Tag Archives: Friday the 13th

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/10/23 — 12/16/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s the holidays and, as a result, I haven’t had much time to watch television this week.  In fact, outside of the stuff that I watch for my Retro Television Reviews, I only watched three shows this week.

All In The Family (YouTube)

On Friday night, my friend Pat suggested checking out the 1976 Christmas episode of All In the Family, in which a draft-dodging friend of Mike’s visits from Canada.  He shows up at the Bunker household, right on Christmas day!  At the same time, a friend of the Archie Bunker’s is visiting.  Pinky lost his son in Vietnam.

Now, really, the whole conflict in this episode could have been avoided if the draft dodger had just kept his mouth shut when Archie started asking him what was so great about living in Canada.  But the dodger felt that he had to reveal the truth about why he went up north.  Archie wanted to kick him out but Pinky was understanding and forgiving.

This was a well-acted episode with a powerful message but I do have to admit that I could kind of see Archie’s point.  It’s his house!  He’s the one who paid for the Christmas dinner that they’re all eating.  If he doesn’t want to have a draft dodger sitting at the table in his house and eating the food that he paid for, that’s actually Archie’s right.  Still, I’m glad that Archie didn’t kick the draft dodger out because the guy actually was reasonably polite and everyone should have some place to go on Christmas.

Baywatch Nights (YouTube)

I wrote about Baywatch Nights here!

Check It Out (Tubi)

My review of Check It Out should be dropping in about 30 minutes.

CHiPs (Freevee)

I wrote about CHiPs here!

Degrassi Junior High (YouTube)

I wrote about Degrassi Junior High here!

Fantasy Island (Daily Motion)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Friday the 13th (YouTube)

I wrote about Friday the 13th here!

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, Fox)

Why would anyone agree to hold a charity event at Hell’s Kitchen?  That’s what I found myself wondering as I watched the latest episode of Hell’s Kitchen on Thursday.  Surely, they’ve seen enough episodes of this show to know that they’re going to be running the risk of getting raw chicken and rubbery scallops.

Anyway, I was sad to see Donya go.  I think the only reason Ramsay is keeping Jason around is for the drama.  Go Ryan!

Highway to Heaven (Tubi)

I wrote about Highway to Heaven here!

Jennifer Slept Here (YouTube)

I wrote about Jennifer Slept Here …. here!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Monsters (Tubi)

I wrote about Monsters here!

Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (Tuesday Night, ABC)

It’s the holidays so, naturally, I had to watch this classic.  The old Christmas specials have never really been topped, despite Disney’s best efforts.

T and T (Tubi)

I wrote about T and T here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back Kotter here!

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Friday the 13th 1.11 “Scarecrow”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on YouTube!

This week, Micki and Ryan visit the country and battle a killer scarecrow!  Yikes!

Episode 1.11 “Scarecrow”

(Dir by William Fruet, originally aired on February 1st, 1988)

While Jack is off in Europe searching for a cursed antique, Micki and Ryan head into the country.  They’ve recently received a letter from someone requesting that they come to a small rural town and collect the scarecrow that was bought from their shop years ago.

Seriously, do people usually buy scarecrows from antique shops?  I mean, I always thought that half the fun of having a scarecrow was getting to build it yourself.  And even if you didn’t want to build your own scarecrow, I imagine that you would probably go to a country store to buy one as opposed to heading into the city and going to an antique store.

No matter, though.  Even if it doesn’t make much sense to buy a scarecrow from an antique store, the scarecrow is undeniably scary.  Of course, when Micki and Ryan arrive in the town, the farmer who bought the scarecrow lies and says that someone set it on fire three years ago.  However, the viewer knows that the scarecrow not only still exists but that it comes to life at night and kills people with a scythe!  Every harvest, the scarecrow beheads three people and, as a result, the owner of the scarecrow has a good crop while everyone else in the town is struggling to make ends meet.

