Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 9/2/24 — 9/8/24

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay. Today’s film is 1973’s Money To Burn! It can be viewed on YouTube.

For someone who has spent the past few years in prison, Jed Finnegan (E.G. Marshall) sure is a nice old man! He runs the prison print shop and all of the other prisoners love him. The guards trust him. The warden (David Doyle) is really impressed with Jed’s watercolors and is interested in helping Jed launch a career as an artist after he gets out of prison. Every weekend, Jed’s wife, Emily (Mildred Natwick), comes up to the prison with a picnic basket and she has lunch with her husband. Jed admits that his wife is not a particularly good cook but it’s obvious that he really looks forward to her visits.

Emily’s sweet nature keeps a lot of people from noticing that she is just as cunning and clever a criminal as Jed ever was. She knows that Jed had printed up one million dollars in counterfeit bills and she is looking forward to helping him exchange the fake money for real money. Jed’s plan is to steal the payroll of the local army base and just leave the fake money in place of the real money. However, Jed’s been in prison for so long that he doesn’t know that the military no longer pays anyone in cash. Everyone’s paying everyone by check!

(This film is very much from the 70s. While Jed and Emily were shocked to discover that people were no longer being paid in cash, I was shocked to discover that they were being paid by check.)

Working with two recently released ex-cons (played by Cleavon Little and Alejandro Rey), Emily tries to find a new way to switch out the money. She discovers that there’s an incinerator nearby where the government burns the currency that it no longer needs. But it won’t be easy to break in and make sure that the right money get burned….

And that’s not even mentioning the trouble of getting the fake money out of the prison in the first place!

Money to Burn is likable mix of comedy and (very mild) action. It’s a film about criminals but they’re very likable criminals who go out of their way not to hurt people. Emily is even happy about the idea of not only stealing a million dollars but also helping the government out by taking the old currency off their hands. Marshall, Natwick, Little, and Rey all give such warm and cheerful performances that you can’t help but hope that they get away with their scheme. The film, which deftly balances comedy and drama, clocks in at a brisk 73 minutes and it has an absolutely wonderful twist ending. This is definitely a heist film that deserves to be better known.

Music Video of the Day: luminary rainbows by ionalee (2024, dir by ionalee and John Strandh)

Posted on September 8, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s music video of the day comes from Sweden and it definitely has an end of the world vibe to it. (It’s indeed very probable that a few people will be alone on boat if and when the world ends.) It’s a bit of a melancholy video but I like the moodiness of it.

Plus, melancholy and Sweden kind of go hand-in-hand.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out 2.10 “Edna Displays Talent”

Posted on September 7, 2024 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 Saturdays, I will be reviewing the Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

After a two month break, it’s time to return to Canada’s favorite grocery store.

Episode 2.10 “Edna Displays Talent”

(Dir by Alan Ehrlich, originally aired on December 19th, 1986)

The tagline for the second season of Check It Out might as well, “Continuity: Who Needs It?”

After spending the previous few episodes as a hypercompetent manager and a great boyfriend, Howard is back to being an idiot in this week’s episode. Not only does he not appear to be capable of managing a lemonade stand (let alone a supermarket) but he is again so dense that he doesn’t realize that Edna is feeling stuck in a rut. Edna begs Howard to assign her the job of designing a display for a new barbecue sauce. Howard, of course, gives the job to Christian.

Christian has no idea what to do so he gets Edna to do it for him. Edna, recalling a romantic camping trip that she took with Howard when they first started dating, creates perhaps the ugliest display that I’ve ever seen. Seriously, look at this:

Not only it an eyesore but how is anyone going to be able to reach the front registers with all of that stuff sitting in the way? Plus, what exactly is the display for? It’s supposed to be for barbecue sauce but it looks like it’s for red tents and Styrofoam trees.

That said, Howard is really impressed by the display. He assumes that Christian is the one who did it. Even after Edna shames Christian into telling the truth, Howard continues to assume that Christian is the one who built the display. I’m not sure why Howard is so stupid in this episode but it certainly makes the company’s decision to fire him in the previous episode easier to understand.

Meanwhile, Murray is desperately trying to lose his virginity. When he asks Howard for advice, Howard tells him about the time he and Edna went on a romantic camping trip and …. suddenly, Howard recognizes the display! He apologizes to Edna and asks her to join him in the tent.

“In the store?” Edna says, surprised.

(Like, seriously, they’ve been together for seven years and they’ve never had sex in the store before?)

Uh-oh, turns out Murray’s busy losing his virginity in the tent. Sorry, Howard and Edna!

This episode was an odd one, in that it required Howard and Edna to behave in ways that went against everything that the show had previously established about their characters. But I laughed more than I thought I would. The truth of the matter is that Don Adams was always funnier when he played Howard as a buffoon than as a nice guy. As well, Jeff Pustil always makes me laugh as the cowardly but sneaky Jack Christian. Pustil was very good at making desperation funny and Christian is desperate for the majority of this episode.

