Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Retro Television Reviews: City Guys 3.23 “Fast Times At Manny High” and 3.24 “Harlem Honey”

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 Thursdays, I will be reviewing City Guys, which ran on NBC from 1997 to 2001.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, we explore just how stupid one show can get.

Episode 3.23 “Fast Times At Manny High”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on February 12th, 2000)

One of the strangest things about City Guys has always been the students worshipful attitude towards Ms. Noble.  Ms. Noble is the school’s principal.  She’s the authority figure.  She’s the disciplinarian.  In what world do teenagers actually like authority figures?  I mean, I know that authoritarianism is all the rage today and that there’s a lot of high school and college students out there who are desperate to have someone telling them what to do.  But City Guys is a show from the 90s.  Weren’t the 90s supposed to be about rebellion?  I was thinking about this as I watched Fast Times At Manny High because I noticed that Chris and Jamal have a picture of Ms. Noble hanging on the wall of the radio station.  Seriously, it’s creepy how obsessed the students are with their principal.  Of course, it’s possible that City Guys just wasn’t very realistic in general.  I mean, just consider the fact that Chris and Jamal had a popular radio program, despite having next to no on-air charisma or chemistry.

Anyway, in this episode, Ms. Noble decided that all of the students should fast for one night.  If the students go for an entire night without eating, a corporation will donate $500 to a hunger charity.  All of the students agree because, of course, none of them have the guts to tell Ms. Noble to stop trying to run their lives.  However, it turns out that the fast is not as easy as anyone thought it would be.  I mean, they’re going 9 to 10 hours without eating!  OH MY GOD, SUCH COMMITMENT!

For some reason, the fast is held on the roof of Manny High.  (I really worry about that roof, to be honest.  I once snuck out onto the roof of my high school and I got yelled at because apparently, the roof was in really bad shape and, despite the fact that I barely weighed 100 pounds, there was a risk that it could collapse underneath me.  Meanwhile, at Manny High, they’re using the roof for carnivals, fashion shows, protests, radio contests, and fasts!)

Anyway, the kids screw up the fast.  (It’s almost as if they’re irresponsible teenagers!)  Jamal and Chris sneak off to go on a date with two of their listeners and then, while sneaking back into the school, they end up in Noble’s classroom..  Al and Dawn sneak off to celebrate their anniversary, in Noble’s classroom..  (Yeah, that relationship is still going on.)  L-Train tries to sneak food into the fast and ends up eating in Noble’s classroom..  Cassidy sneaks off the roof to try to sneak a rewritten term paper into Ms. Noble’s classroom.  Of course, they’re all too stupid to pull it off and the corporation announces that they will not be donating $500 to the homeless.  Ms. Noble is very disappointed in all of them, even though L-Train explains that he had to break the fast because he was getting so hungry that he was thinking of eating Al.

(Maybe Ms, Noble could just donate $500 to the charity herself.  I mean, she is the one with a job.)

The kids feel guilty and they all agree that they have to do something to help.  L-Train says that he can’t do anything until he gets some food.  L-Train …. IT’S ONLY BEEN 6 HOURS!  I used to go weeks without eating until I got yelled at by my doctor,

Anyway, the rule-breakers agree to cook breakfast for the kids who did fast and apparently, this inspires the corporation to donate $500 to charity so I guess everything worked out.

Stupid episode.  Let’s move on.

Episode 3.24 “Harlem Honey”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on March 11th, 2000)

“This is New York Diner, no place is finer!” Jamal says as he answers the phone at his Dad’s restaurant.  Already, we know that this episode is going to suck.

Anyway, Jamal’s father (Ivory Ocean) is upset because his latest girlfriend has dumped him.  In order to cheer him up, Jamal and Chris go online and, using the name Harlem Honey, start sending romantic emails to Jamal’s father.  However, when Jamal’s father says that he wants to meet his new girlfriend, Jamal and Chris decide to recruit Ms. Noble to pretend to be Harlem Honey and….

…..

…..

Sorry, I was silent screaming.  Anyway….

Remember how I said Fast Times At Manny High was a dumb episode?  Well, it’s brilliant compared to Harlem Honey.  What teenager — no matter how lonely their father may be — is going to set a parent up with their high school principal!?  Anyway, Noble refuses but fortunately, L-Train’s aunt is single but then Ms. Noble changes her mind and she and Jamal’s father pretend to be in love and…

….