The viewer also knows that the villain of the story is Marge Lonacre (Patricia Phillips), the rather severe-looking owner of the town’s only inn.  Even if the episode didn’t show us Marge activating the scarecrow early on, it would be easy to guess that she is the villain because everything about Marge — from the way she dresses to the way she glares at people to the abrupt way that she speaks — screams villainy.  Oddly enough, it takes Micki and Ryan forever to figure out that Marge is the villain, even though they’re staying in Marge’s inn and Micki witnesses the scarecrow depositing a dead body on Marge’s front porch.  In fact, for some reason, Micki gets into her head that the helpful sheriff (Steve Pernie) is the killer and she even locks him in a closet so that he can’t keep her from running back to the inn.  Ryan and Micki are both likable and Micki’s fashion sense is to die for but, without Jack around to guide them, neither of them is a particularly effective investigator.

While searching for the scarecrow, Ryan bonds with the son of one of the scarecrow’s victims, which leads to some nicely-acted moments from John D. LeMay.  I mention this because Friday the 13th, much like Nightmare Café, was always at its best when it explored the humanity of its lead characters.  For all of the violence that Micki and Ryan have witnessed, they’re still trying to make the world a better and nicer place and it’s hard not to admire that.

This was an effective episode, one of that was full of creepy atmosphere and which featured one truly scary scarecrow.  I think even Jason Voorhees would have avoided this country town!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/3/23 — 12/9/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I swear, as if I didn’t already have enough reasons to resent Big Brother, the latest season took up so much of my time and energy that I still haven’t been able to get caught up with my favorite reality show, The Amazing Race.  The season ends next week and I’m still struggling to get up-to-speed with it all.  That said, I did enjoy this week’s trip to Ireland.

Bar Rescue (Paramount Plus)

On Monday morning, I watched an episode from the first season.  Jon Taffer went to an Irish bar in Redondo Beach.  Because this was the first season, Taffer didn’t yell as much as he would in later seasons and a lot more emphasis was put on “bar science.”  It was kind of nice.  I’m not a huge fan of nonstop yelling.  A little anger goes a long way.

Baywatch Nights (YouTube)

I wrote about Baywatch Nights here!

Check It Out (Tubi)

My review of the week’s episode of Check It Out! will post on this site in about 30 minutes.

CHiPs (Freevee)

I wrote about CHiPs here!

Dancing With The Stars (Tuesday Night, ABC)

Between Big Brother and the holidays, I didn’t really keep up with the latest season of Dancing With The Stars.  (And, to be honest, So You Think You Can Dance was always the better dance competition show.)  I did catch the finale this week.  Congratulations to Xochitl and Van!  I kind of wish Jamie Lynn Spears had made it to the finale as a competitor, just because twitter or X or whatever the heck it’s called now would have exploded.

Degrassi Junior High (YouTube)

I wrote about Degrassi Junior High here!

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

On Monday, largely as a result of watching HBO’s Love Has Won docuseries, I went down the Dr. Phil cult rabbit hole and I watched two episodes.  The first featured an unstable woman who had been brainwashed by a fake psychic.  I followed this up with an episode in which a cult leader was confronted by anti-cult activist Rick Ross.  The cult leader started out trying to be smooth and clever but he lost it as soon as he was challenged.  I’ve been pretty critical of Dr. Phil in the past but I do always enjoy watching him take down a cult leader.

On Wednesday, I watched an episode about a husband and a wife who had been having issues ever since the wife lost a good deal of weight and became “too hot.”  Personally, I think everyone was too judgmental of the wife.  She was just having a good time and if her husband couldn’t handle not being the center of attention anymore, well then I guess it just sucks to be him.

Fantasy Island (YouTube)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Frasier (Paramount Plus)

Finally, after being so disappointed with the premiere, I watched episodes two and three of the Frasier revival.  The second episode featured Frasier trying to connect with Freddy and meeting his son’s co-workers (none of whom knew that Frasier was Freddy’s father).  The third and marginally better episode featured Frasier trying to overcome his “celebrity” status and be taken seriously as a Harvard lecturer.

