBC from 1997 to 2001.  Almost the entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

It’s SAT time!

Episode 5.15 “An SAT Carol”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on November 3rd, 2001)

It’s SAT time!  Cassidy is paranoid about getting into a good acting school.  Dawn declares that she will be a total failure if she doesn’t get into Harvard pre-med.  Dawn, do you know anyone at Harvard?  Do you have any family connections at Harvard?  Is your family secretly rich?  I’m just saying that, unless you have an inside track, it’s kind of silly to not have a second choice for when Harvard rejects you.

Everyone is cramming for their SATS but, after missing a few questions while attending study group at the Manhattan Diner, L-Train announces that he’s not going to take his SATs and he’s not going to go to college.  The audience groans in disappointment but the audience should not fear because this is a Peter Engel-produced show.  No one gets away with blowing off college as long as Peter Engel’s around!

That night, L-Train goes to bed but is woken up by the spirit of Ms. Noble, who is doing the Hustle in his bedroom.  Ms. Noble explains that L-Train is having a dream and that she’s come to his room to show him the paths that his life can take depending on whether or not he takes the SATs.

(Personally, I think it’s kind of creepy that L-Train is dreaming about his principal disco dancing….)

Ms. Noble takes L-Train to his 10-year high school reunion, which is, of course, taking place on the roof of Manny High.  Dawn, Ms. Noble explains, has become a doctor.  Cassidy is married to Chris and is an actress on the show V.E.R.  (“Veterinarian Emergency Room,” Ms. Noble explains.)  Al took his SATs, went to business school, and opened up a furniture store.  Chris is a DJ on New York radio, which, as we all know, is a job that is only given to people who have taken their SATs.  Jamal, meanwhile, has opened up a chain of successful Mexican restaurants.  And L-Train …. well, he took the SATS, went to college, studied music, and became a very successful record producer!  Future L-Train shows up at the reunion and gives his friends tickets to the Grammys.

“This is all because you took the SATs!” Ms. Noble announces before a disco ball descends from Heaven and transports her and L-Train back to his bedroom.  However, when Ms. Noble asks L-Train if he’s going to take the SATs, he says no because his mind always goes blank whenever he has to take a test.

“That’s just your fear talking,” Ms. Noble replies.

“I’m afraid of fear!” L-Train replies.

Ms. Noble takes L-Train to a future where he didn’t take the SATs.  In this future, L-Train walks into Manhattan Diner and complains to Al and Jamal that his latest business, a car washing business, is going out of business.  He mentions that all of his other businesses have failed as well.  (So, in other words, L-Train didn’t take the SATs but still had enough money to go into business for himself.)  Later, on the night of his class reunion, L-Train stays in bed, watches TV, and laments that he doesn’t even have a girlfriend.  L-Train watches an episode of V.E.R, starring Cassidy and then a commercial for Al’s furniture store.  It’s all painfully unfunny so L-Train turns on the radio and hears Chris interviewing Jamal.

“I’m a loser, Ms. Noble!” L-Train says.  Ms. Noble agrees.  L-Train finally wakes up and realizes that he still has time to take the SATs!

This was an annoying episode.  The fact of the matter is that some people succeed without going to college and others go to college and end up going nowhere.  There are no guarantees in life.  Obviously, Dawn does need to go to college if she’s going to become a doctor and going to business school worked out for Al.  But Cassidy has already starred in commercials and appeared in several off-Broadway plays so is it really a good idea for her to put her career on hold for four years?  Jamal obviously inherited his restaurant business from his father and I imagine that would have happened whether Jamal went to college or not.  Chris, meanwhile, was first offered his own show as a New York DJ when he was in high school so did the SATs really have anything to do with his future career?  If anything, it sounds like Chris is in a career rut and that he basically peaked in high school.  In the real world, everyone follows their own path.  I went to college.  I loved it.  Sometimes, I wish I was still in college.  But just because that was right for me, that doesn’t mean that it’s right for everyone.

Anyway, let’s move on!

Episode 5.16 “Mock the Vote”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on November 3rd, 2001)

This is another episode that is missing from YouTube so here’s the Wikipedia plot description:

Dawn is running for Senior Class President against a pompous and overconfident student named Thane Watkins. Jamal and Chris contribute to Dawn losing out on the position when they make a mockery of the whole election on their radio show which affects the voter turnout. In turn making Thane win by a landslide and unwittingly giving him the power to mess with many Manny High programs and to act on his distaste of their radio show by canceling it and dismantling the radio booth. Now Chris, Jamal, Al, and L-Train must work with Dawn to veto this decision. Meanwhile, Cassidy receives letters from a fan who has seen her in a commercial and he writes that he is flying to New York to visit her. She becomes a paranoid and nervous wreck when she believes that this fan and a crazed stalker that has escaped who are both from the same town is one and the same person.

