As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasion ally 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.
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, pull up Cage on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag! Then switch over to twitter, pull The Way Back up on Prime, and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag!
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!
The Vice Squad goes after Phil Collins!
Episode 2.11 “Phil the Shill”
(Dir by John Nicolella, originally aired on December 13th, 1985)
Switek and Zito call in sick so that they can go to the taping of a silly game show called Rat Race. While Zito sits in the audience, Switek answers trivia questions about Elvis and competes in an obstacle course race with his spacey opponent (Emo Phillips). Hosting the show is the very effusive and very British Phil Mayhew (Phil Collins).
As we already know, Switek knows everything about Elvis. And he’s in better shape than Emo Phillips so, when it comes time for the obstacle course, he reaches and hits his buzzer first. But Switek’s buzzer doesn’t go off. Emo’s buzzer works and Emo proceeds to robotically recite a complex string of Elvis trivia.
To his horror, Switek realizes that the quiz show was fixed!
Switek and Zito decide that they want to take down Phil and reveal his con artist ways. Unfortunately, for them, the rest of the Squad doesn’t care. Crockett, in particular, is annoyed that Switek pretended to be sick to get a night off of work. However, it then turns out that Phil has hooked up with Sarah MacPhail (Kyra Sedgwick), the girlfriend and business partner of Tony Rivers (Michael Margotta), a drug dealer that Crockett has spent months trying to set up.
It’s time to call in Izzy and have him pretend to be an interior decorator so that Phil can be tricked into throwing a party that can be attended by …. SONNY BURNETT AND RICO COOPER! Listen, I know I mention that a lot but I just can’t let it go …. how are Sonny and Rico able to maintain their undercover identities when they’re constantly arresting major drug dealers and taking part in DEA busts? How come it never occurs to the criminals that dealer Sonny Burnett might have something in common with cop Sonny Crockett? Does no one ever notice that Sonny Burnett drives the same car and wears the same white suit as Sonny Crockett?
This was a bit of an odd episode. It was obviously written so that Phil Collins (whose In The Air Tonight set the mood for the entire series) could play Phil Mayhew. And while Phil Collins does not appear to have been an actor of amazing range, he still does a good job as the weaselly Phil Mayhew. The Phil scenes are played for humor while the scenes with Tony Rivers definitely are not. Tony is a violent sociopath who casually kills several people over the course of the episode. Scenes of Switek pouting about the game show feel awkward when combined with scenes of Tony machine gunning two drug dealers. Collins does a good job within his range and Michael Margotta is an energetic villain. However, the best performance in this episode actually comes from Kyra Sedgwick, who does a great job as someone who eventually turns out to be just as ruthless and dangerous her boyfriend.
This is a fast-paced and energetic episode, one that moves quickly enough that the viewer doesn’t really have time to consider the oddness of Phil Mayhew getting involved with the same drug dealer that Crockett happens to be investigating. Personally, I’m always happy when the members of the supporting cast get to do something more than just stand in the background. Switek and Zito are a good team.
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 Cage, starring Lou Ferrigno and birthday boy Reb Brown! 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 link to the video under my account, 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.
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!
117 years ago, on this date, Fred Zinnemann was born in what is now Poland. Though he originally considered studying to become a lawyer, a teenage Zinnemann instead became fascinated with the relatively new medium of film. He immigrated to the United States in 1928, hoping to find more opportunities as an aspiring director. After working as an actor and crew member on several films, Zinnemann made his directorial debut in 1936.
His film career was span 50 years, during which time Zinnemann became known for making films about strong individuals who refused to back down in the face of societal pressure. In total, his films received 65 Oscar nominations and won 24. Zinnemann was nominated ten times and won three Oscars. Two of his films, From Here To Eternity and A Man For All Seasons, won best picture. While many of his contemporaries were retiring or fading into irrelevance, Zinnemann remained an important director throughout the 70s and early 80s.
Today, we honor the legacy of Fred Zinnemann with….
