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!
New York, New York, it’s a heckuva town….
Episode 3.13 “Basinger’s New York”
(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on December 17th, 1986)
It’s Christmas in New York and veteran news columnist Jed Basinger (Richard Mulligan) has no idea what to write about. Basinger has been recording the lives of the people of New York City for decades and he’s finally reached the point where he fears that there may not be anything good left to write about. In short, Jed Basinger is a cynic and we know what this show thinks of cynicism!
While Basinger walks down a cold city sidewalk, he suddenly discovers Jonathan and Mark walking beside him. Basinger worries that they’re fans, looking to harass him or tell him a long story that they think he should write about. Instead, Jonathan introduces himself as an angel and explains that he’s here to show Basinger all the good things happening in the city.
I have to admit that I always groan a little whenever an episode of this show starts with Jonathan admitting that he’s angel. The episodes where Jonathan makes no effort to hide his identity are usually the weakest, if just because they tend to be a bit more preachy than the typical episode of Highway to Heaven. (Despite its reputation, Highway to Heaven was usually more earnest than preachy.) Once Jonathan says those three words — “I’m an angel,” — the viewer is immediately aware that this episode has a message and it’s not going to be a subtle one either.
Jonathan, Mark, and Basinger make their way through New York. They meet a cab driver who just wants to be reunited with his son. They meet the saintly homeless people who live on the streets and take care of each other in their own quirky way. They meet a nice cop. They meet not one but two women who are in labor and who end up at the same hospital. One woman is poor and turned away because she doesn’t have insurance (which, technically, I think is illegal under federal law but whatever). The other woman is the wife of a U.S. Senator who announces that she refuses to give birth in a hospital that turns away the poor. Luckily, Basinger is there and threatens to write about it. The scene in the hospital is typical of this episode. It’s well-meaning but so heavy-handed that it’s nowhere near as effective as it should have been. If I was in labor, would I take the time to demand that the hospital treat all of its patients fairly? I’d like to think so but, realistically, my mind would probably be on other things. Luckily, Basinger gets to write his column, despite showing up late at the newspaper. It turns out that the presses went down while Basinger learned a lesson about New York and kindness.
I can’t really be too critical of this episode because its heart was in the right place. That was this show’s biggest strength. Michael Landon really did seem to believe he could make the world a better place, one episode at a time. That said, this episode was a bit too heavy-handed for my tastes. But again, how can I be too critical of a show about Christmas miracles?
Through the Shattered Lens