….

Yes, I was silently screaming again.

Can we just move on from this episode and pretend that I never saw it?  That sounds good to me!

Next week, the third season of City Guys ends!

Retro Television Reviews: The Love Boat 1.25 “Pacific Princess Overtures / Gopher, the Rebel / Cabin Fever”

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!

The Love Boat

Today, we wrap up season one of The Love Boat!  All aboard!

Episode 1.25 “Pacific Princess Overtures / Gopher, the Rebel / Cabin Fever”

(Dir by Alan Baron, originally aired on May 20th, 1978)

As I sat down to watch this episode on Paramount Plus, I was once again confronted with that weird commercial featuring P!nk and Michael Phelps tossing a big red COVID germ at each other.  I’ve seen this commercial a few times.  It’s popular not only on Paramount Plus but also on Hulu and Peacock.  For a commercial that’s all about the terrors of COVID, I have to say that representing the risk by using a big rubber ball feels a bit …. well, counterproductive.  (Actually, perhaps silly would be a better way to describe it.)  To be honest, P!nk and Michael Phelps look like they’re almost having too much fun tossing COVID at each other.  Someday, someone will actually take a serious look at how and why the combined efforts of the media and the advertising industry struggled to convince people to take the vaccine and this commercial will hopefully be remembered.  Considering that it’s the elderly who are at the greatest risk when it comes to COVID, it’s interesting that almost all of the vaccination commercials that I’ve seen have been stylistically aimed at older millennials.  Michael Phelps saying that his depression puts him at a greater risk of COVID is not the sort of thing that’s going to convince an 80 year-old to get a booster.

Speaking of commercials, the first season finale of The Love Boat featured Antonio Fargas as an advertising exec named Lee Graham.  When we first see him, he’s saying goodbye to his wife as he boards the ship.  He tells her that he’ll miss her and that the only reason he’s going to be on the boat is because he’s working on ad campaign for the cruise company.  Of course, he’s lying.  He’s actually taking the cruise so that he can spend some time with his mistress, Andrea (Jonelle Allen).  Lee and Andrea are excited to finally have a few days where they can be with each other without feeling like they have to hide for everyone.  However, Lee soon discovers that his nosy neighbors (played by Kaye Bass and Elias Jacob) are also on the boat!  As a result, Lee doesn’t get a chance to cheat on his wife and, at the end of the cruise, he and Andrea realize that they don’t want to continue their adulterous ways.  Fortunately, it turns out that Lee’s wife already knew about the affair and is incredibly forgiving.  I’m not really sure why she’s so forgiving but hey, it was the 70s!  It’s not like The Love Boat is going to end with a divorce.  That’s more of a 90s thing.

While this is going, ruthless business tycoon Mr. Yamashiro (Pat Morita — yes, you read that correctly) is determined to convince Ruth Newman (Diane Baker) to sell him her late husband’s factory.  Yamashiro even orders his assistant, Ken Davis (Gary Collins), to trick Ruth by pretending to fall in love with her.  However, Ken really does fall in love with her and he loses his job as a result.  Fear not, though.  Ruth hires him and agrees to invest in a special, voice-activated word processor that he’s created.  Yamashiro is so impressed that he agrees to invest as well.  Yamashiro says that they can consider his investment to be a wedding present.  Ruth and Ken have only known each other for a few days but sure, why shouldn’t they get married?  I mean, it’s the 70s!  People get married about knowing each other for a weekend and then they forgive each other for cheating.  Love is all around, no need to waste it.  They’re all going to make it, after all.

However, none of those stories can compare to what happens to Gopher.  After starting the cruise in a bad mood because he feels that Captain Stubing doesn’t respect him,  Gopher falls for a young communist named Vanessa!  And Vanessa is played by Eve Plumb.  That’s right!  This episode features the original Jan Brady filling Gopher’s head with a bunch of Marxist nonsense!  Vanessa is traveling on the boat with her wealthy father (Don Porter) and she sure does resent all of the money that’s being spent on the cruise.  When she tells Gopher that he should stop taking orders from the Captain because, as “members of the Personhood,” no one has any right to order anyone else around, Gopher takes her words to heart and he ended up getting fired for insubordination!  Fortunately, it doesn’t take long  for both Vanessa and Gopher to see the errors of their ways and the Captain hires Gopher back, with the understanding that Gopher will never again bring a certain impractical economic theory.  It’s a bit like that episode where the Captain told Isaac that he was spending too much time learning about black history.  The Captain’s not going to let his purser go down the Marxist rabbit hole!

