Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) move in to a large house in the Lakeview Terrace neighborhood of Los Angeles. It’s a good house in a good neighborhood and it’s just too bad that their neighbor, Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson), is a corrupt cop who hates interracial couples.
I remember that Lakeview Terrace caused a brief stir when it was released in 2008. It was hardly the first film about an interracial couple being harassed by a bigot but it was one of the few where the bigot in question was a black man. Abel hates white people. He says it’s because his wife was cheating on him with a white man when she was killed in a car accident. He does not appreciate Chris listening to rap music and dropping his cigarettes on the street. When Abel’s children spot Chris and Lisa having sex in their swimming pool, that’s all Abel needs to justify his dislike of the couple and his feelings that he doesn’t want this couple living next door. When Chris asks if Abel could turn off the floodlights that shine into their bedroom window, Abel refuses. When Chris tries to plant privacy trees, Abel cuts them down. What starts out as a neighborhood feud escalates as Abel orders one of his informants to break into Chris and Lisa’s house. Unfortunately, that third act twist also signals the moment that Lakeview Terrace goes from being a reasonably intelligent social satire to being a standard thriller. Neil LaBute is a director who specializes in making people uncomfortable so it is too bad that Lakeview Terrace ends in a way designed to conform to what audiences have come to expect from thrillers.
Abel’s a hateful figure but Samuel L. Jackson is just as charismatic as ever and the passive-aggressive way that he initially responds to Chris and Lisa will be familiar to anyone who has ever had a bad neighbor or who has to deal with a cop having a bad day. Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington, neither one of whom is really that interesting an actor to begin with, are both stuck in bland roles and struggle to keep up with Jackson. (Wilson and Washington even get out-acted by Ron Glass, playing Lisa’s disapproving father.) It throws the movie off-balance. At the same time, Jackson is such an actor who projects so much intelligence that it’s hard to believe that Abel would make the stupid mistakes that he makes towards the end of the movie. Lakeview Terrace starts out fairly strong but loses its way towards the end.
The Long Game is a sports film and, like most sports film, it’s a crowd-pleaser despite being predictable.
The film opens in South Texas in the 50s. World War II vet JB Pena (Jay Hernandez) has been hired as the new superintendent of the school district. Haunted by his experiences in the war, Pena now works out his emotions by hitting golf balls. Despite being sponsored by his former commanding officer, retired golf pro Frank Mitchell (Dennis Quaid), Pena is turned down for membership in the wealthy Del Rio Country Club. It’s suggested that he might fit in better at the all-Mexican country club a few towns away.
Pena discovers that five caddies at the country club have built their own golf course. (He discovers this when one of them hits a golf ball through his car window while Pena is driving.) Pena also discovers that the caddies are all students at the local high school. Pena decides to recruit the caddies into the high school’s first ever golf team. Under the guidance of both JB Pena and Frank Mitchell, the Mavericks make it to the Texas High School Golf championship and …. wouldn’t you know it! — they find themselves playing at the same country club that previously refused to allow Pena to join.
Sports films are interesting. Critics and audiences tend to make a big deal about wanting to be surprised by movies. We complain about the lack of originality that is present in most modern-day films. But we make an exception when it comes to sports films because we understand that, at their best, sports film appeal to some very basic but very important emotions. We go into sports film with the understanding that the underdogs are going to win, despite all of the obstacles that have been put in their way. We go into sports films with the understanding that the team’s best player is going to be a troubled soul who has to be talked into competing. We go into sports films knowing that the coach is going to start out pushing one method, just to realize the error of his ways. We go into sports films knowing that there’s going to be a wise mentor. (In fact, The Long Game gives us two, with both Dennis Quaid and Cheech Marin offering up advice.) Sports film tend to be very predictable but you know what? It doesn’t matter. Everybody appreciates a story about underdogs proving that they can go the distance and compete with the best. Everybody loves a story where the contender that no one took seriously comes from behind and wins. There’s a reason why the Rocky films didn’t end with the first one. After our heroes prove they’ve got the heart of a champion, we then like to see them win. These stories are totally predictable but damn if they don’t bring a tear to my eye every time.