4 Shots From 4 Fred Zinnemann Films
High Noon (1952, dir by Fred Zinnemann, DP: Floyd Crosby)
From Here To Eternity (1953, dir by Fred Zinnemann, DP: Floyd Crosby and Burnett Guffey)
A Man For All Seasons (1966, dir by Fred Zinnemann, DP: Ted Moore)
The Day of the Jackal (1973, dir by Fred Zinnemann, DP: Jean Tournier)
Reb Brown, the star of some of the loudest movies ever made, is 76 years old today but I bet he could still beat the evil doers and encourage us all by shouting, “Go! Go! Go!” A former college football player turned actor, Reb Brown holds the distinction of being one of the first actors to play Captain America and for also starring in classic films like Yor Hunter of the Future, Strike Commando and Strike Commando 2. Though he may not have ever become a household name, Reb Brown is a beloved figure amongst my circle of film-loving friends.
The scene below is from 1988’s Space Mutiny and it featured Reb doing what Red does best.
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 Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989! The series can be streamed on YouTube!
The tragedy of Wheels continues.
Episode 3.2 “Can’t Live With ‘Em: Part Two”
(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on November 28th, 1988)
What a sad episode!
Much as with the previous episode, several storylines play out over the course of this episode. For the most part, this episode is all about setting up the rest of the season. Among the things that happen:
Lucy starts to hang out with Paul (Michael Blake), a student at Borden High and she stops hanging out with her best friend, L.D.
Arthur, who has taken to wearing a white scarf to school, finally admits to Yick that his family is rich and that he has been buying and selling stock in a company called Repco. Yick responds by demanding that Arthur pay for their food when they go to the local diner.
Shane hears Spike talking to Liz about how much she misses having free time. As soon as Spike gets home from school, she has to look after baby Emma while Spike’s mother goes to work. Shane approaches Spike and says that he knows that she doesn’t want to talk to him but he’s still going to give her half of his allowance and get a part-time job to help her pay for a babysitter for Emma.
Nancy and Kathleen are still running for school president and getting aggressive in their campaigning. Kathleen confesses to Melanie that she’s scared she’s going to lose. Melanie points out that, even if she does come in second, Kathleen will still be Vice President. Kathleen replies that she doesn’t want to be the second-in-command. She wants it all.
(Kathleen is rarely portrayed sympathetically on this show but I totally related to how she felt.)
Scooter and Bartholomew Bond debate whether Superman is better than Spider-Man.
Even with all that going on, this episode is dominated by Wheels. Last week, Wheels was informed that his parents had been killed by a drunk driver. This week found him struggling with anger, depression, and survivor’s guilt. He was supposed to be with his parents when they were going to the movies and if had gone with them instead of sneaking out to Joey’s house, Wheels probably would have died with his parents. Wheels is haunted by a nightmare in which he wakes up to find his parents coming home from the movies.
“I thought you were dead!” Wheels says.
“We are,” his mother replies.
Wheels doesn’t know what’s going to happen. Wheels is only 14 so living on his own is not an option. His grandmother and grandfather live miles away so if Wheels goes to live with them, it’ll mean abandoning his entire life in Toronto but that might be better than having to enter the foster system.
When Wheels returns to school, no one knows how to talk to him. Not even Snake is willing to approach him. Only Joey tries to talk to Wheels. The first time, Joey hands Wheels the demo tape that they made for the Zit Remedy. Wheels breaks the tape. The next time that Joey approaches Wheels, Wheels beats him up in the school hallway. Joey — and this is why everyone loves him — doesn’t get angry at Wheels. When Wheels finally approaches him and apologizes, Joey tells Wheels that he can beat him up whenever he needs to.
“I’m scared,” Wheels says.
Joey hugs him as the end credits role.
Awwwwwww!
This episode was Degrassi at its best, offering a lot of heartfelt emotions but no easy solutions. Neil Hope (who had lost his own father right before shooting this episode) gives a heart-breaking performance as Wheels and Pat Mastroianni reminds us that, underneath Joey’s bluster, he’s a good person who truly cares about his friends. Just as with last week, this episode is even more tragic if you know what’s destined to happen to the characters later on in the series. For now, though, I’m just going to be happy that Wheels had a friend like Joey.
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 1988’s Shattered Innocence! It can be viewed on YouTube.
Shattered Innocence starts with a young woman shooting herself in a nice bedroom, while someone on the outside bangs on the door.
The rest of the movie shows the events the led up to the suicide of Pauleen Anderson (Jonna Lee). On the one hand, starting a film with a literal bang is definitely a way to capture the audience’s attention. On the other hand, letting us know that the story is going to end with a suicide pretty much robs the story of the element of surprise or the ability to take the viewer by surprise. We know how the story is going to end and it doesn’t take long for us to figure out why it’s going to end that way.