Both episodes suffered from the same problem, which was also present in the premiere.  Kelsey Grammer does his usual good work.  At this point, he might as well be Frasier Crane.  But all of the other characters are either underwritten or just plan unlikable.  Freddy is a self-righteous jerk and, considering who his parents are and how he was portrayed as a child, it makes no sense that he would grow up to become a blue collar sports fanatic.  Next door neighbor Eve is boring.  Frasier’s Harvard colleagues are clichés.  Watching the show is depressing because you’re like, “Frasier gave up that great apartment in Seattle for this!?”  That’s the problem with reboots.  No one wants to think about classic TV characters getting older and moving into a less impressive apartment.

Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)

I wrote about Friday the 13th here!

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, Fox and Hulu)

I got caught up on Hell’s Kitchen this week.  Both Jason and Carmen need to get over themselves.  I hope Ryan wins because I like listening to the sound of his voice.

Jennifer Slept Here (YouTube)

And my review is here!

Kitchen Nightmares (Monday Night, FOX)

There were two new episodes this week.  Gordon Ramsay saved a historic hot dog place and then he saved an Indian restaurant.  The first episode was entertaining because of all the personal drama between the owners.  Seriously, don’t ever try to run a business with someone who you are no longer sleeping with.  The second episode was sweet because the owner was such a nice guy but he also drove everyone crazy because he was a micromanager.  By the end of the show, he was trying to enjoy being retired.  It’s always kind of nice to see Chef Ramsay being nice to people, as opposed to telling them to “GET OUT!”

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Monsters (Tubi)

I wrote about Monsters here!

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

On Friday night, I watched a Christmas special from some time in the late 80s.  There was some fun new wave-style Christmas music, though the show was stolen by Tony Bennett’s far more traditional style.

Shrek the Halls (ABC, Saturday Night)

I didn’t realize how much I miss Shrek and the gang until I watched this 2007 special earlier tonight.  Christmas is a season that even an ill-tempted ogre can enjoy!

The Simpsons (Disney+)

On Tuesday night, I watched an old episode of The Simpsons.  Feeling that The Itchy and Scratchy Show needed to be shaken up with a new character, the show’s producers demanded that an obnoxious dog named Poochie be added to the cast.  Homer was cast as Poochie but the viewing public did not react quite as positively to the new character as Homer was hoping.  This episode made me laugh more than a few times.  I especially liked that a new character named Roy suddenly showed up in the Simpson household at the same time Poochie was showing up on Itchy and Scratchy.  Everyone pretended like Roy had always been there but, after Poochie was killed off, Roy also announced that he was leaving the Simpson household to move on with “two sexy ladies.”

Survivor (CBS, Wednesday Night)

Emily was voted out after Julie played an immunity idol.  Boooo!  Seriously, that sucks.  Emily was the only person on the show that I liked.  All of the stupid twists and immunity idols are causing good players to get voted out and I’m getting kind of tired of it.  What I wouldn’t give for a season that was a return to Survivor basics, with no idols, no twists, and no weepy backstories.

T and T (Tubi)

I wrote about T and T here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back, Kotter here!

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Friday the 13th: The Series 1.9 “Root of all Evil”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on YouTube!

This week, Lloyd returns!

Episode 1.9 “Root of all Evil”

(Dir by Allan King, originally aired on November 28th, 1987)

Remember Lloyd (Barclay Hope)?

Lloyd is Micki’s fiancé, an attorney who obviously has a lot of money.  Way back when this series began, Micki promised Lloyd that it would only take her a week or two to deal with her late uncle’s estate.  That was all we heard about Lloyd for the next few episodes and I have to admit that I had assumed that the show had forgotten about him.

Well, it turns out that I was wrong.  In this episode, Lloyd calls up Micki at the antique shop and basically accuses her of trying to get out of marrying him.  Micki, who obviously cannot begin to explain what she’s been doing at the antique shop, tells Lloyd that her uncle’s estate is really complex.  Lloyd wants Micki to come back home.  Micki, herself, says that she wants to go back home.  Ryan, however, tells Micki that they have an obligation to get all of the cursed antiques.