The Long Game certainly inspired a few tears. It’s a well-made sports film, one that features heartfelt performances from Jay Hernandez, Dennis Quaid, and all of the young actors playing the members of the Mavericks. It’s predictable but it’s also well-made and there’s an aching sincerity the whole thing that is just impossible to resist. (It also helps that the film itself is wonderful to look at, with the cinematography truly capturing the beauty of my home state.) The film is based on a true story. I imagine that a few liberties were taken, as they always are with a film like this. But still, when the film ended with grainy images of the real-life golfers, it was impossible not to be moved by their story and proud of their accomplishments.
Welcome to 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 Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
Today, we finally say goodbye to Hang Time!
Episode 6.11 “High School Confidential”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on December 9th, 2000)
With graduation day approaching, the seniors class of Deering High is interviewed by Mary Beth and Kristy. That’s right, it’s time for a clip show! Interestingly, all of the clips come from seasons 5 and 6. You would think that, after going to high school for 6 years, Julie and Mary Beth would have more memories. No one even mentions Coach Fuller or any of the other basketball players that Julie went out with before meeting Michael. Even for a clip show, this was a let down.
Episode 6.12 “Graduation on Three”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on December 16th, 2000)
It’s graduation time! Because she’s the greatest player who has ever lived, the school officially retires Julie Connor’s number. No one else will ever wear Number 34. Hopefully, no one else will ever spend six years in high school as well. Actually, if I remember correctly, Julie transferred to Deering from another school so it’s totally possible that it took Julie seven years to graduate high school.
Considering how long it took the rest of the characters to graduate high school, it’s not surprising that Kristy is the school’s valedictorian. Kristy is especially concerned about giving a perfect graduation speech because she’s worried that she’ll never see her friends again after graduation. I could relate to what Kristy was feeling because, when I graduated from high school, I also feared that I would never see my friends again. Luckily, society now has Facebook so we can check in on all of our old friends from high school and discover that they’ve all become political cranks.
Kristy does eventually find the courage to give her valedictorian speech. For some reason, Mary Beth hosts the graduation ceremony. (Did Deering High not have a principal?) After Coach K gets an award, Kristy gives her speech and breaks down into tears. It was kind of sad but also pretty sweet. Again, I could relate to how Kristy was feeling.
All that’s left is for everyone to throw their graduation caps into the air and then share one final group hug in the gym. Awwww!
And that’s it for Hang Time!
Well, what is left to say about this show, one that I’ve spent a year reviewing? Hang Time was a messy show, largely because the cast was constantly changing and everyone stayed in high school for way too long. That said, the good episodes tended to be very good and the bad episodes were, for the most part, inoffensive. The show probably should have ended when Reggie Theus left but Dick Butkus was a more than adequate replacement and, indeed, Coach K. was arguably the show’s best character during the final two seasons. Even if the final seasons were a bit weak, Megan Parlen and Amber Barretto were a good comedic team. The final episode ended with Kristy saying, “I’m going to miss this place,” and you know what? So am I.
Next week: Retro Television Reviews leaves Indiana for ….. MIAMI! Are you ready for a little Vice?
Welcome to 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 Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
This week, it’s time for the team’s final game ever!
Episode 6.9 “For Love Of the Game”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on November 18th, 2000)
Hey, we’re back at the University of Indiana, where the Tornadoes are still playing in that tournament. How long do these tournaments last? Every season Hang Time had a tournament story arc that went on forever. Do the Torandoes even go to class at this point?
Speaking of going to class, Julie is worried because she still hasn’t been offered a scholarship from the University of Connecticut. For some reason, Julie, Kristy, and Mary Beth insist on referring to the school as being “UConn.” “UConn do it!” Kristy says at one point. I don’t know. Maybe the University of Connecticut is actually known as UConn. I don’t really pay much attention to those little mid-Atlantic states. Does anyone?
Anyway, for some reason, Kristy and Mary Beth decide it would be a good idea to pretend to be recruiters so that they can tell the UConn recruiter that they’re really interested in Julie. They talk to a woman in a UConn jacket and the woman says that her college is not interested in Julie. Kristy and Mary Beth get upset and walk away. What they don’t realize was that the woman was only borrowing the jacket and UConn is totally planning on offering Julie a full scholarship!
For some reason (there’s that term again), Mary Beth decides to call the UConn recruiter and tell her off but, instead of doing it under her name, she calls and claims to be Julie. (Who does this?) Later, Mary Beth and Kristy run into the real UConn recruiter and discover that he’s going to offer Julie a scholarship. So now, Mary Beth and Kristy have to sneak into the man’s hotel room and delete their message before he hears it!
