Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 3.12 “Destruction Derby”

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night 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 CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983. The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!

Baker and Ponch — but mostly Ponch — get a chance to shine this episode.

Episode 3.12 “Destruction Derby”

(Dir by Gordon Hessler, originally aired on November 24th, 1979)

Ponch and Baker are working undercover!

That’s …. odd. Aren’t they just members of the Highway Patrol? I mean, don’t get me wrong. I know that being a member of the Highway Patrol isn’t easy and I don’t mean to imply that they’re not doing an important job. But it just seems like undercover work would be something that you would give to a detective. It seems like you would need some sort of special training to do that. For a show that, in the past, has pretty much taken a day-in-the-life approach to its stories, a sudden undercover episode just feels weird.

Ponch and Baker are working at the local demolition derby, trying to uncover a drug ring that…. I don’t know. I guess people who sell drugs enjoy demolition derbys. To be honest, I get the feeling that someone in production said, “Let’s shoot a bunch of demolition derby footage and then we’ll just make up something stupid to justify it.” When it comes to the derby, Baker is working as a member of the pit crew and, of course, Ponch is the one driving the car. And, of course, Ponch turns out to be a natural because there’s nothing that Ponch can’t master. Ponch also falls for the only driver who can beat him, the mysterious Billy Wakefield (Angel Tompkins). This episode is from the 70s so, of course, there’s a scene where she takes off her helmet, her long blonde hair falls across her back, and I guess everyone at home is supposed to go, “A woman race car driver!? What is this madness!?”

Baker is not totally wasted in this episode. He gets to save Ponch’s life when the bad guys attempt to booby trap Ponch’s car. He also gets to play tennis with Getraer and Grossman. This episode may feature Ponch and Baker going undercover but it seems like the real plot is just Baker and Ponch doing fun California things. This episode basically is a commercial for the state. Look! the episode says, Tennis! Handball! Demolition Derbies! Erik Estrada! We’ve got it all!

Erik Estrada can be seen wearing a wrist brace in this episode, which I assume is a lingering result of the accident that he’s spent the last few episodes recovering from. I make a lot of jokes about Estrada but, from watching the last few accidents, it is obvious that he was pretty seriously injured in that stunt-gone-wrong. That, while recovering, he appeared on camera at all seems worthy of respect. A major theme of this episode seems to be that Ponch is back and Baker, after having the lead role for a few episodes, in once again back to being a supporting player. Thank you for your service, Larry Wilcox.

Anyway, this episode featured a lot of fast cars and a lot of crashes so I liked it.

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 3.20 “By Hooker by Crook”

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 Miami Vice, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989. The entire show can be purchased on Prime!

This week, Sonny falls for a madame.

Episode 3.20 “By Hooker by Crook”

(Dir by Don Johnson, originally aired on March 20th, 1987)

Here I am, halfway through the third season of Miami Vice and it still amuses the Heck out of me how shocked Crockett and Tubbs are whenever their cover gets blown.

As far as I can tell, neither Crockett nor Tubbs make much of an effort at maintaining their cover, beyond using the names Burnett and Cooper. (Tubbs occasionally uses a fake Jamaican accent.) They dress exactly the same as cops as they do when they’re criminals. They hang out, in public, with the other members of the Vice Squad. They occasionally respond to “all unit” calls, which means that anyone in the area at the time will recognize them as being cops. Add to that, Crockett is supposedly a minor Florida celebrity, a former football star who went to Vietnam. In short, these two have the worst covers ever but they’re still stunned when the criminals see through their “Burnett and Cooper” identities …. even though it happens in every episode!

This time, it’s George Takei, playing a viscous crime lord, who sees through their cover and orders his men to attack. It leads to a shoot-out, much of which is filmed in slow motion. It would be pretty exciting and dramatic, except for the fact that one of Takei’s henchmen is played Captain Lou Albano, the rubber band-wearing wrestler. It also doesn’t help that Takei is …. well, he’s Takei. He camps up his villain role to such an extent that it’s impossible to take him seriously as any sort of threat. Even though he orders his men to kill an escort played by Vanity, he still comes across as being flamboyant, eccentric old George.

