Happy Friday the 13th!
Enjoy!
Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman
Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 5.7 “The Squeaky Wheel”
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 help out a vet.
Episode 5.7 “The Squeaky Wheel”
(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on June 16th, 1989)
Jonathan and Mark attempt to turn Wayne Secret (Robert David Hall) into a disability activist. Having lost his legs in Vietnam, Wayne wants to live a quiet life with his wife (Deborah Benson) but, while staying at a recently renovated hotel, he is woken up by a fire alarm. With the the elevators not working and no ramps, Wayne is forced to depend on the kindness of a stranger who carries him down a flight of stairs. The fire turns out to be a false alarm but the experience leads to Wayne protesting the fact that the hotel is not wheelchair accessible.
The owner of the hotel not only agrees to make changes to the building but he also offers Wayne a job. Things are looking up for Wayne! But, when a gang of young men harass him and his wife at a drive-in movie, Wayne snaps. He buys an Uzi and then heads down to their clubhouse to take them out. Luckily, Jonathan appears and talks Wayne out of becoming a mass murderer. Wayne goes on to receive a “man of the year” award while Jonathan beats up the leader of the gang.
This episode felt very familiar. In the past, this episode would have featured Mark’s brother-in-law, Scotty. Instead, it features Wayne, who is not a particularly compelling character. I think that this episode would have worked if it had just focused on Wayne advocating for wheelchair accessible buildings. I also think it would have worked if it had just focused on Wayne’s anger to the gang and his struggle to let go of his bitterness over his war experiences. Unfortunately, trying to cram both those storylines into one 45-minute show led to the whole thing feeling half-baked.
There was one poignant scene in this episode. It opened with Mark and Jonathan visiting the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Mark got excited when he came across Michael Landon’s star. “Never heard of him,” Jonathan shrugged. “I forget you’ve been dead for forty years,” Mark replies. It captured Jonathan and Mark’s friendship, which was always been one of the more underrated aspects of Highway to Heaven. That said, it was also a bit of a sad scene as the episode itself aired a day after the death of Victor French and Landon himself would pass away nearly two years later.
Retro Television Review: Decoy 1.20 “Across the World”
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 gets involved with gun smugglers!
Episode 1.20 “Across the World”
(Dir by Teddy Sills, originally aired on February 24th, 1958)
Andrew Garcia (Frank Silvera), Herbert Carson (Arthur Batanides), and Carl Walton (Nicholas Colasanto) are using an import/export business to smuggle guns to the communists. (Booo!) When the owner of the company finds out, they murder her in a hit-and-run. Because of the suspicious nature of the woman’s death, Casey is sent undercover to investigate. She shows up at the company, claiming to be the woman’s only heir. Her cover is blown early, leading to her getting knocked around by the bad guys. Fortunately, for her, the bad guys end up turning on each other and eventually, the rest of the police force arrives and puts an end to the smuggling once and for all.
This episode didn’t feature much of Beverly Garland. Instead, the majority of it focused on the three smugglers arguing amongst themselves and then plotting various double crosses. Unfortunately, the smugglers weren’t particularly interesting. Sometimes, bad guys can be compelling to watch but these dopes were obviously doomed from the minute that they first appeared. Though it’s never specifically said to whom they were smuggling the weapons, I’m going to assume that it was probably Castro and his forces. In 1958, there were a lot of Americans who actually thought that Castro would be more willing to work with America than Batista was. Needless to say, they turned out to be incorrect. Casey could have warned them if anyone had bothered to listen!
This was a lesser episode of Decoy but the episode did feature some location shots of New York City. The actors where shivering so I can only assume it was very cold when they filmed this episode.
Scenes That I Love: Joe Don Baker In Walking Tall
Today would have been the 90th birthday of Joe Don Baker!
Our scene that I love features Joe Don as Sherriff Buford Pusser. Some local crooks thought that they could keep the sheriff out of their bar. In this scene from 1973’s Walking Tall, he proves them all wrong.
4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Darren Aronofsky Edition
4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 57th birthday to one of our favorite filmmakers, Darren Aronofsky! When we first started this site, we were eagerly awaiting the release of Black Swan. Now, fifteen years later, we’re eagerly awaiting the release of Aronofsky’s next film, whatever it may be.
In honor of the birthday of a true visionary director, here are….
4 Shots From 4 Darren Aronofsky Films
Pi (1998, dir by Darren Aronofsky, DP: Matthew Labitique)
Requiem for a Dream (2000, dir by Darren Aronofsky, DP: Matthew Libatique)
Black Swan (2010, dir by Darren Aronosfky, DP: Matthew Libatique)
mother! (2017, dir by Darren Aronofsky, DP: Matthew Libatique)
Music Video of the Day: Nobody Does It Better by Carly Simon (1977, dir by ????)
With Valentine’s Day approaching, here’s one of my favorite romantic songs. I’ll be singing this song on Saturday. It’s tradition.
Enjoy!
Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 3.3 “A Loaded Gun”
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.
This week, OJ Simpson argues with his wife.
Episode 3.3 “A Loaded Gun”
(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on August 19th, 1987)
With Yinessa continuing to hold out for more money, Teddy thinks that he’s come up with a solution. He tells Yinessa that he will personally take out an insurance policy on him so that Yinessa can work out with the team, despite not having a contract. Yinessa agrees. TD Parker tells all of the defenders not to touch Yinessa because they cannot risk him getting hurt.
“Anyone who touches Yinessa is going to wind up in Buffalo!” Parker tells them.
