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 1984’s Runaway!
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 and hit play at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag! The watch party community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015! The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.
This week, Degrassi goes there.
Episode 2.20 “How Soon Is Now?”
(Dir by Eleanore Lindo, originally aired on February 9th, 2003)
After intensive therapy with the school’s counselor, Ms. Sauve (Jennifer Podemski), Paige convinces herself that she’s emotionally recovered from being raped by Dean. Paige says she doesn’t need any more therapy and she just wants to get on her with her life. However, when she discovers that Dean’s school will be coming to Degrassi for a basketball game, she starts to spiral.
Paige’s rape was one of Degrassi’s first “mature” storylines, in that it dealt with a controversial issue and it did so in a realistic way. Instead of simply wrapping things up after an episode or two, Degrassi stretched this storyline over several seasons and let it play out with an honesty that is rarely seen on television.. Instead of having Paige magically go back to being who she was before she was raped, Degrassi portrayed how Paige changed as a result of both the rape and her struggle to get justice. That the show did so realistically is a credit to both Degrassi and Lauren Collins’s portrayal of Paige.
One of the things that makes this episode difficult to watch is that Paige largely suffers alone. Only a few people know about the rape. A bitter Spinner still thinks that the encounter between Paige and Dean was consensual. When Dean does show up at Degrassi, it’s obvious that he feels no guilt about what happened and, soon, he’s even hitting on Manny. When Paige tries to warn Manny, Manny replies that Dean told her all about how crazy Paige is. It’s only when Paige tells JT about what happened that someone finally stands up for her. JT may just be the mascot but he doesn’t hold back when he attacks Dean on the court. Of course, JT is still JT so it’s not like he really does that much physical damage to Dean but it’s still gratifying to see. In fact, this is the first episode in which JT actually reveals himself to be something other than just the annoying class clown.
At the end of the episode, Paige tells Ms. Suave that she wants to press charges against Dean. Ms. Suave warns her that, with the amount of time that has passed, it’s going to be Paige’s word against his. Paige says she understands. I always want to applaud at the end of this episode, even though I know how things are going to develop.
As for the B-plot, Marco’s being a jerk. He and Ellie are working on a class project. They have to create an ad campaign for a fake cologne. Marco wants to do a “Bollywood thing.” Ellie wants to turn Marco into a sex symbol. Marco gets annoyed because Ellie hasn’t fully accepted that he’s gay and not romantically attracted to her. Hey, Marco — you’re the one who asked her to pretend to be your girlfriend so that you could stay in the closet so instead of getting mad at her, maybe think about what you’re putting her through!
Seriously, I get that Marco was a ground-breaking character at the time and I respect that, just as with Paige’s storyline, the show attempted to be realistic in its portrayal of Marco slowly finding the confidence to be his true self. That said, Marco could be really self-righteous.
But no matter. Even with Marco acting like Marco, this was an important episode. Degrassi went there.
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 Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC! It can be viewed on Peacock.
Luther Mahoney returns.
Episode 5.13 “Have A Conscience”
(Dir by Uli Edel, originally aired on January 17th, 1997)
Mike Kellerman is back on the job but he’s still angry. He’s angry that the U.S. Attorney didn’t officially announce that he had been cleared. He’s angry because he feels that his fellow detectives failed to support him when he was at his lowest. He’s angry because people like Roger Gaffney continue to assume that he’s guilty.
Given how angry Kellerman is, the last thing he needs to get stuck with another case involving the arrogant and apparently untouchable Luther Mahoney. However, that is exactly what Kellerman gets when an Asian shopkeeper is gunned down after trying to chase one of Mahoney’s crews off the corner. Everyone knows that Mahoney is behind the murder but, as always, there’s not enough evidence to take him down. Witnesses won’t talk. No one can connect Mahoney directly to the murder. While the smug Mahoney heads off to a fund raiser, a bitter Kellerman goes to his boat and considers suicide.
Fortunately, Lewis barges onto the boat and keeps Kellerman from shooting himself. This episode reveals a lot about Homicide’s less heralded pair of detectives. Kellerman is desperate for his father’s approval and he has a huge chip on his shoulder. Just the fact that anyone would even consider the idea that Kellerman would ever take a bribe is enough to set Kellerman off and Kellerman does not easily forgivce. Lewis, meanwhile, is still haunted by the death Crosetti.
The majority of this episode is just Lewis talking to Kellerman and Kellerman talking to Lewis. It’s not the most exciting episode of Homicide but it is wonderfully acted by both Clark Johnson and Reed Diamond. While Pembleton and Bayliss appear to be growing apart (with Bayliss spending most of this episode politely ignoring Pembleton while Pembleton solved one of his cold cases), Lewis and Kellerman are now even closer than they were before.
That’s a good thing. Luther Mahoney is still out there and, for whatever reason, Lewis and Kellerman seem to be the two detectives who always end up investigating Mahoney’s crimes. That’s a little hard to believe. With the number of people that Mahoney kills and the size of the Homicide division, you would think at least one Mahoney-directed murder would be investigated by either Munch or Pembleton. Regardless, Luther Mahoney is a great villain and I look forward to seeing where Kellerman’s obsession with taking him down is heading.
Finally, I hope this Pembleton/Bayliss estrangement won’t go on for too long. We just got Pembleton back and Pembleton was finally starting to accept that he could actually handle working with a partner. I get that Bayliss is upset but breaking up Pembleton and Bayliss just doesn’t feel right. They’re just meant to work together.
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1970’s Patton.
This scene, which occurs at the start of the film, won George C. Scott an Oscar …. which he refused to accept. Scott announced, even before he was nominated, that he wouldn’t accept the Oscar. One gets the feeling that probably made it all the more likely that he would win. To Scott’s credit, he did not send someone else to refuse the Oscar (and take the boos) in his place.
Would George Patton have refused the Oscar? Probably not.
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!
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 Saved By The Bell, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
This week, Mr. Belding is desperately trying to find someone to date his niece. Meanwhile, Zack is trying to avoid being suspended….
Episode 2.6 “Blind Dates”
(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 13th, 1990)
Mr. Belding needs someone to go on a blind date with his niece Penny but every guy at the school screams in horror at the idea. However, Zack has just received his tenth detention and is facing the prospect of being suspended for a week. Belding makes Zack an offer that he can’t refuse. If Zack goes on a date with Penny, he won’t be suspended. This sounds like the type of thing that could get Belding fired but instead, Zack agrees to go on the date….
Except Zack already has plans for that night! Kelly is having her birthday party at the Max!
Zack’s solution? Put a blonde wig on Screech and have him take Penny on the date.
I notice that Zack’s solutions always seem to involve Screech pretending to be someone other than Screech. Penny (Jodi Peterson) turns out to be a totally normal girl and she has a great time with Screech when they go to …. Kelly’s birthday party! Of course, Penny thinks Screech is Zack and that Zack is Screech and just writing all of this is making my head hurt. When Kelly finds out that Penny is planning on going home with “Zack,” Kelly calls her “an un-nice person,” which is a pretty neat turn of phrase. But then Kelly learns the truth and, to Slater’s chagrin, Kelly falls even more in love with Zack.
Meanwhile, Jessie freaks out because her blind date, Brett (Timothy Williams), is several inches shorter than her. I have to say that Jessie’s recurring insecurity about being tall was one of the few things that Saved By The Bell consistently handled well. (It certainly handled it better than her later caffeine pill addiction.) Brett was adorable and it was kind of sweet that he eventually won Jessie over just by being a really cool guy.
Jessie’s storyline aside, this is the type of Saved By The Bell episode that drives me crazy. Most of the conflict — actually, all of the conflict — could have been avoided by everyone just not being an idiot. It’s hard to believe that Zack couldn’t come up with a solution to his problems that didn’t involve putting a blonde wig on Screech. I get that Belding was desperate to find a date for Penny but the idea that he would turn to Zack, even under the most extreme of circumstances, seemed like a reach.
Probably the funniest moment in this episode was when Zack learned he had received his tenth detention and everyone in the studio audience groaned. Don’t worry, folks. Zack will be okay!
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 Baywatch, which ran on NBC and then in syndication from 1989 to 2001. The entire show can be viewed on Tubi.
This week, it’s Eddie vs Hector the Collector!
Episode 2.7 “Sandcastles”
(Dir by Monte Markham, originally aired on October 28th, 1991)
Eddie is freaking out because there’s too many homeless people on the beach. As he explains it to Shauni, he’s always feared that he could end up homeless. When Shauni suggests that maybe the homeless could live on a deserted army base, Eddie says that people like that are never willing to accept help. Eddie is really not a fan of the homeless!
Of course, in Eddie’s defense, he does get stabbed in the shoulder by a homeless man at the start of this episode. Hector the Collector (Ron Howard George) not only breaks into Eddie’s lifeguard tower but he also tries to steal a framed photograph of Shauni. When Eddie tries to stop him, Hector plunges a shard of glass into Eddie’s shoulder!
Hobie, meanwhile, is having a far better experience with the homeless. He meets Charlie (played by a young Nikki Cox), who is living in an abandoned power plant with her mother (Wendy Robie, who played the one-eyed Nadine on Twin Peaks). When Charlie’s mother disappears, Hobie helps Charlie look for her. When Hector the Collector steals Charlie’s journal, the entire Baywatch crew is there to help her get it back. Fortunately, Mitch is also there to save Charlie when she gets shoved into the ocean by Hector.
WOW! What is Hector’s problem!?
“Mine! Mine!” Hector hisses whenever anyone tries to take back any of the stuff that he’s stolen.
Calm down, Hector!
Meanwhile, Harvey needs a new place to live. Harvey? Oh yeah, he’s the new goofy lifeguard. He can’t sleep in his tower. He can’t live with Mitch. However, Harvey finds a big house with a pool and immediately imagines hundreds of swimsuit-clad women beckoning him to swim with him. This episode has two musical montages, one involving the homeless and one involving Harvey and a bunch of imaginary women. I’m getting the feeling that Baywatch really wasn’t that concerned with the problem of homelessness in Los Angeles.
Baywatch was (and, since it’s been revived for the upcoming television season, is) a very odd show. This episode deals with a very real social problem and David Hasselhoff is so earnest in the scenes that he shares with Nikki Cox that you can’t help but feel that maybe the Hoff’s heart was in the right place. But the show itself always seems more concerned with getting to the next beach shot. Watching this episode, you can hear the producers whispering, “Don’t worry, we’re not going to spend too much time with these homeless people….”
Anyway, the important thing is that everything works out for the best. Harvey moves in with some flight attendants. Charlie is reunited with her mother. And Hector the Collector gets the help he needs. Don’t you worry, Baywatch will be always there.
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on Twitter and Mastodon. 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, at 10 pm et, #ScarySocial presents 2017’s Truth or Dare!
If you want to join us this Saturday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Truth or Dare is available on Prime! See you there!
Through the Shattered Lens 