This episode was directed by Don Johnson and, as often happens when a cast member first tries his hand at directing, it’s filled with shots that are supposed to make you go, “Hey, this guy’s got a vision!” The slow motion gunfight is an example of this. An extended scene that is filmed with a fish-eyed lens (the better to represent Izzy’s point of view as he looks through a peephole) is another example. A sex scene between Crockett and a madame who is played by Melanie Griffith is filmed in soft focus and lit in such a way that it looks like the entire set is about to burst into flame from the heat. Johnson the director seems to be saying, “Dang, Don Johnson’s hot!”

At the time of this episode, Melanie Griffith was divorced from Don Johnson and married to Steve Bauer. Later, she would divorce Bauer and remarry Johnson. Johnson and Griffith do have amazing chemistry in this episode so kudos to Johnson the Director for making a good casting choice. Johnson the actor owes him one.

Song of the Day: Main Theme From Missing In Action by Jay Chattaway

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy birthday, Chuck!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special 1992 Edition

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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, let us take a look back at a classic cinematic year. It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 1992 Films

Reservoir Dogs (1992, dir by Quentin Tarantino, DP: Andrzej Sekuła)

Benny’s Video (1992, dir by Michael Haneke, DP: Christian Berger)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992, dir by David Lynch, DP: Ron Garcia)

Army of Darkness (1992, dir by Sam Raimi, DP: Bill Pope)

Scenes That I Love: Chuck Norris Defends America in The Delta Force

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is Chuck Norris’s birthday and to celebrate, today’s scene that I love comes from one of his best films. In this sequence from 1985’s The Delta Force, Chuck shows that even his motorcycle is a force to be reckoned with.

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For Dixie Dynamite!

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasionally Mastodon. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie ! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We snark our way through it.

Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1976’s Dixie Dynamite, starring Warren Oates and Christopher George! I picked it so you know it’ll be good.

It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in. If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, find the movie on YouTube, hit play at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag! The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

See you soon for some moonshine excitement!

Music Video of the Day: Tequila Talking by Lucie Tiger (2025, dir by ????)

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This one has a good country rock sound to it. Plus, I’m a Southern girl who grew up in both the country and the city. Watching this video feels like hanging out with some of my cousins. There’s an authenticity to it that you don’t find in a lot other videos nowadays.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 4.13 “Testing, One, Two Three”

Posted on March 9, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1989 to 1991! The series can be streamed on YouTube!

This week, everyone faces a test.

Episode 4.13 “Testing, One, Two, Three”

(Dir by John Bertram, originally aired on January 30th, 1990)

After being absent for the past few episodes, Joey and Caitlin are finally the center of this week’s story. Both of them are struggling. Joey, despite all of his efforts to study and pay attention in class, is still getting bad grades. The school counselor thinks that Joey has dysgraphia, a learning disability that makes it difficult for him to express his thoughts in an organized fashion. Caitlin, meanwhile, is going to have to appear in court as a result of getting arrested while vandalizing that nuclear plant.

A few thoughts:

Claude — or “Clode” as he wants to be called — once again shows himself to be the worst ever when he says he’s not sure if he can go to court with Caitlin. Claude is the one who convincing Caitlin to vandalize the plant in the first place and, when the cops showed up, he abandoned her. Big-time rebel Claude actually asks his parents for permission to skip school to go to Caitlin’s court date. They say no, just as Claude knew they would. What a putz!
“My parents aren’t liberal like yours!” Claude whines to Caitlin.
Maya actually puts off a doctor’s appointment so she can go to Caitlin’s medical appointment! Good for you, Maya …. except, doctor’s appointments can kind of be important, too.
Actually, now that I think about it, why should anyone be going to court with Caitlin? Caitlin made the decision to spray paint her stupid slogans on her own. Claude shouldn’t have abandoned her but Caitlin shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Caitlin acts as if Claude should take her punishment for her but actually, Claude being a coward doesn’t mean that Caitlin is somehow absolved. She knew she could get in trouble when she climbed over that fence.
This episode is a good example of why Caitlin drives a lot of people crazy. Caitlin has a problem and everyone else is expected to drop everything and spend all of their time worrying about it.
Joey, meanwhile, has a real problem to deal with. He feels stupid. He’s not dumb, not at all. But his grades remain stubbornly bad and he’s just been told that he has a scary-sounding “condition” and that he’s going to have to take a special class to learn how to function. And yes, there’s no shame in having a learning disability. I have ADHD so when Joey talked about struggling to organize his thoughts, I knew exactly what he was saying. But, when you’re the one hearing the words “learning disability,” it’s scary! My heart went out to Joey in this episode.
Evil bully Dwayne made an appearance, harassing Joey after he overhears Joey describing him as being a gorilla. Joey and Dwayne get into yet another fight. Joey gets detention. Dwayne gets suspended.
Caitlin is also in detention, as a result of slapping Claude. Caitlin and Joey are still not getting along but we know that’s going to change.
Finally, there was one other subplot. The students in a difficult biology class were excited to learn that Alex (John Ioannou) had an advanced copy of the big test. Alex’s older brother saved all of his old tests. Alex gives Tessa a copy of the test but makes her promise not to let anyone know. Tessa lets everyone know. Everyone in the class passes! They don’t get caught. But the teacher says its obvious that the test was too easy so he decides to toss out the results and give everyone a new test …. WHAT!? CAN HE DO THAT!? What the heck, Canada!?
Incidentally, I never would have passed Algebra II if my sister hadn’t saved all of her tests. Thank you, Erin Nicole!