*Sigh*
I’ve mentioned many times before that I can’t stand stories that are dependent on everyone acting like an idiot. And this is one of those stories. I mean, Mary Beth and Kristy pretending to be recruiters is kind of funny but Mary Beth pretending to be Julie and telling off a recruiter is just stupid. Fortunately, though, Julie still gets her scholarship.
While this is going on, the team is freaking out about their next game because they’re currently undefeated and each player is afraid of being the person who screws up the season. Coach K yells at them until they remember that the game should be fun and, after trailing the entire game, the Tornadoes win by one basket. Again.
“That was our last play as a team,” Michael says. Awwwwwww!
This was a silly episode that got on my nerves. Let’s move on.
Episode 6.10 “A Night To Remember”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on December 2nd, 2000)
It’s prom time!
Unfortunately, the school made the mistake of naming Julie, Kristy, and Mary Beth as the heads of the prom committee. Everyone predicts that the three of them will end up fighting, just as they do whenever they try to work together. And that’s exactly what happens. Not only does Kristy lose all the money for the prom but Kristy, Julie, and Mary Beth all show up wearing the same gray dress. Mary Beth claims that she bought the dress first, Kristy claims that she picked her dress out 6 months ago. Mary Beth replies, “It looks the worst on Julie so she should go change!” That made me laugh. This show is always at its best when it allows Mary Beth to just be a force of chaos.
Meanwhile, Silk, Eugene, and Mary Beth have all ended up with terrible dates. Mary Beth accidentally said yes to Merle, who smells like vapor rub. (She was on the phone when he asked and she automatically said yes without hearing his question.) As a favor to Mary Beth, Silk tries to find another girl to go to the prom with Merle but she thinks Silk is asking. Eugene auction himself off for charity and is purchased by a retiree (played by none other than Mrs. Voorhees herself, Betsy Palmer).
Fortunately, the night is saved when a tornado hits Deering. While everyone huddles in the hallway, Kristy, Mary Beth, and Julie do an impromptu performance of I Will Survive. Yay! Seriously, it was a fun scene. Plus, my sisters and I used to sing I Will Survive when we did karaoke.
Overall, this was a cute episode. I enjoyed it and I sang along.
Next week: Hang Time ends as the Tornadoes finally graduate!
Welcome to 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 Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
This week, Hammer returns!
Episode 6.7 “Life 101”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on November 4th, 2000)
Hammer returns during this episode but, before we discuss that, let’s get the dumb B-plot out of the way. Coach K, is going out of town so he assigns Antonio to look after his dog, a chihuahua named Killer. (What was the deal with both of the coaches always asking their dumb players to look after their pets, cars, and houses?) Antonio and the boys lose Killer at the mall. However, they then see a little girl named Susie adopting a chihuahua on television. Assuming that the girl has adopted Killer, they bribe the girl with toys to get the dog. When they give the dog to the Coach, he immeidately sees that it’s not Killer because it’s a girl and not a boy.
Uh-oh!
No worries, though. It turns out that the woman who found Killer saw a flyer that the boys put up and she shows up at the gym with Killer. She asks Coach K out on a date. “Woooooo!” the audience shouts. As I wrote earliier, it was all pretty dumb but at least the dog was cute.
Meanwhile, Hammer (Mark Famiglietti) returns to Indiana from North Carolina! Mary Beth is so excited! Hammer explains that he’s not sure he wants to attend Duke. (I thought Hammer was attending Duke but apparently, he was just in some sort of Duke-affiliated prep school or something.) Hammer says that Duke might not have a spot for him on the team so he decides to apply to UCLA with Mary Beth and Kristy.
Mary Beth and Kristy get into UCLA! Yay!
Hammer does not. Boooo!
Hammer pressures Mary Beth to turn down UCLA and go to the University of Indiana with him. Hammer, what happened to you!?
Mary Beth agrees but then Hammer learns that Duke does want him to play basketball so he decides he’s going to go Duke anyway and that Mary Beth should come with him. “You want me to move to North Carolina!?” a shocked Mary Beth says. (Uhmm, it’s better than freaking Indiana.) Mary Beth and Hammer break up and Mary Beth decides to go to UCLA afterall.
I guess it’s good that Mary Beth is finally going to graduate from high school but this episode still bothered me. Bringing back Hammer was cool. Having him come back with a totally different personality from the one he had when he was previously on the show was not cool. That just felt like lazy writing.