Unfortunately, John Manzak has been taken too many steroids. As a result, the first thing he does is sack Yinessa. Yinessa is injured. As he’s rushed to the hospital, Diane tells Teddy, “Thank God you got that insurance policy.” Teddy looks worried — uh oh, it looks like someone didn’t get that insurance policy!
At the hospital, a doctor tells Diane that Yinessa has a detached retina and he’ll probably never play football again.
Meanwhile, TD is having trouble in his marriage. He forgets his wife’s birthday but TD’s secretary (Leah Ayres) sends flowers and buys a gift. Unfortunately, TD’s wife sees through the entire ruse. She and TD argue. And because TD Parker is played by OJ Simpson, it’s hard not to worry whenever anyone argues with him.
Hey, that’s a good point, OJ! Let’s move on!
Also, in this episode, Bubba goes to therapy because he hasn’t been able to make love to his wife since she gave birth. Jethro goes with him and pretends to have a shoe fetish. This led to another patient hiding his shoes. 1st and Ten is a comedy that rarely makes me laugh but I have to admit that I did chuckle when Jethro started talking about how much he loved shoes.
Other than the therapy scene, this was a pretty serious episode. Yinessa might never play again. John Manzak is going crazy due to the steroid abuse. (Is he going to be sent to Buffalo? I don’t know how he’s going to handle that!) The kicker is still looking for a wife so he won’t get deported. And Diane has no idea what’s going on with her team.
How will the Bulls ever make it to the championship game!?
I guess I’ll have to keep watching to find out.
Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 7.7 and 7.8 “When Worlds Collide/The Captain and the Geisha/The Lotter Winners/The Emperor’s Fortune”
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!
This week, it’s a very special cruise of The Love Boat!
Episodes 7.7 and 7.8 “When Worlds Collide/The Captain and the Geisha/The Lotter Winners/The Emperor’s Fortune”
(Dir by Jerome Courtland, originally aired on November 5th, 1983)
The Love Boat is sailing to Japan!
Lila (Heather Thomas) is a photographer whose father is in a wheelchair due to the injuries that he received during World War II. She meets and falls for Bud O’Hara (Tony Danza). It seems like love at first sight but how will she react when they arrive in Japan and she discovers that Bud’s father (James Shigeta) is Japanese!? At first, Lila cannot get over her prejudice but then Bud’s father reveals that his own parents were killed at Hiroshima and that he has also struggled with forgiveness. “I am proud to be Japanese,” Tony Danza declares.
Martha Chambers (Mariette Hartley) is a professor in Asian studies who has a crush on the Captain. When she finds out that the Captain is fascinated by the culture of Japan, Martha pretends to be a geisha.
Barney (Ted Knight) and his wife (Rita Moreno) have just won five million dollars in the lottery and they spend almost the entire cruise showing off how much money they have. The crew isn’t comfortable dealing with the nouveau riche. Myself, I’m just happy that this storyline didn’t feature Ted Knight or Rita Moreno pretending to be Japanese.
Celia (Jean Hoffman) and her daughter, Joanie (Nancy Morgan), own one piece of an embroidered silk artwork. Ben Cummins (John Ritter) owns another piece. They’ve all been invited to Japan by a businessman named Yamamoto. Yamamoto claims to have the third piece and says that, when all the pieces are together, they will form a treasure map. Ben falls for Joanie. Celia falls for Harvey (Harvey Korman), a businessman who happens to be on the cruise. When the other two silk pieces are stolen, it doesn’t take long for Ben to figure out that Harvey is the one who took them. Harvey explains that he is Yamamoto and that he’s a career criminal. However, because he’s fallen in love with Celia, he returns all three of the silk pieces to her.
This two-hour episode was a travelogue. The Love Boat did one or two of these type of episodes every season. The show would leave the sound stages of Los Angeles and instead be filmed on an actual boat during an actual cruise. With these two hour episodes, the storylines were usually just an excuse for the Love Boat crew and their guest stars to see the sights. That’s certainly the case here. Captain Stubing gets a full tour of Japan. (Captain Stubing also has a lengthy fantasy sequence where he imagines himself as a shogun. It’s definitely not the show’s finest moment.)
It’s a good thing that the scenery is lovely in this episode because the stories themselves are nothing special and, in some cases, they’re actually difficult to watch. The Love Boat attempted to make a plea for tolerance and forgiveness and that’s definitely a good thing. But then the show cast Tony Danza as a half-Japanese man named Bud O’Hara and that was more than a bit cringey. There’s nothing about Tony Danza that is the least bit Japanese. For that matter, there’s nothing particularly Irish about him either.
This was not the best cruise of the Love Boat.
Scenes That I Love: Burt Reynolds in The Last Movie Star
Today would have been the birthday of Burt Reynolds.
Our scene that I love is from 2018’s overlooked The Last Movie Star. In this scene, an elderly Burt Reynolds finds himself transported back to the days of Smokey and the Bandit, where he meets his younger self and takes a ride in a famous black sportscar. It turns out that the two Burts do not agree when it comes to observing the posted speed limit.
4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Joseph L. Mankiewicz Edition
4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More 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 celebrate the great director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who was born 117 years ago today. It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 Joseph L. Mankiewicz Films
All About Eve (1950, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Milton R. Krassner)
Suddenly, Last Summer (1959, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Jack Hildyard)
Cleopatra (1963, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz , DP: Leon Shamroy)
A Carol For Another Christmas (1964, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Arthur Ornitz)
Through the Shattered Lens 