From the minute we see Pauleen as a naive cheerleader with an overprotective family, we know that she’s going to end up hooking up with Cory (Kris Kamm), the local bad boy. As soon as she graduates from high school and gets a job as a waitress, we know that Pauleen is not going to be staying in Kansas. As soon as she and Cory end up in California and Cory suggests that Pauleen is pretty enough to be a model, we know that she’s going to end up modeling topless and that she’s going to deal with her nerves and her weight by snorting cocaine. We also know that she’s going to end up appearing in adult films and that her concerned mother (Melinda Dillon) is constantly going to be begging her to come back home and forget about Los Angeles and its sinful ways.
Apparently based on a true story, there’s not really anything surprising about Shattered Innocence. It tells a sordid story but, because it was made-for-TV, the scene usually ends right before anything really explicit happens. (Ironically, by keeping the sordid stuff off-camera, the film invites the audience to imagine scenarios that are probably a hundred times more trashy than anything that could be recreated on film.) Shattered Innocence gets by on innuendo, with frequent scenes of people saying stuff like, “Did you see the pictures?” or “You may recognize her from her centerfold.” Nerdy Mel Erman (John Pleshette), who becomes Pauleen’s business partner, first meets her when he asks her to autograph the cover of Penthouse. Otherwise, this film is actually pretty tame.
In fact, the one scene that really jumped out and made me go “Agck!” was a scene in which Pauleen’s nose suddenly started bleeding as a result of all the cocaine that she had recently done. That was frightening, just because I’ve always had to deal with nosebleeds due to my allergies. I hate them and the taste of blood in the back of my throat. In that scene, I could relate to Pauleen’s shock and embarrassment.
Shattered Innocence tells a story that’s as old as Hollywood itself, which is a bit of a problem. Too often, the movie just seems to be going through the expected motions. Jonna Lee was a bit dull in the lead role but Melinda Dillion and John Pleshette both did well as the only two people who seemed to really care about Pauleen. For the most part, though, Shattered Innocence was sordid without being memorable.
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 reviewingthe Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
This week, Howard has an operation …. maybe.
Episode 2.4 “Operation Bannister”
(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on October 24th, 1986)
A foolish attempt to impress a blonde customer by lifting and carrying a crate full of bottles lands Howard in the hospital. He’s scheduled to have a hernia operation. It should be a simple procedure but there’s a problem. Howard’s a wimp.
Seriously, Howard spends this entire episode in a state of panic. First, he has to deal with an ER doctor who is — *gasp* — a woman! Then he discovers that the doctor who will be operating on him is barely out of medical school and looks like he’s about 16 years of age. Then, he discovers that his roommate at the hospital is full of horror stories. I guess it’s a good thing that Howard knows how to escape from hospitals because he ends up doing it several times. Of course, every time, he’s promptly recaptured and sent back for his operation.
This episode ends on a curious note, with the store’s staff putting on a “welcome back” party three days after Howard’s operation just for Howard to reveal that he once again escaped from the hospital and, instead of getting the operation, he spent three days hiding out in a hotel. He didn’t even let Edna know what he had done. Two burly orderlies show up at the store and drag Howard back to the hospital as the end credits roll.
So, did Howard ever actually have the operation? I’m going to assume that he did but it’s interesting that the episode leaves the storyline unresolved. Instead of being about the operation, the episode instead becomes a meditation on fear and the foolishness of trying to escape fate. Howard is very good at running away from his problem but, no matter how hard he tires, the orderlies always track him down. Like the Grim Reaper, Canadian hospital orderlies cannot be escaped.
I hate hospitals so I could relate a bit more to this episode than some of the other episodes that I’ve seen of this show. As an American who gets tired of hearing about every other country’s supposedly perfect health care system, I appreciated that this episode showed that hospitals suck no matter what country you’re in.
That said, I have to admit that, while watching, I got a bit annoyed with Howard. I mean, first off, he shouldn’t have tried to pick up that crate to begin with. Secondly, if you don’t want to have the operation, don’t have it. Don’t keep returning to the hospital just because Edna and a bunch of orderlies yell at you. And if you do decide to return to the hospital, own that choice and stick around until the operation’s done. I understood Howard’s feelings but he still came across as being a bit of a wimp in this episode. Nobody likes a wimp.
Next week, according to the imdb, Howard’s niece will make an appearance. Let’s hope she has more guts than her uncle.
Through the Shattered Lens 