This video was shot early in Katy Perry’s career, as you can probably guess just from the basic and rather simple style of the music video. Long Shot was originally intended to appear on what was intended to be Perry’s second album. Unfortunately, that album was shelved but Long Shot still found an audience when it was covered by Kelly Clarkson.
It is today’s music video of the day because I’ll always root for the long shots.
Enjoy!
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Highway to Heaven, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1989. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!
This week, Jonathan and Mark get into the detective business.
Episode 5.9 “Choices”
(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on June 30th, 1989)
Working as private investigators, Mark and Jonathan are approached by a Vietnamese couple who are looking for the two sons that they gave up for adoption many years ago. They gave the boys up so that they could escape Vietnam and live in America, safe from communism. Now, the father (Dr. Haing S. Ngor) wants to bring his sons back to Singapore, despite the fact that both of them have been adopted by good people and the oldest has been accepted to a prestigious college.
This was an above average episode of Highway to Heaven. It was undoubtedly heavy-handed and there were more than a few minutes where the dialogue was a bit too spot-on for its own good. But ultimately, the episode was so earnest and heartfelt that the viewer couldn’t help but forgive the show’s flaws. This particular episode was very well-acted, especially by Dr. Haing S. Ngor. A Cambodian who lost most of his family after the Khmer Rogue came to power and attempted to return the country to “Year Zero” by killing off anyone who was considered to be too educated or cosmopolitan, Dr. Ngor survived by disguising the fact that he was an educated doctor. After the fall of the Khmer Rogue, Ngor made his way to Thailand and eventually to America. He won an Oscar for playing a character who suffered much as he suffered in The Killing Fields (a film about communist atrocities that has the gall to unironically include John Lennon’s Imagine on the soundtrack). In this episode, Ngor gives a strong performance as a stubborn man who struggles with the fact that his sons have grown up in his absence. Tragically, seven years after this episode aired, Dr. Ngor was murdered in his driveway. Though a group of gang members were arrested and convicted of his murder, it’s always been known that his murder was ordered by Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rogue.
The final season of Highway to Heaven has been uneven but this was a good episode.
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Decoy, which aired in Syndication in 1957 and 1958. The show can be viewed on Tubi!
This week, Casey deals with two brothers who may or may not be guilty of a crime.
Episode 1.22 “Reasonable Doubts”
(Dir by Teddy Sills, originally aired on March 10th, 1958)
An office is robbed and the manager is shot. As Casey Jones tells us in her narration, the difference between this robbery and countless others is that someone got a good look at the robber. Lawrence Osler (Joe Warren) is arrested for the crime. However, Lawrence’s sister, Julia (Anna Minot), is convinced that Lawrence is innocent and she thinks that Lawrence’s younger brother, John (Thomas A. Carlin), can prove it. Casey agrees to go undercover as a friend of Julia’s who has agreed to pay Lawrence’s bail. Her assignment is to get John to talk. Julia thinks that Casey is going to exonerate both the brothers but, in reality, Casey is trying to put John in jail with Lawrence.
“It wasn’t very nice,” Casey ruefully tells us. But, Casey goes on to note, neither is robbing an office and putting a man in the hospital.
Casey discovers that Lawrence is innocent. It was John and his shady buddy Oscar (Edward Walsh) who robbed the place. John was willing to let Lawrence take the fall because he thought Lawrence would be acquitted in court. But now, Oscar is trying to frame Lawrence. Will John take responsibility for his own actions?
This episode probably sounds more interesting than it is. With only a 30 minute running time, there’s not much room to generate any sort of suspense as to which brother is guilty. Lawrence is obviously innocent from the start and John is obviously guilty. It doesn’t take Casey long to figure this out but she can’t really do anything about it until Oscar shows up unexpectedly and casually reveals that truth about what happened. This is one of those episodes where the viewer feels like Casey just got lucky. As well, most of the action too place indoors so there weren’t any of the 1950s New York location shots that so often added life to this series.
That said, Beverly Garland was great as always. Her regret over manipulating Julia added an extra dimension to the story. As Casey said, “It wasn’t nice.” In the end, Julia saves one brother but loses another.
Tell ’em, Johnny!
Johnny Cash got it.
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
Today, we wish a happy birthday to one of the directors who brought the horror genre back to box office life in the aughts and 2010s, James Wan! It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 James Wan Films
Insidious (2011, dir by James Wan, DP: John Leonetti))
The Conjuring (2013, dir by James Wan, DP: John Leonetti)
Aquaman (2018, dir by James Wan, DP: Don Burgess)
Malignant (2021, dir by James Wan, DP: Michael Burgess)
Today would have been Johnny Cash’s birthday so here’s a wholesome song and video from the Man in Black.
Enjoy!
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.
With their best player now dead, the Bull begin their new season.
Episode 3.5 “Illegal Use Of Love”
(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on September 2nd, 1987)
Uh-oh, TD Parker is cheating on his wife with assistant, Kay (Alexa Hamilton). TD explains that his wife is upset about the amount of time that he’s putting in with the team. She feels that he’s neglecting his family. She doesn’t even like football anymore!
Yep, TD has a lot of excuses for cheating on his wife but don’t think that he’s a bad guy or anything. As he tells his mistress, everything is fine except for….
