Gary Morgan | Through the Shattered Lens

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988. The show can be found on Daily Motion.

This week, we begin season 4 of St. Elsewhere!

Episode 4.1 “Remembrance of Things Past”

(Dir by Bruce Paltrow, originally aired on September 18th, 1985)

This week, we start a new season of St. Elsewhere!

Dr. Cavenero is no longer listed in the opening credits. She’s not even mentioned in this episode, leaving her absence as a mystery. The last time we saw her during the third season, she was suffering from a cold so maybe she died. From what I’ve read, the real reason that she’s gone is because Cynthia Sikes, the actress who played her, objected to a season three storyline that would have featured her coming out as a lesbian.

From the start of this epiosde, St. Eligius seems like a happier place. A lot of that is because Dr. Westphall is gone. (That said, he’s still listed in the opening credits so we know, from the start, that will return.) Doctors Craig and Aushlander are a bit overworked having to cover Westphall’s duties but still, the residents seem to be a bit more hopeful than usual in this episode. Westphall’s perpetual glumness is no longer there to drag everyone down.

Morrison and Chandler have a conflict over a Vietnamese patient. Morrison wants to give the patient the best care possible. Chandler is upset because his older brother died in Vietnam and he feels like the patient doesn’t appreciate the sacrifice that Americans made during the Vietnam War. Morrison, of course, was an anti-war teenager. (There’s a reason why Helen Hunt calls him “boomer.”)

The whole Morrison/Chandler storyline felt a bit too heavy-handed to be effective. While I can believe that Chandler would have his own strongly-held opinions about the war, I have a hard time believing he would be as unprofessional as he was in this episode. Still, all of this does lead to a great scene where Morrison goes to Craig for the type of advice that he would usually get from Westphall and Craig responds by telling Morrison to get over it and concentrate on his job.

Seriously, I’ve been waiting for three seasons for someone to tell Morrison that.

Alfre Woodward joins the cast as Dr. Roxanne Turner, an OB-GYN. In this episode, she counsels an infertile couple. Dr. Turner wasn’t in much of the episode (and Alfre Woodard is not included in the opening credits) but I get the feeling that both she and the couple she was counseling are going to be around for a while.

The episode’s main storyline featured an amnesiac known as Joe Doe No. 6 (Oliver Clark). After John Doe escapes from the psychiatric ward and steals a suit, he’s mistaken for Dr. Jonas Wisner, who has beent sent to St. Eligius to evaluate its teaching program. John Doe No. 6 has a great time pretending to be Dr. Wisner and the doctors enjoy spending time with him. Unfortunately, the real Dr. Wisner (Joseph Ruskin) shows up and the fun ends.

Oh, how I loved watching John Doe No. 6 interact with the staff. Not only did it allow me to see the show’s characters through someone else’s eyes but it was also just an enjoyable storyline. It was a reminder that the hospital can be an entertaining place when Westpall isn’t wandering around the hallways.

However, towards the end of this episode, Westphall showed up at the hospital. Craig and Auschlander were happy to see him. Westphall asked if he could have his old job back. Of course, he can! Really? Didn’t Westphall walk off the job? But apparently, he can just wander back into the hospital while wearing his hobo cap and all is forgiven.

The episode ends with Chandler taking an impromptu trip to Washington D.C. and visiting the Vietnam War Memorial. As I watched this, it occuured to me that the memorial was still fairly new when this episoe aired. Once I realized that, I understood why the show included the Morrison/Chandler storyline. It pays to know history.

Season 4 is off to a good start! I just hope Dr. Westphall doesn’t drag everyone back down.

In 1973, a customized 1934 Ford three-window coup appeared on the cover of the November issue of Custom Rod. The car had been created by legendary customizer Pete Chapouris and it was called The California Kid. The cover caught the attention of television producer Howie Horowitz, who thought that maybe the car could become a star.

A year later, the car starred in it’s own made-for-TV movie. Naturally, that movie was called The California Kid.

The California Kid takes place in 1958 in the small town of Clarksberg. Clarksberg is known for being a town that does not tolerate speeders. Sheriff Roy Childress (Vic Morrow) lost his wife and daughter to a speeder and, ever since, he’s become a fanatic about making sure that people respect the speed limits. He’ll give a ticket to anyone who he sees going too fast. He’ll even impound your car. And if you don’t learn your lesson or if you try to outrun him, he’ll get behind your car, give it a push, and send both you and your vehicle plunging over the side of a mountain.

That’s what happens to Don McCord (Joe Estevez), a Marine who was just trying to get back to back to his base on time. After Don and his car go over the side of a cliff, the official ruling is that it was an accident. However, Don’s brother, Michael (Martin Sheen, real-life brother of Joe Estevez), doesn’t buy that. Determined to prove that his brother was murdered, Micheal rolls into town, behind the wheel of the California Kid.

The California Kid is a typical 70s car chase movie. There’s not much going on other than the sheriff chasing the Michael and the California Kid. Martin Sheen coasts through the movie, doing the James Dean impersonation that he perfected in the previous year’s Badlands and Vic Morrow plays his thousandth sadistic authority figure. The supporting cast is full of familiar names who don’t get to do much. Michelle Phillips plays the waitress who falls in love with Martin Sheen. (It’s always a waitress.) Stuart Margolin is Morrow’s deputy and keep an eye out for Nick Nolte, playing a mechanic. Interestingly, The California Kid was written by Richard Compton who, a year later, would direct Notle in his first starring role in the 1975 car chase film, Return to Macon County. Of course, the real star of the movie is the car and the California Kid earns its star billing. The movie might not be anything special but there’s no way you can watch it and not want to drive that car.

This is a made-for-TV movie so you won’t hear any profanity and the characters are all as simple can be. However, there are enough shots of cars going over cliffs to keep chase enthusiasts entertained.