Obviously, I can’t review this episode because it’s not streaming anywhere.  From the plot description, it sounds like a typical TNBC student council episode.  It’s always funny to me how big a deal the student council was in these old Peter Engel-produced shows.  When I was in high school, the student council was a joke and we made fun of anyone dumb enough to run for it.  I will say that it’s hard for me to believe that Thane Watkins could be that bad of a guy when he apparently doesn’t like Chris and Jamal’s radio show.  Seriously, I cringe anytime I hear those two going, “Good morning, Manny High!”  As for Cassidy getting a stalker, that’s really nothing to joke about.  I’m sure that everything turned out okay, though.  No serious lessons were ever learned from the B-plot.

Next week: L-Train becomes a poet and we get another clip show.

Welcome to 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 City Guys, which ran on NBC from 1997 to 2001.  Almost the entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

This week, it’s a trip to the rec center with a stop off at the Manhattan Diner.  There’s only a few more episodes left and this show cannot end soon enough.

Episode 5.13 “Weight on Jamal”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on October 27th, 2001)

Here’s the plot description, according to Wikipedia:

Jamal wants to get into USC, but his coach tells him that he isn’t in shape enough to be considered for the team. He starts working out and is offered steroids at the health club. Meanwhile Dawn, Cassidy, Chris and Al have to deal with a cruel pottery teacher. Ms. Hotz scares the students and they eventually fight back. She reveals that she is only mean because most people take her class due to her sexy looks.

Seriously, the pottery teacher is named Ms. Hotz?  Considering that L-Train apparently didn’t take the pottery class, I’m going to guess that he was busy convincing Jamal to give up the steroids.  Since when has Jamal wanted to go to USC?  Plus, didn’t he already get a baseball scholarship?

Eh, who cares?  I’m glad this episode isn’t on YouTube.

Episode 5.14 “Basket Case”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on October 27th, 2001)

God, this episode is stupid.

Jamal’s father is out-of-town and he’s left Jamal with a big responsibility.  Jamal has to run the diner, hire some new waitresses, and impress a food critic.  Here’s my problem with this.  Why is the food critic wasting her time with a generic hamburger place that seems to be exclusively used by the students of Manny High?  With all the restaurants in New York, why review that one?  As well, how irresponsible and stupid is Jamal’s father to leave Jamal in charge of the diner when something this important is about to happen?  When has Jamal ever shown that he can handle that type of responsibility?

Anyway, to the surprise of no one, Jamal screws everything up, misidentifies a friend of Ms. Noble’s as the food critics, and can only watch in horror as the actual food critics leaves in a huff due to not even getting a glass of water while waiting for someone to take her order.  Desperate to get the food critic to give the diner a second chance, Chris calls the food critic and pretends to be Jamal’s father.  (It’s just as cringey as it sounds as Chris lowers his voice and laughs heartily at his own jokes.)  The food critics agrees to give them a second chance.  As soon as Chris hangs up, Ms. Noble wanders by and informs Chris, Jamal, and Cassidy that the food critic is in her tango class and that she loves to dance.

This leads to perhaps the stupidest moment ever in the history of this show and that’s saying something.

The food critic returns to the diner.  She has a bowl of soup as Jamal and Cassidy watch.  She tells them that the diner’s food is some of the best that she had ever had.  Now, at this point, Jamal and Cassidy should be happy because the food critic has just told them that she loves the food.  There’s no need to do anything else, right?  Instead of just taking the victory when they can, they decide bring out “the chef.”  The chef turns out to be Chris, wearing a fake mustache.  Chris says that he loves to tango and then spins the food critic right out of the diner.  WHY!?  SHE WAS ALREADY GIVING THE PLACE A GOOD REVIEW!  HOW STUPID ARE THESE PEOPLE!?  Anyway, Ms. Noble then enters the diner and says that actually, the food critic was not in her tango class but in her Bible study class.  WHAT!?

Anyway, the food critic still gives the diner a good review.  She recommends that anyone who likes to tango ask for the chef.  Except, of course, Chris isn’t actually the chef so anyone who asks is going to be massively disappointed.

GOD, THAT WAS STUPID!  And it was only the B-plot!

The A-plot dealt with a rec center, which we’ve never seen before despite the fact that everyone on the show acts as if it’s a huge part of their lives.  Dawn has a crush on the 50 year-old head of the center and when he says that the Rec Center may have to close down due to lack of money, Dawn decides to hold a fund raiser.  Her plans involves a basketball shoot out and apparently, it’s imperative that both L-Train and his new girlfriend, Kianna, compete.  (I’m not sure why.)  However, L-Train worries that competing against his girlfriend will lead to them breaking up.  Kianna reluctantly agrees not to take part in the shoot out but then, at the last minute, L-Train realizes he’s being a jerk and asks her to compete.  And, of course, she wins.

Why did L-Train have a change of heart?  I have no idea but the important thing is that the Rec Center stays open.

This was a dumb episode, all-around.  Graduation cannot come soon enough!