Let’s move on.
Episode 6.8 “Secrets and Lies”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on November 11th, 2000)
It’s championship time again!
Actually, it was championship time last season. Seasons 5 and 6 were filmed at the same time and were originally intended to be a part of one big, final season. NBC decided to not only split the season in two but they also rearranged the order of the episodes, leading to all sorts of continuity confusion. The tournament that we see the Tornadoes playing at the University of Indiana was originally meant to be a part of the championship story arc that was featured in season 5. (That storyline, of course, ended with the previously undefeated Tornadoes losing in an upset and learning about humility.) Instead of airing where it was originally meant to air, this tournament episode somewhat randomly pops up in the middle of season 6.
As for this episode, it’s a mix of the serious and the seriously stupid. The seriously stupid part of the episode finds Eugene and Silk being led astray by two cheerleaders who steal their uniforms, lock them in a locker room, and try to keep them from playing in the big game. It doesn’t work, of course. Silk and Eugene end up tumbling out of an air conditioning duct and landing in the middle of the gym. The important thing is that they get to play and no one asks why they were wandering around a duct while half-naked in the first place.
As for the serious storyline, it features Mary Beth meeting Brett, a handsome guy who is writing a story for his school’s newspaper. He takes Mary Beth and the team out to a bar and, in a backroom, attempts to force himself on Mary Beth. While Mary Beth gets away from him, Brett still threatens to reveal that the team was at a bar if she dares to say anything about what he tried to do. However, when Mary Beth sees Brett talking to another girl and trying to lead her to a backroom, she realizes that she can’t be quiet. Brett gets arrested but not before Coach K threatened to rip him from limb to limb.
This was a good episode, solely due to the Mary Beth storyline, which was well-acted and had a valuable message. When Dick Butkus threatened Brett, you never had any doubt that he meant every word of it. I’ve been a bit critical of Dick Butkus in these reviews but it’s hard to imagine Reggie Theus bringing the same emotional intensity to this episode that Butkus did. One gets the feeling that Theus would have just made Mary Beth feel guilty for not speaking up immediately. Dick Butkus, on the other hand, isn’t going to let anyone get away with hurting his students.
Welcome to 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 Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
Will you always remember you and your friends at Hang Time?
Episode 6.5 “Have No Fear”
(Directed by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on October 21st, 2000)
Temple U. comes to Deering to offer Silk a full scholarship to attend their college and play basketball for their team. At first, Silk is excited but then he makes the mistake of playing a little basketball with the college players. It turns out that they’re a hundred times better than Silk! Silk then discovers that Temple expects its players to practice everyday, to attend every away game, and to maintain a B average. Silk decides that it’s too much to deal with and announces that he would rather go to Atlantic University.
“Atlantic sucks!” Eugene exclaims.
Anyway, Coach K eventually tells Silk that he need to take the chance and go to Temple. Personally, I think Silk had every right to be concerned because, over the past few seasons, it’s not like Silk has ever been that good of a player. For instance, he’s never the one who shoots the game-winning basket. He’s never the one who risks getting hooked on pills because the team will lose if he’s not on the court. He’s never been the one who has gotten an oversized ego after being featured in a magazine. By the standards of Hang Time, he’s a below-average player. Why does Temple want him as opposed to Michael or Julie?
All that said, Silk still decides to take a shot and go to Temple. Good for him.
Meanwhile, in the far more amusing B-plot, Julie and Kristy buy a car together but then spend all of their time arguing over who is a better driver and who gets to use the car on which night. This is another one of those plots where Mary Beth acts as an agent of chaos. She’s the one who suggests that Kristy and Julie should get the car together and, for some reason, she tags along when Kristy and Antonio and Michael and Julie go on a double-date together. At this point, I think the only reason why Mary Beth is still attending classes at Deering is so she can cause stir the drama. That’s actually kind of neat. It suggests that Mary Beth knows that she’s in a television show and that she understands that this particular episode needed some silliness to make up for all of the uninteresting stuff with Silk. Good for Mary Beth!
Episode 6.6 “At The Movies”
(Directed by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on October 28th, 2000)
Oh God.
This episode features Dustin Diamond playing himself.
Antonio and Kristy are both working at the movie theater as a part of their “work study program.” (Why can’t they just get a job? Why does it have to be a part of a program?) Anyway, Kristy is appointed assistant manager and decides that a sure way to make money would be to do a midnight showing of Saved By The Bell: Wedding in Vegas. And because the other members of the Saved By The Bell cast had all moved on to real careers by the time this episode was filmed, the show had to make due with Dustin Diamond showing up as the special celebrity guest. Yes, Dustin plays himself but still speaks in his annoying Screech voice.
I don’t want to talk too much about it. I pretty much zoned out as soon as Dustin arrived. I feel a little bit bad about that because Dustin Diamond did not have a particularly happy life and died far too young but, still, he was so annoying whenever he did the whole Screech thing. Add to that, you may remember that, a few seasons ago, Dustin Diamond made a cameo appearance as Screech. And before that, Mary Beth went to Space Camp with Ryan Parker, a student at Bayside. So, what’s the deal, Hang Time? How is Screech both real and fictional at the same time?
Meanwhile, Mary Beth freaked out after she had a romantic dream about Eugene. This led to Mary Beth going out on a date with Eugene to see if she actually had feelings for him. (Uhmm, Mary Beth …. remember that you have a boyfriend going to Duke?) It turned out that Mary Beth didn’t and that’s a good thing. We already suffered through Mary Beth dating Vince.
Anyway, the important thing is that everything worked out in the end. With the help of Dustin Diamond, Antonio learned a lesson about being a good employee and Mary Beth realized that she wasn’t in love with Eugene. Yay!
Welcome to 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 Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
This week, Silk’s aunt dies and Julie nearly kills another player. It’s a dangerous time in Indiana!
Episode 6.3 “The Gospel According To Silk”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on October 7th, 2000)
The team is confused as to why Silk never wants to go to kareoke night with them. They decide to follow Silk to find out what he does after each game. They discover that he goes to a church so, of course, they decide to follow him inside so they can find out what he does in there. Uhmmm …. it’s a church. What do they think he’s doing in there? Seriously, the people were the worst about not giving anyone any privacy.
Anyway, it turns out that Silk and his Aunt Charlotte (Jennifer Holliday) sing in a gospel choir. (Have I mentioned how much I dislike gospel music?) While sitting in the church, the team demands to know why Silk hadn’t been telling them that he sings in the choir. Uhmmm …. people, you’re in a church! You’re interrupting a rehearsal! You’re in a place of worship! LEAVE SILK ALONE! He doesn’t have to tell you about every single aspect of his life.
Anyway, now that Aunt Charlotte has been introduced to everyone, she does what every guest star on this show does and she goes to the school to watch the Tornadoes practice. Charlotte also tosses the ball and makes a few baskets. Charlotte explains that she can do anything with “faith and a little prayer.” Then Charlotte goes home, has a heart attack, and, despite all of Silk’s prayers, dies.
Uh-oh, Silk is losing his faith! Fear not, though, Charlotte’s ghost appears to him at church and tells him not to despair. Shows like Hang Time were always a bit cringey whenever they attempted to deal with religious faith but Danso Gordon did a good job portraying Silk’s pain and his eventual acceptance of Charlotte’s passing.
As for the B-plot, Coach K and Mary Beth competed to win a car by seeing who could stay in it the longest. In the end, they both lost because they were both outside of the car when time ran out. Or something. It was dumb and it definitely felt out-of-place in this episode.
Episode 6.4 “The Enforcer”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on October 14th, 2000)
“I was watching the tape of our first three games,” Coach K tells the team at practice, “and I wasn’t happy with what I saw….”
Uhmmm, Coach K, the first episode of the sixth season had the team on the verge of making the playoffs and bragging about their undefeated season. Why are you only now watching the tape of your first three games?
(The real answer is that NBC showed the final 26 episodes out-of-order. The fun answer is that Coach K is just extremely slow.)
Coach K is worried that Julie isn’t being aggressive enough. In their upcoming game against Montrose, the Tornadoes will be facing Dave Carter (Riley Smith), a player who is so good that he’s going to go straight from high school to the NBA despite the fact that he looks way too short to be a basketball player. Dave’s NBA dreams are shattered with Julie knocks him down to the floor and he tears some ligament in his knee.
Guilt-stricken, Julie loses her competitive edge. Fortunately, when she goes to visit the wheelchair-bound Dave in the hospital, he tells her that he doesn’t hate her and that she has to “take the shot.” So, Julie gets back to normal and Dave …. well, I guess he’s going to be stuck in Indiana for the rest of his life. As always, the important thing is that Julie’s doing better.
Meanwhile, a malfunctioning ATM gives Kristy thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, it also causes both she and Mary Beth to have bad luck until they give the money away. As bad as their luck may be, at least they weren’t put in a wheelchair by Julie. Seriously, poor Dave!
I’m being a bit snarky but this wasn’t a bad episode. Learning how to deal with guilt is an important lesson and Hang Time deserves some credit for addressing it. That said, it’s still hard not to notice that the NBA-bound Dave didn’t really appear to be that good of a player in the first place. I mean, considering that Dave, who we were told was the best player in the history of Indiana high school basketball, didn’t appear to be better than any of the Deering players, shouldn’t the entire cast by NBA-bound?
Next week: Silk is offered a scholarship and a special guest stars shows up for movie night!
Welcome to 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 Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
Finally! We have reached the final season of Hang Time! While watching this season, it’s important to remember that seasons 5 and 6 were filmed at the same time and were originally meant to be one season. Just as they did with Saved By The Bell: The New Class, NBC decided to split the final season into two seasons and they also decided to air the episodes out of order. In other words, I imagine that it’s going to be a lot of fun trying to find any sort of consistent continuity over the final 12 episodes of Hang Time!
With that in my mind, I’m ready to finally move on from this show so let’s get started on season 6!
Episode 6.1 “www.eugene.trouble.com”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on September 23rd, 2000)
When I talk about how showing episodes out of order can lead to continuity issues, I’m talking about an episode like this one. Season 5 ended with the Tornadoes going to the championship tournament and losing to Muncie, despite the fact that they were favored to defeat Muncie. In fact, the team had been named “Team of the Decade,” which seemed like a bit of overkill on the part of the press. Obviously, the Tornadoes were a good team but it still seemed strange that they got as cocky as they did last season.
If all of the episode had been aired in the order in which they were meant to have been aired, the viewers would have understood that the Tornadoes were not only favored to win the tournament but that, until their loss to Muncie, they had been undefeated for the entire season. That would have explained why they were such heavy favorites, why they got so cocky, and why their loss truly was such an upset. Instead, the majority of the “undefeated season” episodes were moved to season 6. So now, the undefeated season happened the year after their loss to Muncie, when the players themselves were in their sixth year of high school. And, because the episode were aired out-of-order, the first episode of the sixth season features the Tornadoes already deep into their undefeated season and on the verge of making the playoffs.
In this episode, the undefeated season is briefly threatened by Eugene’s gambling problem. When Eugene loses a lot of money playing video poker, he makes the mistake of putting $500 on the Pacers game. When he loses that bet, evil bookie Bill (Kevin Sage) demands that Eugene throw his next game. Instead, Eugene puts his team first, wins the game (and yes, the Tornadoes win by one point), and then nearly gets killed in the hallway by Bill. Fortunately, Coach K comes running around a corner and tosses Bill against some lockers. I’m convinced the look of fear on Bill’s face was real because Dick Butkus may have been a retired football player but it was obvious that he could still break some bones if he wanted to. Eugene learns an important lesson and Coach K declines to kick Eugene off the team, despite the fact that Eugene violated the contract that he signed the previous season.
While this was going on, Kristy had an interview with Stanford but, after an emergency dental appointment left her unable to talk, Mary Beth took her place. Why Kristy didn’t just reschedule the meeting, I have no idea. It was dumb but Megan Parlen and Amber Barretto were always a good comedy team and I laughed every time Mary Beth said that Kristy had a “hump” (due to Kristy wearing an ice pack on her back) and Kristy shouted back, “It wasn’t a hump!”
This episode felt like a strange way to start the season. Again, that’s because of the way that NBC split the final season in two. Usually, Hang Time would start each season with the beginning of the school year. This time, Hang Time jumped into the middle of the season, with the team already talking about making the playoffs. It just didn’t feel right but at least Mary Beth and Kristy are finally, after six years of high school, thinking about college.
Episode 6.2 “That 60s Show”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on September 30th, 2000)
The students at Deering High are upset over the new dress code. I don’t blame them! Look at this:
I would refuse to wear that uniform too!
Pompous ex-Yippie teacher Mr. McHenry (Alan Young) tells them that they should protest the same way that Mr. McHenry protested at Chicago in 1968. (So, they should get hit with tear gas and beaten up by the cops?) The protest rally is a success. The school board drops the uniform requirement but they also fire Mr. McHenry. So, the students decide to protest that as well….