Finally, check out Marlene’s hair this episode:

This episode was dumb but it made me laugh. That’s good enough for me.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 9/1/24 — 9/7/24

Posted on September 7, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’ve been getting ready for our annual October horrorthon so, this week, I binged a few of the shows that I review for the Shattered Lens and I wrote up several weeks’s worth of reviews. If nothing else, I can proudly say that I’ve got reviews of CHiPs, Degrassi Junior High, Malibu CA, and Highway to Heaven all ready to go for the next two months.

On Friday night, I watched an episode of Night Flight that featured music videos from David Bowie. The music was great. Though it wasn’t featured on the episode, I found myself singing Heroes while I watched it.

On Saturday morning, Jeff and I watched an episode of Homicide: Life on the Streets, which is currently streaming on Peacock. The episode featured Robin Williams as a man whose wife was gunned down in front of him and who found himself disgusted by the seemingly callous attitude of the detective investigating the crime. This is a show that I’ve heard a lot about and one which I’ve been told I should consider reviewing for this site. The episode that I saw was really good so I might have to do just that.

I haven’t really watched that much television over the past few months. In fact, I went a few weeks without watching a single thing, which is one reason why there’s been a few weeks where I didn’t even have a reason to post a Week In Television. All of my focus was on taking care of my father. I have a lot that I now need to get caught up on and I shall. It might take a while but as James Bond told Tracy at their wedding, “We have all the time in the world.”

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 3.25 “Horshack and the Madame X!”

Posted on September 7, 2024 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 Saturdays, I will be reviewing Welcome Back Kotter, which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1979. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

I guess it’s time to get back to reviewing those Sweathog antics!

Episode 3.25 “Horshack and the Madame X!”

(Dir by Al Schwartz, originally aired on February 23rd, 1978)

So, I’m finally ready to start reviewing Welcome Back, Kotter again and …. OH NO! It’s a Horshack episode!

Listen, don’t get me wrong. Ron Pallilo, despite what some critics have said, did not give a bad performance as Arnold Horshack. Consistently, he gave the best performance that he could with the material that he was given. It’s just that, as the series progressed, the character was written in a way that was more and more cartoonish. By the time the third season rolled around, a little bit of Horshack went a long way. If the first season present Horshack as being a relatively believable class clown, the third season Horshack was the type of weirdo who made you want to take out a restraining order.

This episode finds Horshack depressed because he can’t get a girlfriend. The Sweathogs try to help but the truth of the matter is that no one wants to date Horshack. (Not be mean but would you want to date Horshack? Especially when Barbarino, Epstein, and Washington are right there?) When Gabe mentions that he’s going to be teaching a night class at NYU, the Sweathogs announce that they’ll go over to his apartment to keep an eye on Julie. Gabe agrees to this, mostly because he secretly hates Julie.

At the apartment, Julie tries to give Horshack some encouragement and makes the mistake of allowing him to show her how he asks a girl out on a date. Horshack falls in love with Julie and he decides that she’s in love with him. As I said, restraining order time!

The next night, Julie invites Horshack to dinner so she can let him down easy. Unfortunately, Horshack shows up early and Julie has to try to talk to him with wet hair and wearing a bathrobe. Then the other Sweathogs shows up and assume that Julie is leading Horshack on. This episode did the impossible, in that it made me feel sorry for Julie. Usually, Julie comes across like someone who is just permanently in a bad mood but this episode really drove home just how unfair it is that she has to continually play hostess to her husband’s students. To be honest, Julie has the patience of a saint in this episode.

Travolta made me laugh a few times but otherwise, this was one of those episodes where I just wanted the Sweathogs to leave the apartment and leave the Kotter family alone. Probably the most interesting thing about this episode is that Gabe was barely in it. Reportedly, Gabe Kaplan and Marcia Strassman did not get along and it’s easy to sense that during the third season.

As for this episode’s opening joke, Gabe told Julie about his uncle who became a mailman and then bit himself because he thought he was a dog. Gabe’s family is just wacky!

Live Tweet Alert: Watch Don’t Look Away With #ScarySocial!

Posted on September 7, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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

Tonight, for #ScarySocial, Deanna Dawn will be hosting 2023’s Don’t Look Away!

If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! The film is available on Prime, Tubi, and a host of other streaming sites! I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Music Video of the Day: Edge of Saturday Night by Kylie Minogue and The Blessed Madonna (2024, dir by Sophie Muller)

Posted on September 7, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It is Saturday, afterall.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Friday the 13th 2.8 “Read My Lips”

Posted on September 6, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th: The Series, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on YouTube!

This week, Oscar will haunt your nightmares….

