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Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman
Retro Television Review: Fantasy Island 6.21 “Remember When….”
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing the original Fantasy Island, which ran on ABC from 1977 to 1984. Unfortunately, the show has been removed from most streaming sites. Fortunately, I’ve got nearly every episode on my DVR.
This week …. oh no!
Episode 6.21 “Remember When”
(Dir by Philip Leacock, originally aired on May 7th, 1983)
After crashing his little car, Tattoo ends up in the Fantasy Island hospital. Roarke cancels all of the weekend’s fantasies so that he can stay by Tattoo’s side and keep Tattoo cheerful until it’s time for him to have life-saving surgery. Roarke and Tattoo share memories and …. YEP, IT’S A CLIP SHOW!
Actually, for a clip show, it’s not that bad. Yes, there’s a lot of awkward dialogue. “Boss, remember that time Mickey Gilley opened up his place?” That said, the clips are well-selected and they all feature Herve Villechaize at his best, turning this episode into a Tattoo tribute. At the end of the episode, Tattoo says that he’s never going to leave Fantasy Island. Which …. well, we’ll get to season 7 in a few weeks.
Anyway, clip shows are pretty much impossible to review. Let’s just be happy that Tattoo pulls through. That accident looked serious!
Scenes That I Love: Karen Black Performs in Nashville
The great actress Karen Black would have been 86 years old today.
Karen Black does not receive a lot of screentime in Nashville but she definitely makes an impression as the driven, self-centered, and oddly likeable Connie White. (“She can’t even comb her hair” — Connie White on Julie Chrisite.) Here she is, performing one of the songs that she wrote herself for the film. The audience was largely made up of actual Nashville residents, who reportedly very much appreciated Black’s performance.
4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Sydney Pollack 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!
90 years ago today, Sydney Pollack was born in Indiana. Though Pollack got his start as an actor, he soon moved into directing and was one of the key television directors of the 1960s. He eventually branched out into film, making a name for himself as a director of intelligent and sensitive comedies and dramas. Though he only directed 21 films over the course of his career, his films received a total of 48 Oscar nominations and 11 wins. 1982’s Tootsie and 1985’s Out of Africa were both nominated for Best Picture. Out of Africa won. Pollack also returned to acting in the 90s, making a name for himself as a skilled character actor. I’ll always remember him from Eyes Wide Shut, intimidating Tom Cruise while playing pool.
In memory of Sydney Pollack, here are….
4 Shots From 4 Sydney Pollack Films
Jeremiah Johnson (1972, dir by Sydney Pollack, DP: Duke Callaghan)
The Yakuza (1974, dir by Sydney Pollack, DP: Duke Callaghan and Kozo Okazaki)
Three Days of Condor (1975, dir by Sydney Pollack, DP: Owen Roizman)
Out of Africa (1985, dir by Sydney Pollack, DP: David Watkins)
Music Video of the Day: Paint a Picture by The Hives (2025, dir by Filip Nilsson and Henry Moore Selder)
Today’s music video of the day is the latest from The Hives. Play it loud.
Enjoy!
Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 4.1 “Go-Cart Terror”
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!
It’s time for the fourth season! Ponch and Baker — but especially Ponch — continue to keep Los Angeles safe for pedestrians and motorists.
Episode 4.1 “Go-Cart Terror”
(Dir by John Florea, originally aired on September 21st, 1980)
It’s time for season 4 of CHiPs, a.k.a The Ponch Show!
Seriously, if there’s anything that really stuck out about the fourth season premiere, it’s that Baker’s character was pretty much superfluous. Yes, Baker was out there on his motorcycle and helped Ponch catch this week’s bad guys, two thieves played by Larry Storch and Sonny Bono. But, ultimately, it was Ponch who did the important things.
Who coached the CHP-sponsored go-cart team to victory over the fire department’s? Ponch!
Who rescued a woman from a van after she crashed into a lake? Ponch!
Who always knew the right thing to say? Ponch!
Who did everyone talk to when they had a problem? Ponch!
This episode established that Frank ‘Ponch” Poncherello is the greatest human being who ever lived. Baker …. well, he tries. Baker’s nice and dedicated to the job but, in the end, he can only watch with amazement as Ponch solves all of the world’s problems.
I read over on the imdb that Larry Wilcox did not enjoy working with Erik Estrada and he felt that Estrada was the producer’s pet. Watching this episode, I can see why Wilcox would have felt like that. It’s hard to believe that, when this show first started, Baker was the competent one while Ponch was the nervous screw-up who kept making mistakes and who always seemed to be on the verge of getting written up. The fourth season premiere celebrates Ponch as being the supercop who the rest of Los Angeles looked up to. Sorry, Mr. Wilcox …. you may be the better actor but it’s hard to compete with the Estrada of it all.
As for the episode itself, it was typical CHiPs. The criminals were captured after being chased on the freeway and a bunch of kids learned an important lesson about proper go-cart safety. When the go-cart team had to raise money to compete in the next race, Ponch told all the adults that the kids had to come up with a plan because it was their team and the whole point of the go-cart experience was to learn responsibility. You tell ’em, Ponch! I mean, goddamn, Ponch is the man! Anyway, the kids held a car wash and I think the only reason they did that was so the show could have an excuse to have Randi Oakes show up in short shorts and get sprayed by a hose. I hope Ponch talked to the producers about treating Randi Oakes with respect.
I liked this episode, even though I did feel bad for Larry Wilcox. It was silly and fun.
Lisa Marie’s Way Too Early Oscar Predictions For June
Click here for my April and May predictions!