And so, the first season comes to a close.  This was a good episode with which to end the season.  Though his storyline was undeniably icky, Antonio Fargas proved himself to be a talented physical comedian as he tried to keep his neighbors from noticing his girlfriend.  The second story was a bit bland but Pat Morita transcended his stereotypical role.  And seriously, how can you not enjoy Eve Plumb radicalizing Gopher?

When The Love Boat began, the crew was unsure of how to react around Captain Stubing.  As the first season comes to a close, they’ve learned that Stubing will always have their back, as long as they don’t talk about Black History or Marxism.  What will the crew discover about their captain during season 2?  We’ll find out soon!

Retro Television Review: Fantasy Island 2.9 “The Appointment/Mr. Tattoo”

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, Tattoo finally gets his chance to be in charge!

Episode 2.10 “The Appointment/Mr. Tattoo”

(Dir by Cliff Bole, originally aired on November 18th, 1978)

This week’s episode opens with Tattoo in a very good mood.  Apparently, Mr. Roarke has promised Tattoo that Tattoo will someday get a chance to be in charge of a guest’s fantasy and Tattoo has decided that he is now ready to take on that responsibility!  As is typical of this show, Roarke responds to Tattoo’s enthusiasm by pretending to not remember what Tattoo is talking about.  Tattoo not only has to explain their deal but he literally has to beg Roarke to uphold his part of the bargain.  Roarke smiles at Tattoo’s excitement and says, in a tone that suggests the opposite, “I can hardly wait.”

(In many ways, Tattoo has the same relationship with Roarke that Nick Nack had with Scaramanga in The Man With The Golden Gun.  There’s a lot of passive-aggressive resentment to be found in every exchange between the two.)

Tattoo is in charge of granting the fantasies of Dee Dee (Barbi Benton) and near-sighted Evelyn Kastenbaum (Connie Stevens).  Dee Dee and Evelyn are Vegas showgirls who want to marry millionaires.  Tattoo hires two lounge singers, Jack (Troy Donahue) and Bernie (Fred Grandy), and instructs them to write a Broadway musical that will star Dee Dee and Evelyn.  Investors will come to the Island to see about investing in the show and surely, two of them will fall in love with Dee Dee and Evelyn!

It sounds like a great plan!  Way to go, Tattoo!

The only problem is that Dee Dee and Evelyn end up falling in love with Jack and Bernie.  In fact, during the musical’s big wedding number, the four of them are married by a minister who, Roarke explains, has always had a fantasy about appearing in a musical.  Tattoo is upset.  He says that he failed to grant the girls their fantasies.  But then Roarke explains that Bernie and Jack are actually millionaire playwrights who came to the island to fulfill their fantasy of writing a musical.  It all works out, even if it does appear that Tattoo was actually never really in charge of the fantasy.

While this is going on, Dr. John Carlson (Bert Convy) has a fantasy about meeting with a big financial backer and getting the money to build a hospital that will be named after himself.  However, while trying to drive to the meeting, John comes across a Fantasy Islander (Nancy Kwan) who is in the middle of a very difficult labor.  It turns out that her village only has one doctor and he’s away.  To save her life, Dr. Carlson will not only have to miss his meeting but he will also have to rediscover the joy of taking care of patients on a one-on-one basis.

(Why did all of the native Fantasy Islanders live in remote villages with so few modern resources?  Did Mr. Roarke just not care about them?)

Oh no, Dr. Carlson didn’t get his fantasy!  But don’t worry.  It turns out that Dr. Carlson’s wife (Tasha Noble) had a fantasy that the doctor would finally rediscover his love for medicine and that their marriage would improve.  So, at least someone got what they wanted!