(One of the best things about the first season so far has been the contrast between Ryan’s enthusiasm for dealing with the supernatural and Micki’s more cautious approach towards their mission.  Wisely, the show doesn’t take sides.  Ryan often acts without thinking while Micki often spends a lot of time trying to rationalize each of the curses.  Both approaches have their strengths and their flaws.)

Lloyd eventually shows up at the antique shop and Micki finally tells him what’s going on.  She even shows him the vault, which includes the psycho doll from the show’s pilot.  (The doll gives Micki and Lloyd a rather nasty look.)  Lloyd is still not convinced and, at first, Micki takes some comfort in the fact that he’s not a Ryan-style believer.  She considers marrying Lloyd and returning to a life of pretending that the supernatural doesn’t exist.

While Micki is dealing with all of that, Ryan and Jack are dealing with a homicidal gardener named Adrian (played by future Veronica Mars co-star, Enrico Colantoni) who has a cursed mulcher.  When he stuffs a person into a mulcher, the body is transformed into however much money the person was worth, both financially and morally.  Jack and Ryan go undercover as gardeners and, as you can probably guess, Adrian is eventually fed into the mulcher.  The mulcher doesn’t feel that Adrian is worth even a dollar, which means that it just grinds his body up and blood goes flying everywhere.  This is definitely one of the more gory episode of the show so far.

As for Lloyd, even after he sees proof that magic is real and that the antiques actually are cursed, he still says that Micki should abandon the store and marry him.  Micki realizes that Lloyd doesn’t care about anyone but himself and she dumps him.  (If she had fed him to the mulcher, she could have at least gotten some money out of the deal.)  The episode ends with Ryan welcoming Micki back to the antique shop and Micki realizing that she’s home.  Awwwwww!

I liked this episode, mostly because it tied up a loose end from the pilot, suggesting that the show’s writers actually were paying attention to what they were doing and also showing that Friday the 13th was more than just a show about the supernatural.  It was also a show about the bonds of family and friendship.  Robey finally got to do something more than look scared and ask Jack what to do.  And, it must be said, the mulcher was an enjoyably grisly creation.  Still, I do have to wonder …. who buys a mulcher from an antique store?

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Friday the 13th: The Series 1.8 “Shadow Boxer”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on YouTube!

This week’s episode is a creepy one!  Read on!

Episode 1.8 “Shadow Boxer”

(Dir by Timothy Bond, originally aired on November 21st, 1987)

Tommy Dunn (David Ferry) is a punch drunk boxer who barely makes a living working at a local gym.  No one takes him seriously.  The other boxers taunt him.  The owner of the gym treats him like a slave and continually tells him that he’ll never be a champion.  However, Tommy has a secret weapon.  He’s found an old pair of boxer gloves.  The gloves used to belong to a savage boxer known as the Killer.  When Tommy puts the gloves on and touches his shadow, his shadow comes to life.  While Tommy is throwing punches either in the gym or in the ring, his shadow is beating someone else to death.  As long as his shadow is beating someone up, Tommy is unstoppable.

After Tommy’s shadow murders the owner of the gym, Micki, Ryan, and Jack show up to investigate.  (The gloves were, of course, bought from Curious Goods.)  Micki brings her camera and takes pictures of all of the boxers so that Ryan and Jack can later look to see if any of them are wearing the “Killer” gloves.  It doesn’t take them long to discover that Tommy is currently in possession of the gloves.  When Micki flirts with Tommy at a diner, Ryan and Jack break into his apartment and search for the gloves.  This leads to three things happening.  First off, Micki has a really awkward date with a murderer.  Secondly, Ryan and Jack fail to find the gloves before Tommy returns.  Third, Tommy now knows that Ryan, Jack, and Micki are onto him.

During his next fight, Tommy sends his shadow after Jack but fortunately, Micki is waiting with a flashlight.  Shining light on the shadow causes it to disappear and it also causes Tommy to get beaten unconscious in the boxing ring.  With Tommy temporarily out of commission, Ryan steals the gloves.  Tommy can no longer use the gloves to kill but, as Micki bitterly points out, Tommy will also never be prosecuted for all the people that he killed.