GET TO CLASS, YOU BRATS!
Anyway, the Deering basketball team sits down on the court and refuses to start their next game unless Mr. McHenry is reinstated, which puts their undefeated season at risk. Seriously, though, wouldn’t they just be ordered to forfeit the game if they refused to play?
Anyway, Mr. McHenry is reinstated, even though he’s like 80 and probably would have enjoyed his retirement.
This episode annoyed me. Let us never speak of it again.
Welcome to 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 Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
This week, the fifth season comes to an end,
Episode 5.13 “Fighting For Your Dreams”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on January 8th, 2000)
The previous episode of Hang Time ended with Deering High’s season coming to an unexpected end. It also featured Michael and Julie as an established couple and Mary Beth seemingly over Hammer. That episode aired in December of 1999.
It would be over a month before the next episode of Hang Time aired.
That next episode, Fighting For Your Dreams, features the Tornadoes in the middle of their season, Michael still being rather shy about asking Julie if she wants to see a movie with him, and Mary Beth still hung up on Hammer. Obviously, this episode was meant to air earlier in the season but, for whatever reason, it didn’t.
It’s actually not a bad episode. The University of Kentucky is interested in recruiting Antonio for their basketball program but, after Antonio injures his knee during practice, it looks like his playing days might be over. Antonio wants to spend all of his time feeling sorry for himself in his apartment but eventually both Kristy and Coach K convince him to stop feeling sorry for himself and start physical therapy. There was one extremely dumb scene in which Kristy, Eugene and Silk hired an actor to pretend to be the recruiter and give Antonio a pep talk but otherwise, this was an effective story and Jay Hernandez, Amber Barretto, and Dick Butkus all gave heartfelt performances.
As for Mary Beth, she and Hammer eventually broke up over the phone because the long distance relationship just proved to be too difficult to maintain. Awwwwwwww! Poor Mary Beth.
Episode 5.14 “My Family”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on March 11th, 2000)
Two months after the Fighting For Your Dreams episode aired, Hang Time got around to finishing out season 5 with My Family.
The family in question is Coach K’s. This episode finally reveals a little about Coach K’s past. We are informed that he’s divorced, his ex-wife lives up in Canada, and he hasn’t seen his 17 year-old daughter, Kate (Amber Willenborg), in a while. Coach K is super excited when Kate shows up in Indiana. It’s a chance for the two of them to rebuild their relationship. Coach K has an entire weekend in Chicago planned for the two of them.
What Coach K doesn’t know is that Kate has a baby. Kate is scared to tell him so, instead of taking her child with her to Chicago, she instead gives him to Julie, Kristy, and Mary Beth, three people who she barely knows. Needless to say, this leads to a whole lot of scenes of, “Ewww! The baby needs to be changed” and “Oh my God, the baby has a fever! Take him to the hospital!” The baby’s cute but Kate’s decision to just abandon him with three people that she’s just met just doesn’t feel right. Anyway, Kate tells Coach K about the baby in Chicago and they immediately head back to Indiana so that he can meet his grandson. And, much as with the previous episode, Dick Butkus saves the episode by giving a surprisingly sensitive performance. Coach K loves his grandson! Awwwww!
The B-story features the boys selling pagers to raise money for ski trip. Who cares? It’s dumb.
Next week: the sixth and final season begins! The end is in sight!
Welcome to 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 Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
The Tornadoes are going to the championship tournament …. again!
Episode 5.11 “Finals Fury”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on November 27th, 1999)
The Tornadoes are once again in the championship tournament, which means that it is once again time for Hang Time to make use of its University of Indiana set. As Coach K. explains, the team cannot afford to lose one game if they want to be the state champions. Unfortunately, Michael is currently playing like crap, missing easy shots, getting distracted, and even getting so angry over a call that he gets thrown out of a game.
What’s the problem? Michael’s lifelong but never previously mentioned rival is also at the championship and he is continually taunting Michael, whether from the stands or on the court. Michael gets so upset that he can’t concentrate. Coach K. decides that the best way to solve this problem would be to get kicked out of the game. So, Coach K yells at a ref until he’s sent to the locker room. At half-time, Coach K. tells Michael that now he knows what it’s like to be abandoned in the middle of a big game. I’m not really sure that I follow Coach K’s logic here but the important thing is that it somehow causes Michael to play better and Deering once again wins by one basket. They won despite not having a coach on the floor so maybe the real point of this episode was that Coach K really wasn’t that important.