As I’ve said before, probably the most interesting thing about 1st & Ten is the way that everything that OJ Simpson says now has a double meaning. At the time this was filmed, OJ was just a former football player who had become a likable if not particularly versatile actor. Watching it today in 2026 …. well, words land differently.
As the Bulls, the team is in trouble. Their season opener against Baltimore is a disaster. Yinessa is still out and demanding a new contract before he’ll play so, instead, he sits in the stands and watch as the backup quarterback throws interception after interception. Later, he tells Teddy’s daughter, Jill Schrader (Leah Ayres), that all he wants to do is play football. If that’s the case, why not sign your stupid contract and play football? Seriously, when did Yinessa get so whiny?
There’s a brief sign of hope during the Baltimore game. Dr. Death intercept a pass. But then Dr. Death runs the wrong way and gets tackled behind the other team’s goal line. A local sports commentator says that Dr. Death and Mad Dog (who blocked while Death was running the wrong way) are idiots. He’s correct but he retracts his statement after Death and Dog threaten to destroy his car.
The Bulls need a quarterback. Teddy goes behind Diane’s back and arranges a trade for arrogant Johnny Valentine, the coke-addled quarterback who Diane kicked off the team the previous season. Diane gets angry but what can she do? Teddy owns half of the team….
For now!
TD’s mistress shows TD some financial reports that show that Teddy has been making his money through insider trading. TD is shocked.
If anyone knows about illegal….
It looks like Teddy might be in some trouble. It also looks like Diane might be in some trouble as well because the other owners think that she’s failed to control the drug use on her team. (They’re not incorrect.) We’ll see what happens next week but I have a feeling that a change is coming.
And really, that change can’t come a minute too soon. Even with the steroid storyline, this season has been a snoozefest so far. Here’s hoping things perk up next week!
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986! The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!
Love, exciting and new. Come aboard, they’re expecting you …. welcome aboard, it’s looooooooove! Yes, it’s time to take another cruise on the Pacific Princess.
Episode 7.10 “Julie and the Bachelor/Set-up for Romance/Intensive Care”
(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on November 19th, 1983)
As always, we start with one very important question.
Engelbert Humperdinck is on this cruise so the answer is 11 on a scale of 10.
Engelbert plays Colin Crawford, who is Julie’s favorite film star and singer. Julie is superexcited to meet him and even more thrilled when Colin appears to be romantically interested in her. What Julie doesn’t know is that Colin’s loyal secretary is actually his wife, Gina (Penny Fuller). To maintain Colin’s romantic image, they’ve kept their marriage under wraps. However, Gina is sick of the deception and Colin eventually realizes that major film stars actually can be married. By the end of the cruise, Colin has announced to the world that he’s married and Julie is surprisingly okay with having been manipulated. The cocaine probably helped.
Meanwhile, Herbert Chandler (Tom Bosley) is a grump old man who has been in a wheelchair ever since he was in an accident 8 months ago. Herbert boards the boat with his nurse, Donna (Patricia Carr). “I’m the purser and you’re the nurser,” a smitten Gopher says. Doc. meanwhile, figure out that, after 8 months, Herbert’s legs should be healed and able to walk. It turns out that Herbert is faking his condition because he’s in love with Donna. It turns out that Donna is in love with Herbert and is remarkably forgiving. What better way to start a relationship than with eight months of lies?
Finally, Rick Tucker (Mark Harmon) boards the boat with his boss, Mr. Chandler (Bradford Dillman). Rick also meets Christine Barton (Cristina Raines), who happens to be Chandler’s mistress. Rick is devastated because he likes Christine too. Once Rick discovers that Mr. Chandler is lying about leaving his wife for Christine, he’s able to not only end his boss’s relationship but also to get one of his own. Strangely, it doesn’t occur to Rick to tell Christine that Chandler’s lying about leaving his wife until Rick has a conversation with Isaac. Isaac apparently has the ability to help people realize things that they should have been able to figure out for themselves. As Rick runs off to tell Christine, Isaac mentions that everyone he helps always runs off without leaving a tip. That made me laugh because it’s true.
The Tom Bosley storyline did not work for me. My Dad spent the last three months of his life in wheelchair and watching Herbert pretend that he needed a wheelchair when he didn’t did not sit well with me. Otherwise, this was a pleasant episode. It was one of the episodes that was shot during an actual cruise so it was nice to see the ocean in the background and the wind ruffling everyone’s hair. None of the stories were particularly complicated but Mark Harmon’s easy going charm kept me watching and even Engelbert Humperdinck was tolerable. It’s too bad that Julie once again missed out on love but I’m sure the cocaine helped.
Today, we celebrate what would have been the 95th birthday of the rugged American actor Christopher George.
George may have gotten his start in westerns and war movies but he is best remembered for a series of horror films in which he appeared in the late 70s and early 80s. One of the best of those was Lucio Fulci’s 1980 classic, City of the Living Dead.
In today’s scene that I love, Christopher George plays a reporter who realizes that psychic Catriona MacColl has been buried alive. He digs her up. Of course, this is a Fulci film, so things nearly go terribly wrong.
Through the Shattered Lens 