Of course, Tommy then shows up at Curious Goods and tries to force Micki to tell him where the gloves are.  Ryan puts on the gloves and proceeds to beat up Jack, which leads to Ryan’s shadow beating Tommy to death.  Jack isn’t particularly happy about getting beaten up but it does save Micki’s life.

This was a well-done episode.  There weren’t many twists to the story but the sight of Tommy’s shadow following people around was undeniably creepy.  The shadow was probably the scariest of all of the threats that have appeared on the show so far.  Even when the shadow was saving Micki’s life by beating Tommy to death, it was still scary to watch.  When Ryan hit Jack, it was left ambiguous as to whether or not he was trying to save Micki’s life or if the evil of the cursed gloves had briefly possessed him.

The only unfortunate thing about this episode is that it led to me going down the Wikipedia rabbit hole of researching boxers who have died in the ring.  Boxing is a brutal sport, whether you’re fighting with cursed gloves or not!

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Friday the 13th: The Series 1.7 “Doctor Jack”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on YouTube!

This week’s episode of Friday the 13th: The Series is actually really good!

Episode 1.7 “Doctor Jack”

(Dir by Richard Friedman, originally aired on November 9th, 1987)

Dr. Vincent Howlett (Cliff Gorman) has a reputation for being a miracle worker.  He’s the surgeon who is called in to do the difficult operations that no other surgeon would have the courage to try.  Somehow, despite all of the complex surgeries that he has been involved in, he has never lost a patient.  The local Toronto hospital is very happy to have Dr. Howlett on staff.

However, Dr. Howlett’s success rate is not just a case of medical skill.  He owns a special, lucky scalpel.  He purchased it from a knife dealer who earlier purchased it from — you guessed it! — the cursed antique shop.  The scalpel is from the Victorian era and it once belonged to none other than Jack the Ripper!  The scalpel can make any surgery a success but it demands blood as payment.  So, before every surgery, Dr. Howlett has to go out and find someone to murder.

Searching the scalpel as a part of their mission to track down all of the cursed antiques, it doesn’t take long for Ryan, Micki, and Jack to track the scalpel down to Dr. Howlett.  However, when Ryan tries to steal the scalpel, a chase through the hospital ensues.  When Jack distracts Howlett long enough for Ryan and Micki get away, Jack ends up getting thrown down an elevator shaft.

Jack survives his fall but he’s suffered some terrible internal injuries.  In fact, he’s going to need surgery!  Fortunately, the best surgeon in Canada is on staff at the hospital.  As much as Ryan and Micki want to steal that scalpel, they know that Howlett is going to need it if he’s going to save Jack’s life.

Meanwhile, Jean Flappen (Eva Mai Hoover) is stalking the hallways of the hospital, carrying a gun and hoping to get revenge on Dr. Howlett for the murder of her daughter….

Yikes!  Hospital’s are creepy in general but they’re even more creepy when the head surgeon is carrying around a scalpel that once belonged to Jack the Ripper.  (Of course, in reality, it’s doubtful that Jack the Ripper was actually a doctor.  In all probability, he was a butcher in all definitions of the word.)  This episode makes great use of the hospital setting, creating an atmosphere of perpetual unease.  It was a genuinely scary location and, for once, the fact that Friday the 13th didn’t have a huge budget worked to show’s advantage.  The shots of the empty and shadowy hospital hallways, without even an extra or two populating them, were truly ominous.

Cliff Gorman also gave a wonderful performance as Dr. Howlett, playing him as the type of arrogant jerk who knows that he can get away with being unlikable because he’s the best at his profession.  The scene where Howlett can’t find his scalpel and has a sudden meltdown really drives home the idea that the owners of the cursed antiques have become addicted to using them.  As soon as Howlett can’t hold his scalpel in his hands, his smooth façade crumbles and he starts going through what can only be called withdrawal.

