This October, I’m going to be doing something a little bit different with my contribution to 4 Shots From 4 Films. I’m going to be taking a little chronological tour of the history of horror cinema, moving from decade to decade.
Today, we complete the 1930s.
4 Shots From 4 Films
Dracula’s Daughter (1936, dir by Lambert Hillyer)
Revolt of the Zombies (1936, dir by Victor Halperin)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936, dir by George King)
Welcome to 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 T. and T., a Canadian show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on Tubi!
This week, T and T comes to an end.
Episode 3.21 “The Little Prince”
(Dir by Ken Girotti, originally aired on May 26th, 1990)
The Sultan (Fareed Ahmed) of the tiny island nation of Domain has come to Canada or wherever the Hell this show is supposed to be taking place so that he can announce that he is bringing democracy to his nation. Yay! Democracy rules! However, the Sultan is also bringing along his bratty 12 year-old son, the Prince (Marlow Vella). Out of everyone that he could have hired, he selected Terri and T.S. Turner to look after the Prince.
Unfortunately, a gangster named Don Giovanni wants to kidnap the Prince. Fortunately, Don Giovanni has hired recurring crooks Fritz (Dominic Cuzzocrea) and Nobby (Avery Saltzman) to handle the abduction. Why any reputable gangster would hire Fritz and Nobby, I don’t know. Fritz and Nobby have appeared in several episodes of this show and they have never came close to pulling off any of their schemes. As usual, Turner is able to easily defeat Fritz and Nobby and, oddly, there doesn’t seem to be hard feelings. With all of the times that Turner has captured Fritz and Nobby, you do have to wonder why the two of them are never in jail.
This was the last episode of T and T. Not only did it end season 3 but it ended the show itself. The show ends without anyone ever asking what happened to Amy or any of the other supporting characters who came and went over the past three seasons. The continuity of this show was always a mess. That’s especially clear in this episode. Turner has to tell Terri who Fritz and Nobby are, despite the fact that Terri has met them at least twice before. I’m going to guess this episode was probably meant to air earlier in the season. Either that or the show’s writers just didn’t care.
For a show that started off as the story of streetwise guy who was unjustly imprisoned for murder, T and T certainly ended on a silly and rather inconsequential note. I mean, don’t get me wrong. It’s a Canadian detective show that starred Mr. T. Obviously, T and T was never meant to be taken seriously. The show didn’t need an epic finale but still, I always feel like the final episode of the show should at least wrap things up. The final episode is the equivalent of a final chapter. Its the show’s chance to leave the viewers with one final thought or to at least acknowledge everything that led up to the end. It’s always a bit sad when any show — even something like T and T — doesn’t get a chance to do that.
Now that it’s over, what can I say about T and T? There were a few entertaining episodes. Mr. T didn’t have much range an actor but he was still a big personality and his “don’t be a criminal” speeches were earnest delivered. The show worked better with Amy than Terri. The first season was the show’s strongest. Things went downhill afterwards. By the third season, Mr. T seemed bored with the whole thing.
Anyway, I’m done with T and T! To be honest, there were times when I felt like I would never finish this show. This is probably one of the most obscure pieces of entertainment that I’ve ever reviewed on the Shattered Lens but that’s what I’m here for. I like reviewing the shows and the movies that have been overlooked or otherwise forgotten.
Next week, I’ll be reviewing a new show in this time slot. What will that show be?
Uhmm …. I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out myself!
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989! The series can be streamed on YouTube!
Oh my God, is Mr. Raditch a racist!? We’ll find out this week.
Episode 1.3 “The Experiment”
(Dir by Clarke Mackey, originally aired on February 1st, 1987)
Joey Jeremiah’s a drug dealer!?
I am stunned! Seriously, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, Joey was the grown-up who was always giving the teenagers a hard time for being irresponsible. When his stepson, Craig Manning, got hooked on cocaine, Joey sent off to rehab and didn’t even bother to show up at the airport to say goodbye! And yet, with this episode, we discover that, in junior high, Joey Jeremiah sold pills.