Episode 2.8 “Read My Lips”

(Dir by Francis Delia, originally aired on November 21st, 1988)

When you watch as much horror as I do, you automatically assume that anyone who is a ventriloquist is going to have an unhealthy relationship with their dummy. Sometimes, the dummy is alive. Sometimes, the dummy is possessed. Sometimes, the dummy is just a dummy but the ventriloquist has decided that it’s alive and urging him to kill. (For some reason, evil ventriloquists are always male.) I’ve seen a lot of creepy ventriloquist dummies but nothing quite compared me for Oscar….

AGCK! I mean …. LOOK AT THAT THING!

Oscar is at the center of this week’s episode of Friday the 13th. Oscar is wearing a boutonniere that once belonged to the noted ventriloquist, Adolf Hitler. The boutonniere not only brings Oscar to foul-mouthed life but it also inspires whoever owns Oscar to commit countless murders. When we first see Oscar, he is owned by Edgar Van Horne (played by a youngish Billy Drago). After Edgar attempts to break his bond with Oscar, Oscar drives Edgar crazy and then invites another ventriloquist, Travis Plunkett (John Byner), to be his owner. Things don’t turn out well for Travis either.

Sadly, Jack is not in this episode. With its emphasis on desperate nightclub performers and Oscar’s corny sense of humor, it’s hard not to feel that this storyline would have been right up Jack’s alley. Instead, it’s left to Micki and Ryan to deal with Oscar and the ventriloquists. Micki’s best friend from high school, Gabriella Montrose (Linda Griffiths), is planning on marrying Edgar but, needless to say, that all goes out the window once Edgar loses his mind and end up in a mental hospital. For the most part, Micki and Ryan are largely bystanders in this episode. All of the action revolves around Oscar and his unfortunate owners.

Billy Drago gives a wonderful performance as Edgar, making him both frightening and, in the end, surprisingly sympathetic. Edgar is desperate to escape the clutches of Oscar but, in the end, it turns out that he’s grown addicted to performing with Oscar and the attempt to quit cold turkey leads to him losing his mind. (Many episodes of Friday the 13th feature storylines that felt as if they were meant to be a metaphor for drug addiction and that’s certainly the case here.) John Byner plays his role a bit more broadly than Drago but still, it’s hard not to feel bad for Travis as he comes to realize that he’s in over his head with Oscar.

This was an effectively creepy episode, even if it did owe an obvious debt to the 1978 film Magic. Oscar makes for a memorable monster. Hopefully, he’ll never be seen again.

Retro Television Review: T and T 3.13 “The Curse”

Posted on September 6, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing T. and T., a Canadian show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on Tubi!

So, after two months, I guess it’s time to finish up reviewing T and T.

I have to admit that I had to remind myself just what exactly this show was about before I watched the 13th episode of the third season. It’s not a show that really sticks in your mind when you’re not watching it. In case you need a refresher, the third season of T and T finds T.S. Turner (Mr. T) working for lawyer Terri Taler (Kristina Nicoll), who is apparently the sister of Amy Taler, the crusading lawyer that Turner worked with for the previous two seasons.

Episode 3.13 “The Curse”

(Dir by Patrick Loubert, originally aired on March 31st, 1990)

When T.S. demands that Alfredo (Sam Malkin) pay an outstanding bill for Terri’s legal services, Alfredo reacts by putting a gypsy curse on T.S. T.S. does what anyone would do. He fakes his death and has his friends hold a fake funeral in order to guilt Alfredo into paying the bill.

What?

Again, it’s been nearly two months since I last watched this show. When I was taking care of my Dad, the last thing that I was thinking about was an obscure Canadian comedy/action show from the late 80s. So, I guess I had forgotten just how silly T and T actually was. And really, I can’t fault the show for being silly. I mean, it’s a show that stars Mr. T. Of course it’s going to be silly! That said, you know that a show is running out of ideas when they trot out a gypsy curse. The idea of T.S. Turner faking his own death had potential but the episode itself just kind of fell flat. By the third season of T and T, it was obvious that Mr. T was so bored with the show that there really wasn’t much difference between Turner pretending to be dead and Turner being alive.

The majority of the episode is taken up with Turner’s “funeral,” which is held at Decker’s gym. It’s a bit of a missed opportunity, especially when you consider that T and T was in its final season. Joe Casper returns and so do three of the show’s recurring crooks. But not present are Turner’s Aunt or his niece, both of whom were key characters during the show’s first season. And, needless to say, Amy Taler does not attend the funeral of the man she got out of prison and worked with for two full seasons. It really does leave the viewer wondering, once again, just what happened to Amy’s character and why the show’s third season insists on acting as if Terri has always been Turner’s partner.

Anyway, the scheme works. Alfredo pays his bill. Turner reveals that he’s not dead. The funeral turns into a party. That’s kind of nice.

I’m nearly done with this show. That’s nice, too.