Meanwhile, Antonio runs into an old friend from Texas and attends a frat party. Even though Kristy trusts Antonio, she still gets jealous when one too many sorority girls say hi to her man. At the next fraternity party, Kristy and Mary Beth sneak in, wearing fake beards and pretending to be frat pledges. Yes, it’s another wacky disguise plot! I usually hate wacky disguise plots but I’ll make an exception here because Jay Hernandez is just so unbelievably likable an Antonio. In a Hang Time first, Antonio doesn’t overreact to Kristy and Mary Beth spying on him but instead gives them a fraternity paddle as a gift. It was kind of sweet.
Still, you have to wonder how Coach K would have felt about Antonio going to a party on the night before a big game. Remember when Coach K made the team sign that stupid contract, promising not to party, skateboard, or do anything that could possibly make them less effective on the court? If you do, congrats. The show appears to have forgotten about it.
Episode 5.12 “The Upset”
(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on December 4th, 1999)
As the Tornadoes prepare for their next game in the championship tournament, Kristy and Mary Beth notice a familiar face setting up a video camera to record the action. Why, it’s Ronald! Who is Ronald? As Kristy and Mary Beth explain it, Ronald was a kid who they tormented when they were younger, forcing him to wear makeup and totally embarrassing him when he wanted to try out for Little League. Not realizing that Ronald (played by Micgael Cornacchia) has been permanently traumatized by their actions, Kristy and Mary Beth decide to go say hi. They’re shocked when Ronald says that he wants nothing to do with them. They decide to make it their mission to convince Ronald that they’re not as bad as he thinks they are.
I had mixed feelings about this plotline. On the one hand, I could relate to both Kristy and Mary Beth because it’s always been hard for me to understand how anyone could actually be angry about anything that I’ve ever done. When Kristy and Mary Beth learned that what they remembered as childhood fun was actually Ronald’s nightmare, I could relate to how confused and guilty they felt and also their desire to fix things with Ronald. At the same time, Ronald was himself such a jerk that I couldn’t help but feel that he deserved to be miserable. Ronald gets his revenge by casting Kristy and Mary Beth in a commercial that he’s making for the student union. (Seeing as how he was a childhood friend of Mary Beth and Kristy’s, I’m assuming he’s a freshman at the University of Indiana. Are freshmen film students often hired to direct commercials?) He films Kristy and Mary Beth eating ice cream and then, in the commercial, he transposes their faces on two pigs. Not cool, Ronald! Seriously, what a jerk.
While Mary Beth and Kristy are potentially putting their lives in danger by spending time with the obviously sociopathic Ronald, the Tornadoes are looking forward to playing their next game. Their opponent is from Muncie, Indiana and no one expects the Tornadoes to lose. Despite Coach K’s warning about getting cocky, the Tornadoes do just that. Coach K even invites a pro basketball player to come to practice and tell the Tornadoes to never take victory for granted. Judging by how awkward and stiff the guy was while delivering his lines, I’m assuming he was a real-life player.
Of course, Coach K has a point. The Tornadoes have gotten extremely cocky, especially when you consider that they rarely seem to win a game by more than one point. When a local paper refers to them as being “the team of the decade,” the Tornadoes let it go to their head. (Really, shouldn’t the team of the decade occasionally win by more than a handful of points?) The game against Muncie is close but — well, you already know that this episode is entitled The Upset. Do I need to tell you that, this time, it’s Muncie that wins by one basket?
Humbled, The Tornadoes return home and are shocked to discover all of their fans waiting and cheering for them. Coach K says that he’s proud of the team. Michael gives a speech in which he promises to bring home the championship next season. Next season!? Are any of these people ever planning on graduating!?
I had mixed feelings about this episode. I liked the fact that the Tornadoes lost the big game because even a good team is going to lose a game or two. I thought that part of the episode was really well-directed, acted, and written. But all of the stuff with Ronald was just icky and it made me never want to apologize to anyone. Still, on the whole, this was a good episode with which to end the season.
Except, of course, there’s two more episodes to go in this season. We’ll look at them next week!
Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) move in to a large house in the Lakeview Terrace neighborhood of Los Angeles. It’s a good house in a good neighborhood and it’s just too bad that their neighbor, Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson), is a corrupt cop who hates interracial couples.
Through the Shattered Lens 