Now, I should point out that they were just vitamin pills. Joey told Melanie (Sara Ballingall) and Kathleen (Rebecca Haines) that the pills were actual drugs that would get them high but, as he explained to Wheels, he was just doing that to make some money. In fact, Joey tells Wheels that he deserves a lot of credit for keeping Melanie and Kathleen off of hard drugs! That said, Melanie and Kathleen both fool themselves into thinking they’ve gotten high and they ask Joey to get them even more drugs. In fact, Melanie and Kathleen bring some of their friends with them so that everyone can get high!
Meanwhile, Yick and Arthur have a problem of their own. Yick thinks that Mr. Raditch is biased against him because Raditch is constantly criticizing Yick for being disorganized. He even refers to Yick as being “Mr. Yu the Disorganized.” In order to test whether or not Mr. Raditich is prejudiced against Yick, Arthur takes a paper that Stephanie wrote for Mr. Raditch the previous year and he has Yick turn it in as his own work. Yick finally gets a good grade! But just to make sure that Mr. Raditch isn’t prejudiced, Yick turns in a second paper that was originally written by Stephanie. This time, Mr. Raditch recognizes the paper as having been originally written by Stephanie.
This leads to an absolutely brilliantly played scene, in which Mr. Raditch interrogates Yick and Arthur in front of the class about why they’ve been turning in Stephanie’s work as Yick’s own. While Yick attempts to explain why he feels that Mr. Raditch is prejudiced against him, Kathleen, Melanie, and their dumb friends keep laughing loudly because they’re convinced that they’re all stoned even though they’re not. Mr. Raditch, needless to say, is not amused.
Anyway, things work out in the end. After Stephanie asks Joey if he’s really a drug dealer, Joey confesses the truth. Unfortunately, for him, his confession is overheard by Melanie and Kathleen and Joey ends up being chased down a hallway by a bunch of angry, wannabe drug addicts. Meanwhile, in detention, Yick writes a paper about stereotypes and how difficult it is to be called Mr. Yu the Disorganized. Both Yick and Mr. Raditch realize the errors of their way. Yick and Arthur leave school to play basketball together, but not before locking Joey in the janitor’s closet.
Episode 1.4 “The Cover-up”
(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on February 8th, 1987)
School picture day is coming up and Stephanie is freaking out because, if she wears the frumpy clothes that she wears around the house, everyone will laugh at her. But if she wears her trampy school clothes, her mom will know the truth about how Stephanie changes whenever she gets to school. As usual, Voula smirks about it and refuses to give Stephanie any advice, largely because Voula is the absolutely worst. (Not everyone wants to dress like they shop at the American Girl store, Voula.) In the end, Stephanie wears her trampy clothes to picture day and good for her! Seriously, dress however you want.
While this is going on, Caitlin (Stacie Mistysyn) and her friend Susie (Sarah Charlesworth) try to get the mysterious Rick (Craig Driscoll) to smile. They tell him jokes. They were pig noses. Rick, however, has little to smile about because, as Joey discovers, Rick is being beaten by his father. When Joey asks the school secretary what he should do if he knows someone who is getting beaten, the secretary misunderstands Joey’s comment and calls Child Protective Services on Joey’s parents! (It doesn’t help that Joey has a black eye as the result of a skateboarding accident.) Fortunately, the very Canadian social worker guy figures out that Rick is the one who is being beaten and he arranges for Rick’s father to get some help and for Rick to stay with his older brother. The next day, at school, Rick smiles!
This was a significant episode because it featured the first Caitlin storyline. Caitlin, of course, is destined to become one of the most important characters in Degrassi history, with her love story with Joey destined to take over 20 years to play out. Of course, in this episode, she’s more interested in Rick. (Rick, for his part, feels like an early version of Sean Cameron, Degrassi: The Next Generation‘s resident troubled bad boy.)
Anyway, these were two good episodes. It’s kind of interesting to watch as Joey Jeremiah goes from being an annoying prankster to basically the center of just about storyline.
Next week: it’s time for a Canadian swimming competition!
This October, I’m going to be doing something a little bit different with my contribution to 4 Shots From 4 Films. I’m going to be taking a little chronological tour of the history of horror cinema, moving from decade to decade.
Today, we complete the 1930s.
4 Shots From 4 Films
Dracula’s Daughter (1936, dir by Lambert Hillyer)
Revolt of the Zombies (1936, dir by Victor Halperin)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936, dir by George King)
Through the Shattered Lens 