Best Picture
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Deliver Me From Nowhere
F1
Hamnet
It Was Just An Accident
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
The Smashing Machine
Wicked For Good
Best Director
Jon M. Chu for Wicked For Good
Ryan Coogler for Sinners
Joseph Kosinski for F1
Jafar Panahi for It Was Just An Accident
Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value
Best Actor
Timothee Chalamet in Marty Supreme
Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine
Michael B. Jordan in Sinners
Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent
Jeremy Allen White in Deliver Me From Nowhere
Best Actress
Cynthia Erivo in Wicked For Good
Lucy Liu in Rosemead
Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Valure
Amanda Seyfried in Ann Lee
June Squibb in Eleanor The Great
Best Supporting Actor
Miles Caton in Sinners
Colman Domingo in Michael
Paul Mescal in Hamnet
Stellan Skarsgard in Sentimental Value
Christoph Waltz in Frankenstein
Best Supporting Actress
Elle Fanning in Sentimental Value
Ariana Grande in Wicked For Good
Gabby Hofman in Deliver Me From Nowhere
Kate Hudson in Song Song Blue
Nia Long in Michael
Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 4.9 “The Rising Sun of Death”
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, the Yakuza invades Miami.
Episode 4.9 “The Rising Sun of Death”
(Dir by Leon Ichaso, originally aired on May 27th, 1988)
Castillo is concerned. The murder of an American businessman leads him to suspect that the Yakuza has come to Miami and it turns out that he’s right. Riochi Tanaka (James Hong), a World War II war criminal-turned-mobster, is trying to take over the Miami underworld. While corrupt Homicide Detective Haskell (R. Lee Ermey) tries to convince everyone that the Yakuza is just a myth, Castillo teams up with Japanese detective Kenji Fujitsu (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) to takes down Tanaka and his right-hand man, Agawa (Danny Kamekoa). Needless to say, this leads to a fight with samurai swords, a lot of talk of honor, and a seppuku to close the case.
This episode hit every Yakuza cliche and the plot itself felt as if it had been put together at the last minute. (This is one of those episodes where every plot hole is dismissed as being a cultural difference.) We’re expected to believe that Tanaka could outsmart the Allies during World War II but he couldn’t outsmart the Miami Vice Squad. As well, of the major Japanese characters, only one was played by Japanese actor. Danny Kamekoa is a Hawaiian while James Hong is of Chinese descent.
That said, this episode was shot and filmed with a lot of style and it found an excuse to play Billy Idol’s Flesh For Fantasy during one of the early scenes. There’s something to be said for that. Neither Crockett nor Tubbs really did much in this episode but we did get to see Crockett house hunting with Cailtin. It’s mentioned that everyone thinks that Caitlin’s new husband is named Sonny Burnett instead of Sonny Cockett. That’s fine …. except for the fact that Sonny Crockett has previously been established as a bit of a minor celebrity, a college football star who would have gone on to the NFL if he hadn’t injured his knee. Every time this show tries to convince me that Crockett has fooled everyone into thinking he’s Sonny Burnett, it just further convinces me that there’s no way Crockett and Tubbs should still be doing undercover assignments.
This episode was stylish but empty but, considering some of the other episodes that have aired during this season, at least it was entertaining.
Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For Nam Angels!
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 1989’s Nam Angels! 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, Tubi, or Prime, 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!
Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.8 “Home, Sweet Home”
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 and Tubi
This week, everyone is sick of Wheels.
Episode 2.8 “Home, Sweet Home”
(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on January 7th, 1991)
Oh, Wheels! Always in trouble, that one.
Ever since getting kicked out of his grandma’s house, Wheels has been staying with Joey but, after several weeks, Joey and his parents are sick of their houseguest. Wheels easts all the food, never says thank you, and has yet to even to start to look for his own place. Instead, he steals a bunch of money from Joey’s mom’s purse. As a result, Wheels not only gets kicked out of the Jeremiah residence but Snake’s parents announce that Wheels can’t stay with them either. Trapped outside during a thunderstorm, Wheels calls his grandmother and promises to obey her rules if she allows him to come home.
“I don’t believe you,” she replies before hanging up on him.
OUCH! Though, to be honest, she’s right about Wheels’s sincerity. Wheels is a pathological liar who takes advantage of anyone who trusts him. It’s been a while since he was the cool kid that everyone wanted to date.
Wheels eventually crashes on Snake’s back porch. (“My parents cannot know you’re back here,” Snake says.) The next day, at school, Wheels promises Joey that he will pay back the money he owes. Joey turns his back on Wheels and walks off.
And, again, Wheels really has no one to blame for but himself. And those of us who know our Degrassi history know that things are soon going to get even worse for Derek Wheeler.
Meanwhile, Michelle returns home so she can have a quiet place to study. She is shocked to find her father is at the house. (She thought he would be at cooking class.) Michelle agrees to move back in but on the condition that she pay rent and that her father stop trying to control her life. Her father reluctantly agrees. I guess, now that she’s broken up with BLT, it no longer matters that her father was previously portrayed as being a raging racist.
This episode was okay but it felt very familiar. We’ve done the whole Wheels-is-awful thing already. Add to that, as terrible as Wheels is, I don’t really agree with Grandma’s decision to refuse to allow him to come home. Wheels promised to abide by his grandmother’s rules and that was the condition that Grandma set for his return. Wheels is a handful and undoubtedly was being insincere but I think Grandma is going back on her word here. If Wheels had come home, she could have at least continued to talk to him and kept trying to get him to go to therapy. Instead, she left him out in the middle of Toronto in a rainstorm. Shame on her for that.
Some characters are just doomed no matter what and that’s certainly the case with Wheels.