With its creepy atmosphere and Gorman’s sinister performance, Dr. Jack is the best episode of Friday the 13th that I’ve reviewed so far.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/5/23 — 11/11/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I’m still struggling to get caught up with this season.  Hopefully, I’ll have a lot of thoughts to share on the show after this weekend!

Big Brother 25 (24/7, Paramount Plus and CBS)

This stupid season is finally over!  You can read my thoughts over at the Reality TV Chat Blog!

Check It Out (Tubi)

My review of this week’s episode of Check It Out should be dropping in about an hour.  Personally, I am proud of myself for the dedication that I have shown to reviewing a show that I don’t think anyone else has ever heard of.

C.H.i.Ps (Freevee)

Jeff and I watched two episodes of this extremely 70s cop show earlier tonight.  Jeff thinks I should review it for my next Retro series and I think he might be right!  The episodes we watched were all about disco roller skating.  It was fascinating in its own weird way.

Degrassi Junior High (YouTube)

I wrote about Degrassi Junior High here!

Dirty Pair Flash (YouTube)

I watched an episode of this anime on Friday night.  It was a fun episode, one featuring a lot of explosions and cute outfits.

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

Saturday night, I watched two episodes featuring Crystal and Anthony.  Anthony was accused of doing something unthinkable to his daughter by his former girlfriend, Crystal.  From the start, it was pretty obvious that Crystal was coaching her daughter and Anthony had not molested his daughter.  Crystal and her mother repeatedly yelled over Dr. Phil and at Anthony.  In general, people who are telling the truth don’t have to yell to make their point.

On Tuesday afternoon, I passed the time by rewatching the episode in which Dr. Phil talked to the creator of Jilly Juice, a disgusting-looking concoction that she claimed could regrow limbs, promote good health, and “cure homosexuality.”  I’ve been pretty critical of some of Dr. Phil’s shows but he was definitely at his best when he was exposing Jilly Juice, which had the unfortunate side effect of causing strokes.

Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)

I wrote about Friday the 13th: The Series here!

Gun (Tubi)

I wrote about the final episode of Gun here!

Jennifer Slept Here (YouTube)

Here, I wrote about Jennifer Slept Here.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Monsters (Tubi)

I wrote about Monsters here!

Nightmare Café (YouTube)

I finished up Nightmare Café this week.  My review can be found here!

Sally Jessy Raphael (YouTube)

On Tuesday night, I watched an old episode of this 90s talk show.  Sally talked to men who treated their wives like slaves.  It was a skin-crawling episode and hopefully, every guest on it got divorced after their appearance.

On Wednesday night, I watched an episode featuring teenagers who were upset that their moms were dressing slutty.  To be honest, the teens all came across as being kind of whiny.

The Steve Wilkos Show (YouTube)

On Tuesday night, I watched an episode in which a guy with a beard that made him look like a California cult leader was convinced that his stepdaughter’s boyfriend, who had a mustache that made him look like the owner of a 70s leather bar, was being abusive.  They both took lie detector tests and ended up shouting each other as the end credits rolled.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

Just as with The Amazing Race, I’m dropping into this season late and still struggling to get caught up.  Hopefully, I’ll be caught up by the end of tomorrow.  For what I have seen, I am definitely Team Emily!

T and T (Tubi)

I reviewed T and T here!

Welcome Back Kotter (Tubi)

I reviewed Welcome Back Kotter here!

Yes, Prime Minister (Monday Morning, PBS)

When his predecessor as PM describes Jim in unflattering terms in his autobiography, Jim tries to suppress the book through the Official Secrets Act.  It all led to a bit of a scandal and a lot of laughs.  Bernard got to do quite a bit in this episode, which I appreciated.  Bernard is always a fun character, seeing as how he’s right in the middle between Jim’s cluelessness and Sir Humphrey’s manipulativeness.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Friday the 13th 1.6 “The Great Montarro”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on YouTube!

This week’s episode of Friday the 13th is all about magic, blood, and costumes!