And that’s it for the week. Remember — in yourself, you must believe!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 3/3/25 — 3/9/25

Posted on March 9, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Easy Rider (1969, dir by Dennis Hopper, DP: Laszlo Kovacs)

I’ve been feeling better this week. For whatever reason, the spring forward time change always agrees with me. For the record, I gave up cursing for Lent (again). “Since when do you curse?” my sisters said to me, again. Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday are two of my favorite traditions.

Here’s what I watched this week:

Films I Watched:

A Time To Revenge (1997)
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
Carbon Copy (1981)
Confessions of a Romance Narrator (2025)
Dark Blue (2002)
Goddess of Love (1988)
The Golden Voice (2025)
Pitch Black (2000)
Presence (2025)
Tough and Deadly (1995)
Woman On The Run (1950)
Your Mother Wears Combat Boots (1989)

Television Shows I Watched:

Live Tweets:

Links From The Site:

Arleigh shared a song and a scene!
Brad reviewed Shane and Escape From Sobibor! He shared scenes from The Killer and Karate Kid!
Jeff reviewed The Bad Man, Your Mother Wears Combat Boots, The Super, Dead Man’s Gold, Goddess of Love, The Lone Rider Rides On, Silent Assassins, and Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All!
Erin shared Detective Fiction Weekly, Mardi Gras 1936, Ash Wednesday In New Orleans, Dawn at The Alamo, As Bad As They Come, Triangle of Sin, and The Time And The Place!
I reviewed Mad Max, Presence, and Confessions of a Romance Narrator!

News From Last Week:

Gene Hackman died of heart disease and his wife died of hantavirus, investigators say –What a heartbreaking story! To be honest, this is more or less what I suspected happened after it was revealed that there were no signs of a gas leak. Unfortunately, the online conspiracy theories are still going strong. “Something doesn’t add up,” some people are saying on Twitter. If you’ve ever had to care for someone with Alzheimer’s, the story totally adds up and is heart-breaking.
Oscars Audience Up To 19.69 Million After Disney Adds Mobile & PC Viewing — That’s still nothing to brag about. The Oscars days as a annual television event are clearly numbered.
Peter Engel Dies At 88 — Rest in peace to the man who gave us Saved By The Bell and California Dreams.
Actress Pamela Bach Dies At 61 — She was David Hasselhoff’s ex-wife.

Links From Last Week:

Why Did 007’s Guardian Get Whacked? How Amazon’s James Bond Took Out Barbara Broccoli! — John Rieber takes a look at the recent big news about the future of the Bond franchise. Unfortunately, that future does not look good.
From House M, here’s a profile of the amazing Anne Bonny!

Want to check out last week? Click here!

Scenes That I Love: Alain Delon in Purple Noon

Posted on March 9, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Alain Delon was left out of last week’s Oscar memorial montage but that doesn’t mean we can’t honor him here. In today’s scene that I love, Alain Delon walks with style. This is from the end of 1960’s Purple Noon, a French adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley.