Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films: RIP, Bert I. Gordon

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 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!

Director Bert I. Gordon, the original Mr. Big, has passed away at 100 years old.  In honor of his life and legacy, here are….

4 Shots From 4 Bert I. Gordon Films

The Amazing Colossal Man (1957, dir by Bert I. Gordon, DP: Joseph Biroc)

War of the Colossal Beast (1958, dir by Bert I. Gordon, DP: Jack A. Marta)

Village of the Giants (1965, dir by Bert I. Gordon, DP: Paul Vogel)

Empire of the Ants (1977, dir by Bert I. Gordon, DP: Reginald H. Morris)

Retro Television Reviews: The Love Boat 2.4 “The Man Who Loved Women / A Different Girl / Oh, My Aching Brother”

Posted on 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 Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986!  The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!

Come aboard!

Episode 2.4 “The Man Who Loved Women / A Different Girl / Oh, My Aching Brother”

(Dir by Allen Baron, originally aired on September 30th, 1978)

This week’s cruise is all about deception …. and love!

For instance, Joe (Marty Ingels) and Harold Nash (Sonny Bono) are two brothers who thrive on deception.  Harold specializes in pretending to get injured.  Joe specializes in threatening to sue until the brothers get paid off.  Apparently, it’s a scheme that works well for them, though Joe seems to be a lot more enthusiastic about it than Harold.  In fact, Harold seems to be a nice guy who mostly just wants to enjoy the cruise and flirt with another passenger, Rita (Judy Landers).  Still, Joe insists that Harold pretend to hurt his back so Harold takes a dramatic fall on the shuffleboard course.

Of course, the crew can spot a fake injury from miles away.  For once, Doc Bricker actually does his job and announces that, despite all of his yelling and groaning, there does not appear to be anything wrong with Harold’s back.  Still, if Harold goes through the entire cruise without walking, the Pacific Princess will probably pay a settlement.  Joe’s happy about that.  Harold’s unhappy because he wants to get up and walk over to Rita’s cabin.  In the end, it is Harold’s love for Rita that defeats the scheme.  When he sees Rita actually trip and take a fall, Harold can’t stop himself from jumping out of his wheelchair to help her.  Awwwwwww!

This storyline was dumb but kind of sweet.  Sonny Bono was not a particularly good actor but there was something rather genuine about his chemistry with Judy Landers.

Meanwhile, the Captain Stubing’s godson, Dave Stanton (Grant Goodeve), is taking the cruise with his wife, Laura (Bess Armstrong).  Though they’ve been married for two years, they are only now getting to take their honeymoon.  (Dave was in the army and Laura was caring for her terminally ill mother.)  During the trip, they discover that they’ve both changed over the past two years.  Laura’s more independent now.  Plus, she had an affair while  Dave was gone.  Dave gets pretty upset but Captain Stubing asks Dave if he can really say that he’s never cheated on Laura.  Dave admits that he cheated on her too.  Now that they know that they’re both cheaters, Dave and Laura’s marriage is strong than ever!

This storyline was defeated by the fact that neither Dave nor Laura were particularly sympathetic characters.  At one point, Dave actually says that his cheating was different from Laura’s cheating because he’s a guy and she’s a woman.  AGCK!  Probably the most interesting part of this story is that it gave Stubing a chance to talk about why his own marriage fell apart.  This show has often hinted that there is a lot of darkness and trauma in Stubing’s past and Gavin MacLeod always brings a lot of sincerity to the scenes where the captain admits that he has regrets.

Finally, Charlotte (Cathryn Damon), Bonnie (Jo Ann Pflug), and Anita (Brett Sommers) are three divorcees who take the cruise together.  All three of them end up meeting a man.  Charlotte meets a man named Alvin, who she decides to call him by his middle name, “Cornelius.”  Bonnie meets a man who she calls Vinny.  Anita meets a man who she calls by his last name, “McNair.”  What they don’t know is that all of them have met the same man, Alvin Cornelius McNair (David Doyle).  Alvin goes out with all three of the women but he starts to feel guilty when he realizes that they’re all cabinmates.  However, Charlotte, Bonnie, and Anita tell him that it doesn’t matter to them because Alvin was always honest with them and didn’t try to manipulate any of them.  Awwwww!  I liked this story.  Damon, Pflug, and Sommers were believable as old friends and Doyle was likable as Alvin.

This was actually a pretty enjoyable episode.  It may not have been perfect but it was a pleasant trip.

Music Video of the Day: 6th Avenue Heartache by The Wallflowers (1996, dir by David Fincher)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’ve always liked this song, perhaps even more so than The Wallflowers’s best known song, One Headlight.  Jakob Dylan (who certainly has the talent necessary to be worthy of being known as something more than just “Bob’s son”) was inspired to write this song by a homeless man who he used to see on 6th Avenue.  One day, the homeless man was gone but all of his possessions were still sitting on the sidewalk.  As the days passed, the man’s possessions disappeared one-by-one.  Jakob considers this to be the first true song that he ever wrote.

This music video, which features the band walking around New York City and 6th Avenue, was directed by David Fincher, who you may have heard of.

Retro Television Review: Fantasy Island 2.12 “Charlie’s Cherubs/Stalag 3”

Posted on 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 Tuesdays, I will be reviewing the original Fantasy Island, which ran on ABC from 1977 to 1986.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, Fantasy Island is invaded by Nazis and Angels!

Episode 2.3 “Charlie’s Cherubs/Stalag 3”

(Dir by Cliff Bole, originally aired on December 9th, 1978)

Today’s episode begins with Mr. Roarke noticing that Tattoo is carrying a calculator with him.

“What is that, Tattoo?” he asks.

“A mini-computer,” Tattoo replies, “My cousin Igor sent it to me.  Computers can take away a lot of guess work.”

Mr. Roarke, obviously thinking that these “computer” things are but a mere fad, replies, “So can bikinis.  Let us meet our guests.”

This week, all of the guests have dangerous fantasies.  For instance, Danny Ryan (Cornel Wilde) is a World War II veteran who has never really been able to make it in the post-War world.  So, he invites three fellow vets to return with him to the French town in which they spent 1944.  During the War, they were POWS at Stalag 3 but they were famous for continually outsmarting Commandant Horst Von Stern (Nehemiah Persoff).  In fact, Von Stern’s career and reputation never really recovered from the time that Danny and his friends escaped.  (I imagine that, after the war, Von Stern’s reputation was also damaged by the fact that he was a freaking Nazi commandant.)  Not only has Mr. Roarke arranged for the old French village — complete with Fifi of the Resistance (played by Yvonne DeCarlo) — to be moved to Fantasy Island but he also brought over the old POW camp.  Unfortunately, Von Stern decides to come over as well and get his revenge by tossing Danny and friends back in the camp.

“You see,” Von Stern announces, “generals have fantasies too.”

What the Hell is going on with this Island?  Does Mr. Roarke just give anyone a fantasy, even a Nazi war criminal?  Actually, it appears that Mr. Roarke doesn’t know that Von Stern has come to the Island nor does he know that there is a treasure of stolen diamonds hidden in the village.  Apparently, Roarke decided to just let this fantasy run on autopilot without actually bothering to check in with what was going on.

Both Mr. Roarke and Tattoo are more concerned with the three secretaries (Melinda Naud, Brenda Benet, and Bond Gideon) who want to be Charlie’s Angels and solve a crime.  The crime involves a theft on Fantasy Island and …. well, it’s really not much of a mystery.  It’s basically a 20-minutes episode of Charlie’s Angels, with a bit less action but a lot more scenes of people saying stuff like, “He knows about electronics so he’s the thief!”  It was really a weak fantasy, which is a shame because, if I ever went to Fantasy Island, I would probably want to be a detective as well!

The show ends with Von Stern being sent to Germany to be put on trial for war crimes and the Angels saying that they’re ready to be secretaries again.  Roarke informs them that most angels fantasize about being secretaries.  Uhmmm, Mr. Roarke …. the proper term is administrative professional.  Everything appears to be wrapped up but, as the show ends, Tattoo announces that someone has stolen his mini-computer and Mr. Roarke laughs at his assistant’s misfortune.  Perhaps Tattoo losing his most prized possession was Roarke’s fantasy.

This was a weird episode.  Mr. Roarke might need to pay closer attention to what’s happening on his island!

The American Society of Cinematographers Honors Elvis!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The last of the Oscar precursors, the American Society of Cinematographers, have announced their picks for the best of 2022.

And here they are!

Feature
Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC for “Empire of Light” (Searchlight Pictures)
Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS for “The Batman” (Warner Bros.)
Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC for “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” (Netflix)
Claudio Miranda, ASC for “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)
Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS for “Elvis” (Warner Bros.)

Spotlight
Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, DFF for “War Sailor” (DCM Film)
Kate McCullough, ISC for “The Quiet Girl” (Super)
Andrew Wheeler for “God’s Country” (IFC Films)

Documentary
Ben Bernhard and Riju Das for “All That Breathes” (HBO/HBO Max)
Adam Bricker for “Chef’s Table: Pizza” – “Franco Pepe” (Netflix)
Wolfgang Held, ASC for “This Stolen Country of Mine”

Motion Picture, Limited Series, or Pilot Made for Television
Todd Banhazl, ASC for “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” – “The Swan” (HBO/HBO Max)
Jeremy Benning, CSC for “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” – “The Outside” (Netflix)
Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC for “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” – “The Autopsy” (Netflix)
C. Kim Miles, ASC, CSC, MySC for “Lost Ollie” – “Bali Hai” (Netflix)
Sean Porter for “The Old Man” – “I” (FX)

Episode of a One-Hour Television Series – Non-Commercial
John Conroy, ASC, ISC for “Westworld” – “Années Folles” (HBO/HBO MAX)
Catherine Goldschmidt for “House of the Dragon” – “The Lord of the Tides” (HBO/HBO MAX)
Alejandro Martinez for “House of the Dragon” – “The Green Council” (HBO/HBO MAX)
M. David Mullen, ASC for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” – “How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?” (Prime Video)
Alex Nepomniaschy, ASC for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”– “Everything is Bellmore” (Prime Video)
Nikolaus Summerer for “1899” – “The Calling” (Netflix)

Episode of a One-Hour Television Series – Commercial
Marshall Adams, ASC for “Better Call Saul” – “Saul Gone” (AMC)
Jesse M. Feldman for “Interview With the Vampire” – “Is My Very Nature That of the Devil” (AMC)
Christian “Tico” Herrera, CCR for “Snowfall” – “Departures” (FX)
Jules O’Loughlin, ASC, ACS for “The Old Man” – “IV” (FX)
Jaime Reynoso, AMC for “Snowpiercer” – “Bound by One Track” (TNT)

Episode of a Half-Hour Television Series
Adam Bricker for “Hacks” – “The Click” (HBO/HBO MAX)
Carl Herse for “Barry” – “Starting Now” (HB0/HBO MAX)
Stephen Murphy BSC, ISC for “Atlanta” – “New Jazz” (FX)
Ula Pontikos, BSC for “Russian Doll” – “Matryoshka” (Netflix)
Christian Sprenger, ASC for “Atlanta” – “Andrew Wyeth. Alfred’s World.” (FX)

The WGA Honors Everything

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On Sunday night, the Writers Guild of America announced their picks for the best of 2022!  And here they are:

FILM AWARDS

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Everything Everywhere All At Once – Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert; A24
The Fabelmans – Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner; Universal Pictures
The Menu – Written by Seth Reiss & Will Tracy; Searchlight Pictures
Nope – Written by Jordan Peele; Universal Pictures
Tár – Written by Todd Field; Focus Features

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Screenplay by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole, Story by Ryan Coogler, Based on the Marvel Comics; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Written by Rian Johnson; Netflix
She Said – Screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Based on the New York Times Investigation by Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Rebecca Corbett and the Book She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey; Universal Pictures
Top Gun: Maverick – Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie, Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks, Based on Characters Created by Jim Cash & Jack Epps, Jr.; Paramount Pictures
Women Talking – Screenplay by Sarah Polley, Based upon the Book by Miriam Toews; Orion Pictures/MGM

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
2nd Chance – Written by Ramin Bahrani; Showtime Documentary Films
Downfall: The Case Against Boeing – Written by Mark Bailey & Keven McAlester; Netflix
Last Flight Home – Written by Ondi Timoner; MTV Documentary Films
Moonage Daydream – Written by Brett Morgen; Neon
¡Viva Maestro! – Written by Theodore Braun; Greenwich Entertainment

TELEVISION AWARDS

DRAMA SERIES
Andor – Written by Dan Gilroy, Tony Gilroy, Stephen Schiff, Beau Willimon; Disney+
Better Call Saul – Written by Ann Cherkis, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Ariel Levine, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock; AMC
The Crown – Written by Peter Morgan; Netflix
Severance – Written by Chris Black, Andrew Colville, Kari Drake, Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman, Helen Leigh, Anna Ouyang Moench, Amanda Overton; Apple TV+
Yellowjackets – Written by Cameron Brent Johnson, Katherine Kearns, Jonathan Lisco, Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Liz Phang, Ameni Rozsa, Sarah L. Thompson, Chantelle M. Wells; Showtime

COMEDY SERIES
Abbott Elementary – Written by Quinta Brunson, Ava Coleman, Riley Dufurrena, Justin Halpern, Joya McCrory, Morgan Murphy, Brittani Nichols, Kate Peterman, Brian Rubenstein, Patrick Schumacker, Justin Tan, Jordan Temple, Garrett Werner; ABC
Barry – Written by Emma Barrie, Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Nicky Hirschhorn, Jason Kim, Liz Sarnoff; HBO/HBO Max
The Bear – Written by Karen Joseph Adcock, Joanna Calo, Rene Gube, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Alex O’Keefe, Catherine Schetina, Christopher Storer; FX Networks
Hacks – Written by Lucia Aniello, Jessica Chaffin, Paul W. Downs, Ariel Karlin, Andrew Law, Joe Mande, Aisha Muharrar, Pat Regan, Samantha Riley, Jen Statsky; HBO/HBO Max
Only Murders in the Building – Written by Matteo Borghese, Rachel Burger, Kirker Butler, Valentina Garza, Madeleine George, Joshua Allen Griffith, John Hoffman, Noah Levine, Stephen Markley, Kristin Newman, Ben Philippe, Ben Smith, Rob Turbovsky; Hulu

NEW SERIES
Abbott Elementary – Written by Quinta Brunson, Ava Coleman, Riley Dufurrena, Justin Halpern, Joya McCrory, Morgan Murphy, Brittani Nichols, Kate Peterman, Brian Rubenstein, Patrick Schumacker, Justin Tan, Jordan Temple, Garrett Werner; ABC
Andor – Written by Dan Gilroy, Tony Gilroy, Stephen Schiff, Beau Willimon; Disney+
Bad Sisters – Written by Brett Baer, Dave Finkel, Sharon Horgan; Apple TV+
The Bear – Written by Karen Joseph Adcock, Joanna Calo, Rene Gube, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Alex O’Keefe, Catherine Schetina, Christopher Storer; FX Networks
Severance – Written by Chris Black, Andrew Colville, Kari Drake, Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman, Helen Leigh, Anna Moench, Amanda Overton; Apple TV+

LIMITED SERIES
The Dropout– Written by Hilary Bettis, Liz Hannah, Liz Heldens, Dan LeFranc, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Matt Lutsky, Elizabeth Meriwether, Wei-Ning Yu; Hulu
Fleishman Is In Trouble – Written by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Cindy Chupack, Allison P. Davis, Mike Goldbach, Boo Killebrew; FX Networks
Pam & Tommy – Written by Brooke Baker, Matthew Bass, Theodore Bressman, D.V. DeVincentis, Sarah Gubbins, Robert Siegel; Hulu
The Staircase – Written by Aisha Bhoori, Antonio Campos, Maggie Cohn, Aja Gabel, Emily Kaczmarek, Craig Shilowich, Sebastian Silva; HBO/HBO Max
The White Lotus – Written by Mike White; HBO/HBO Max

TV & NEW MEDIA MOTION PICTURES
Heart of the Matter – Written by Karen Struck; Hallmark Channel
Honor Society – Written by David A. Goodman; Paramount +
Ray Donovan: The Movie – Written by David Hollander & Liev Schreiber; Showtime
Torn Hearts – Written by Rachel Koller Croft; Epix
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story – Written by Al Yankovic & Eric Appel; The Roku Channel

ANIMATION
“Girls Just Shauna Have Fun” (The Simpsons) – Written by Jeff Westbrook; Fox
“The Pain Garden” (Tuca & Bertie) – Written by Lisa Hanawalt; Adult Swim
“Pixelated and Afraid” (The Simpsons) – Written by John Frink, Fox
“Rectify” (Undone) – Written by Elijah Aron & Patrick Metcalf; Prime Video
“The Sound of Bleeding Gums” (The Simpsons) – Written by Loni Steele Sosthand; Fox
“To Bob, or Not To Bob” (Bob’s Burgers) – Written by Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin & Wendy Molyneux; Fox

EPISODIC DRAMA
“A Hard Way to Go” (Ozark) – Written by Chris Mundy; Netflix
“The End of Everything” (The Good Fight) – Written by Robert King & Michelle King; Paramount+
“Plan and Execution” (Better Call Saul) – Written by Thomas Schnauz; AMC
“The Prick” (Bad Sisters) – Teleplay by Sharon Horgan and Dave Finkel & Brett Baer; Apple TV+
“Rock and Hard Place” (Better Call Saul) – Written by Gordon Smith; AMC
“The We We Are” (Severance) – Written by Dan Erickson; Apple TV+

EPISODIC COMEDY
“The Beginning” (Grace and Frankie) – Written by Marta Kauffman & Howard J. Morris; Netflix
“Braciole” (The Bear) – Written by Joanna Calo & Christopher Storer; FX Networks
“Foie Gras” (Julia) – Written by Daniel Goldfarb & Chris Keyser; HBO/HBO Max
“Private School” (What We Do in the Shadows) – Written by Ayo Edebiri & Shana Gohd; FX Networks
“The One, The Only” (Hacks) – Written by Lucia Aniello & Paul W. Downs & Jen Statsky; HBO/HBO Max
“Wide Net” (Reservation Dogs) – Written by Tazbah Rose Chavez; FX Networks

COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
“Full Frontal With Samantha Bee”
“Hell of a Week With Charlamagne Tha God”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“Late Night With Seth Meyers”
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”
“The Problem With Jon Stewart”
“Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News”

COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
“Inside Amy Schumer”
“Pause With Sam Jay”
“Saturday Night Live”

COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
“The National Memorial Day Concert”
“Stand Out: an LGBTQ+ Celebration”
“The Problem With Jon Stewart: Election Wrap-Up Special”
“Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel”

QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
“Baking It”
“Capital One College Bowl”
“Jeopardy!”
“Weakest Link”

DAYTIME DRAMA
“Days of Our Lives”

CHILDREN’S EPISODIC, LONG FORM AND SPECIALS
“A Perilous Journey” – “The Mysterious Benedict Society”
“Thursday” – “Life by Ella”
“Pilot” – “Amber Brown”
“Prison or Palace” – “Life by Ella”
“Test Subject Thirteen” – “Circuit Breakers”

SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
“Breakwater”
“Carpool Karaoke: The Series”
“Three Busy Debras”

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT — CURRENT EVENTS
“Episode Two: Resilience” – “Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness,” PBS
“Inside the Alleged Sexual Assault Cover Up in Charlotte Schools” – “Vice News Tonight”
“Lies, Politics and Democracy” – “Frontline”

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT — OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“Episode Two: An American (1775-1790)” – “Benjamin Franklin,” PBS
“Episode One: The Golden Door (Beginnings-1938)” – “The U.S. and the Holocaust,” PBS
“Lucy and Desi”
“Ocean Invaders” – “Nova”
“Pelosi’s Power” – “Frontline”
“Plague at the Golden Gate” – “American Experience,” PBS

NEWS SCRIPT — REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Massacre in Buffalo” – “CBS Weekend News”
“Shooting at Robb Elementary” – “World News Tonight With David Muir”
“Special Edition: From the Ukraine Border” – “World News Tonight With David Muir”
“The Water Crisis in Jackson, Mississippi” – “CBS Evening News With Norah O’Donnell”

NEWS SCRIPT — ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Battle for Ukraine” – “20/20”
“City of Lions” – “60 Minutes”
“The Green Jacket – Golf’s Ultimate Prize” – “CBS Saturday Morning”
“Harvest of War” – “60 Minutes”
“The Longest Running Oil Spill” – “60 Minutes”
“Targeting Americans” – “60 Minutes”

DIGITAL NEWS
“America’s Only LGBTQ Historic District Is Falling Apart,” Vice
“How Oregon’s Prison System Retaliated Against Its Most Effective Jailhouse Lawyer,” HuffPost
“I Spent 72 Depraved Hours Searching for the Gnarliest Dive Bar in Las Vegas,” Vice
“The Most Unexpected Consequence of the Texas Abortion Ban,” Slate
“What’s So Scary About a Transgender Child,” Vox

RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY
“Dr. GIFT” – “One Year: 1995”
“Like a Lion with No Teeth” – “Crime Show”
“Making Sense: How Sound Becomes Hearing” – “Unexplainable”
“The Most Famous Poet No One Remembers” – “Decoder Ring”
“No Peace” – “Slow Burn: The L.A. Riots”
“The Ultimate Field Trip” – “One Year: 1986”
“The War in Jennifer Weiss” – “Crime Show”

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT — REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“CBS World News Roundup”
“Hail And Farewell: Saluting 5 Who Made a Difference,” CBS Radio
“Newsline – 11am 9/9/22,” CBS Radio
“World News This Week – Week of September 9, 2022,” ABC Radio
“World News This Year 2021,” ABC News Radio

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT — ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“2021 Law and Justice Year End Reports” – ABC News Radio
“Was the Women’s March Successful?” – “The Waves”
“WCBS Author Talks Summer Reads” – WCBS Radio
“What I Wish I Knew Before I Started IVF” – “The Waves”
“You Will Be Found: The Impact of Dear Evan Hansen” – (“Somalia Suffering From Starvation” – “Perspective”) ABC Audio

ON-AIR PROMOTION
“Amazon Bessemer Campaign: This Time I’m Voting Yes; Union Difference; Union Yes,” Facebook
“CBS Celebrates Juneteenth,” CBS News

Retro Television Reviews: Hang Time 3.25 “The Curfew” and 3.26 “Fuller’s Big Offer”

Posted on 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 Mondays, I will be reviewing Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000.  The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

Season 3 comes to an end as the Tornadoes play in the state championship and Coach Fuller is faced with a big decision about his future.  It’s hang time!

Episode 3.25 “The Curfew”

(Directed by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on December 6th, 1997)

The Deering Tornadoes are in the championship tournament!  After they arrive at Indiana University or the University of Indiana or Gary Community College or wherever it is that they’re playing, Coach Fuller tells them that they’re under curfew.  However, Teddy sneaks out to a sorority party and then the rest of the team sneaks out to bring him back.  Then Fuller shows up at the party, looking for his team.  Since no one on this show can just do the simple thing and admit to having screwed up, the boys dress up like sorority girls and Julie dresses up like a frat boy and they attempt to sneak back to the dorms.  Everyone but Teddy shows up before curfew.  When Fuller finds out what happened, he benches Teddy.  Even when a player gets injured, Fuller sends in some guy we’ve never seen before and keeps Teddy on the bench.  What’s funny is that the player Fuller does send in pauses to dramatically glare at Teddy as he heads out to the court.  I wonder if he’s related to the guy from the Fake ID episode, the one who snapped, “I don’t want to let the team down!” when Fuller asked him if he could play despite being injured.

Even though he’s not on the court, Teddy still helps the team by joining the cheerleaders and cheering them on to victory.

This is stupid and the next episode is a lot more interesting.  Let’s move on.

Episode 3.26 “Fuller’s Big Offer”

(Directed by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on December 6th, 1997)

The Deering High Tornadoes have a chance to win the state championship but they’re struggling.  “The Tornadoes are self-destructing!” the in-game announcer says.  Their heads are not in the game!

Well, who can blame them?  Coach Fuller has been offered a chance to become the head coach at Southern Florida University.  The team is convinced that Fuller is going to leave them after the season ends but, in a rousing locker room speech, he tells them that they can’t worry about what’s going to happen in the future.  They have to concentrate on the here and now.  Inspired by his words, the Tornadoes take the court and win the championship!  Of course, Julie scores the winning point because Julie was the greatest player in the history of basketball.  And, of course, the Tornadoes only win by a point because the Tornadoes almost always only won by one point.  It just seems like a truly great time wouldn’t always have to come from behind and win by a point.

At the dinner to celebrate the championship, I can’t help but notice that Fuller and all of the starters are there but the rest of the team is nowhere to be seen.  It’s hard not to feel bad for the members of the team who never got names or storylines.  Not only do they have to spend all of the games sitting on the bench but they also aren’t allowed to attend the championship dinner.  Fuller toasts his starters and announces that “All good things must come to an end.”  Awww, he’s leaving.  Then, Fuller says that he can’t wait to win another championship with the Tornadoes!  Yay!  He’s not leaving!  The season ends with a jubilant team surrounding their coach.

Except, of course, Fuller did leave.  Season 4 opened with Fuller in Florida and a new coach in Indiana.  We’ll get to that next week.

So, what happened with the finale?  Apparently, Reggie Theus left the show because he was offered a real-life coaching job but the offer wasn’t made until after this episode had been filmed.  Here’s what I think happened.  I can’t prove this but my theory is that the ski lodge and basketball camp episodes were meant to be the final episodes of the season.  I think the championship episode was probably supposed to happen before all of that.  (The ski lodge episode was taking place during everyone’s vacation, which indicates to me that it was supposed to be happening during the summer break.  The whole basketball camp also seems like something that would happen during the summer as opposed to the middle of the school year.)  But, when Theus announced he was taking a coaching job, the episodes were rearranged so the season now ended with Fuller getting offered a coaching job.  Though the video on YouTube ends with Fuller announcing that he’s going to stay, several commenters say that they can remember that, when the show was originally aired, it ended with Fuller saying, “All good things must come to an end.”  That indicates to me that the episode was hastily edited to try to create a cliffhanger, just in case Reggie Theus decided that coaching wasn’t for him.

Regardless of what may or may not have happened behind-the-scenes, this was a strong season ender.  In fact, it would have been a perfect way to end the series.  After three seasons, it would make sense that most of the characters would be graduating from Deering.  (And indeed, Reggie Theus was not the only cast member to depart after season 3.)  The show would have ended with everyone together one last time before moving on to even better things.  It would have been poignant and sad and it would have have brought tears from even this cynical reviewer.

However, that was not to be.  Instead, the show would continue with Julie and Mary Beth somehow still students at Deering High and a new coach stepping into Coach Fuller’s shoes.  Next week, we start season 4!

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For Cover-Up and Unforgettable!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting 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 #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1991’s Cover-Up!  Selected and hosted by Matthew Titus, this movie features not only Dolph Lundgren but also Lou Gossett, Jr!  So, you know it has to be good!

 

Following #MondayActionMovie, Brad and Sierra will be hosting the #MondayMuggers live tweet.  We will be watching 1996’s Unforgettable, starring Ray Liotta!  

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 twitter, start Cover-Up at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!  Then, at 10 pm et, start Unforgettable, and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag!  The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.   

Music Video of the Day: San Antone by Randy Rogers Band (2016, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’ve often said that my musical tastes run the gamut from early EDM to slightly later EDM.  That’s another way of saying that I’m not really a huge country music fan.  But I am a big San Antonio fan and this music video pays tribute to that wonderful city.

Enjoy!