Episode 1.6 “The Great Montarro”

(Dir by Richard Friedman, originally aired on November 2nd, 1987)

This week’s episode opens with a magician named Fahteem (August Schellenberg) performing his signature trick.  He steps into the Cabinet of Doom and, once he’s sealed inside, several sword blades are driven through the cabinet.  Somehow, Fahteem always survives without a scratch and the audience is always amazed.  What the audience doesn’t know is that the Cabinet is a cursed antique.  Before each performance, Fahteem drugs a woman and locks her in another cabinet.  The blades kills whoever is in that cabinet while leaving Fahteem untouched.  Of course, if no one is in the other cabinet than the blades will kill whoever is in the Cabinet of Doom.  That is something that Fahteem discovers when an unknown perpetrator decides to take the cabinet away from him.

After Fahteem is murdered, Jack, a former musician who was an unfriendly acquaintance of Fahteem, discovers that the Cabinet of Doom was actually purchased from the antique store.  Jack decides to return to the world of magic and magicians so that he can track down the cabinet.  Helping him, and getting to wear a cute assistant’s uniform, is Micki.  Ryan also helps but he doesn’t get anything cute to wear.

It turns out that the cabinet is now in the possession of the Great Montarro (Graeme Campbell) and his wife, Lylah (Lesleh Donaldson).  Realizing that Jack is trying to take away the cabinet, Montarro and Lylah are soon targeting him and trying to make his signature trick into a fatal one.  Seeing as how that trick involves Jack being tied up in a sack that is then set on fire, that might be an easier task than it sounds.

This is the bloodiest episode of the show yet, with the camera focusing on the gory results of every failed trick.  Blood drips from cabinets.  Blood spreads across stages.  Watching the show, you really do find yourself watching why there’s so many spikes and blades just lying around.  Apparently, audiences for magic shows are not satisfied unless there’s a chance that they might see someone die in a terrible fashion.  In the role of Jack, Chris Wiggins appears to be having a ball performing magic tricks and, as a result, both Micki and Ryan spend most of the show standing off to the side.  Fortunately, Wiggins is a lot of fun to watch in this episode.  The joy that he takes from pulling off the perfect trick is contagious.  The overall episode is a bit too slowly paced but at least almost everyone gets to wear a nice costume.

Next week, Jack, Ryan, and Micki try to recover a cursed scalpel!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 10/29/23 — 11/4/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, Horrorthon is over and I’m trying to get caught up on all the shows that I have waiting for me on the DVR and on all the streaming services.  It’ll probably take a while for me to watch all of it but that’s okay.  I always enjoy a good excuse to just sit on the couch for a few hours.

Here’s a few notes on what I watched this week!

The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I can’t wait to get caught up on the latest season of The Amazing Race!  I watched the latest episode on Wednesday and I’m glad that the team that got U-turned still managed to survive and make it to the pit stop in time.  I’ve never been a fan of the U-turn and I always lose a little respect for  teams that choose to use it.  Of course, this season, it appears that the teams have not been given the option of opting out.

Big Brother 25 (24/7, CBS and Paramount Plus)

Yay!  This season is nearly over.  Seriously, this is one of the all-time worst seasons of a show that really has never been that good to begin with.  I’ve been writing about Big Brother over at the Reality TV Chat Blog!

Check It Out (Tubi)

I watched the 5th episode of this Canadian sitcom earlier today.  Unless I get too tired to write it up, my review should drop in a few more hours.

Dirty Pair Flash (YouTube)

I watched another episode of this anime on Friday night.  I couldn’t really follow the plot but everyone had really neat hair and a lot of stuff blew up.  It was stylish and fun in its own incoherent way.

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

I used several episodes of Dr. Phil as background noise this week.  I quickly got used to the sound of him yelling about being trained in forensics.

Friday the 13th (YouTube)

I wrote about Friday the 13th here!

Get Gotti (Netflix)

Get Gotti is a three-episode crime docudrama about the efforts to put mobster John Gotti in jail.  It’s a story that I’ve heard before but John Gotti was an intriguing figure and the docuseries did a good job of contrasting Gotti’s flamboyant charisma with the somewhat more low-key people who spent years trying to put him in prison.  New York in the 80s will always be a fascinating topic.

Gun (Tubi)

I wrote about Gun here!

Highway to Heaven (Tubi)

I wrote about Highway to Heaven here!

Jennifer Slept Here (YouTube)

Here, I wrote about Jennifer Slept Here!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Monsters (Tubi)

I wrote about Monsters here!

Nightmare Café (YouTube)

I wrote about the next-to-final episode of this series here!

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about Survivor here!

T and T (Tubi)

I wrote about T and T here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back, Kotter here!

Yes, Prime Minister (PBS, Monday Morning)

The second season started with Sir Humphrey getting rid of a troublesome cabinet secretary by tricking Jim into thinking the secretary was planning to launch a leadership challenge.  What’s funny is that the secretary was viewed as being a threat because of his radical employment policies but, once he had been manipulated it resigning, Jim decided to continue the secretary’s plan and just take credit for it himself.  No one won but it was very funny.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Friday the 13th 1.5 “Hellowe’en”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990.  The show can be found on YouTube!

Tonight, we have the first Halloween episode of Friday the 13th: The Series!

Episode 1.5 “Hellowe’en”

(Dir by Timothy Bond, originally aired on October 26th, 1987)

Somehow, it was not until I watched this episode that I noticed that the Friday the 13th antique shop is names Curious Goods.  I guess that’s a good name for a cursed antique shop.  (It’s probably more inviting than going with something more honest, like Evil Junk.)  Certainly, it appears that it was good enough to keep the place open, even though the owners spent most of their time taking back the antiques from the people who bought them.

This episode takes place during a Halloween party.  Is it a good idea to throw a Halloween party in a location that is full of cursed items?  That’s the exact question that Micki asks Ryan but Ryan thinks that the store needs to do something to let the neighborhood know that it’s not as scary as it looks.  Ryan is actually thinking like a businessman, whereas Micki is thinking like someone who just wants to find all of the cursed antiques so she can get back to planning her wedding.  Personally, I think Micki has the right idea.

That said, it’s not a bad party.  Ryan dresses up like a renaissance prince.  Micki wears a black gown that is to die for.  (I assume Micki is costumed as the lead singer of an 80s goth band.)  Jack, who really should have been the voice of reason when Ryan first suggested the party, dresses up like a wizard.  A lot of people from the neighborhood come to the shop and they watch as Jack performs some simple magic tricks.  Unfortunately, the party is ruined when two dummies wander down to the basement and accidentally activated a crystal ball.  The lights in the store go out.  There are scary noises.  Everyone abandons the shop, except for Ryan and Micki.

Where is Jack?  He’s taking a mysterious little girl trick-or-treating, just to suddenly discover that the girl is actually a Satanic creature who was sent to distract him while the ghost evil uncle Lewis (R.G. Armstrong) confronted Ryan and Micki in the shop.  Lewis, who is wandering around because the damned are apparently allowed to do so only on Halloween night, lies and says that he needs the amulet of Zohar so that he can free his wife from a curse but, after Ryan and Micki stupidly bring him the amulet, Lewis announces that the amulet will actually allow him to transfer his spirt into the body of someone who has recently died, as long as that person died from natural causes.  Lewis is going to use the amulet to return permanently to the land of the living.

Lewis and the little demon girl head down to the local morgue.  Fortunately, Jack has broken free of the trap that the demon put him in and Ryan and Micki have, for once, managed to figure out what’s happening on their own.  Between the efforts of Jack, Ryan, and Micki and Lewis’s own pickiness when it comes to picking a body, Lewis’s time runs out and he is dragged back to Hell.

This was a fun episode.  Not only did did it feature Ryan and Micki wearing their very 80s Halloween costumes but it also featured an enjoyably over-the-top performance from R.G. Armstrong as evil Uncle Lewis.  All Halloween episodes should be as enjoyable as this one.