Dr. Carlson’s fantasy was fairly predictable but the stuff with the showgirls, the playwrights, and the Broadway show was actually pretty cute.  It was definitely silly but Fantasy Island is at its best when its silly.  Plus, Mr. Tattoo finally got his fantasy.  Yay!

It was a fun episode.

Vancouver Honors Everything

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Vancouver Film Critics Circle have announced their picks for the best of the year!  You can see the nominees by clicking here and you can check out the winners below!

Best Picture
Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Director
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Screenplay
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Actor
Colin Farrell – The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Actress
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Supporting Actor
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Supporting Actress
Jessie Buckley – Women Talking

Best Documentary
All the Beauty And the Bloodshed

Best Foreign Language Film
All Quiet on the Western Front

Here Are The 2022 Nominations of the Minnesota Film Critics Alliance!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Proving the old adage of better late than never, the Minnesota Film Critics Alliance have announced their nominations for the best of 2022.  The winners will be announced on February 26th!

Here are the nominees:

Best Picture
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Everything Everywhere All At Once”
“The Fabelmans”
“Tár”
“Women Talking”

Best Director
Todd Field for “Tár”
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for “Everything Everywhere All At Once”
Martin McDonagh for “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Sarah Polley for “Women Talking”
Park Chan-Wook for “Decision to Leave”

Best Actor
Austin Butler as Elvis Presley in “Elvis”
Colin Farrell as Pádraic Súilleabháin in “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Brendan Fraser as Charlie in “The Whale”
Gabriel LaBelle as Samuel Fabelman in “The Fabelmans”
Paul Mescal as Calum in “Aftersun”

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett as Lydia Tár in “Tár”
Viola Davis as General Nanisca in “The Woman King”
Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till in “Till”
Mia Goth as Pearl in “Pearl”
Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn Quan Wang in “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Best Supporting Actor
Paul Dano as Burt Fabelman in “The Fabelmans”
Brendan Gleeson as Colm Doherty in “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Brian Tyree Henry as James in “Causeway”
Barry Keoghan as Dominic Kearney in “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Ke Huy Quan as Waymond Wang in “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bassett as Ramonda in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
Jessie Buckley as Mariche in “Women Talking”
Kerry Condon as Siobhán Súilleabháin in “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Nina Hoss as Sharon Goodnow in “Tár”
Stephanie Hsu as Joy Wang in “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Best Ensemble
“Babylon”
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Everything Everywhere All At Once”
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
“Women Talking”

Best Screenplay
“The Banshees of Inisherin” by Martin McDonagh
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” by Rian Johnson
“Tár” by Todd Field
“Women Talking” by Sarah Polley

Best Editing
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Everything Everywhere All At Once”
“Nope”
“Tár”
“Top Gun: Maverick”

Best Cinematography
“The Batman”
“Elvis”
“Nope”
“Tár”
“Top Gun: Maverick”

Best Music
“Babylon”
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“The Batman”
“The Fabelmans”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Best Costume and Make-up
“Babylon”
“The Batman”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
“Elvis”
“Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Best Production Design
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“Babylon”
“The Batman”
“Elvis”
“Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Best Sound Work
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“The Batman”
“Elvis”
“Nope”
“Top Gun: Maverick”

Best Special Effects
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“The Batman”
“Everything Everywhere All At Once”
“Nope”
“Top Gun: Maverick”

Best Animated Feature
“Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood”
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”
“Turning Red”

The Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Honors Everything, Elvis, and The Whale!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On the 12th, the Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild announced their picks for the best of 2022.  Among the winners: Everything Everywhere All At Once, Elvis, and The Whale!

Best Contemporary Make-Up, Feature-Length Motion Picture
“The Batman” (Naomi Donne, Doone Forsyth, Norma Webb, Jemma Carballo)
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” (Michelle Chung, Erin Rosenmann, Dania A. Ridgway)
“The Menu” (Deborah LaMia Denaver, Mazena Puksto, Donna Cicatelli, Deb Rutherford)
“Nope” (Shutchai Tym Buacharern, Jennifer Zide-Essex, Eleanor Sabaduquia, Kato De Stefan)
“Spirited” (Monica Huppert, Autumn J. Butler, Vivian Baker)

Best Period and/or Character Make-Up, Feature-Length Motion Picture
“Amsterdam” (Nana Fischer, Miho Suzuki, Jason Collins)
“Babylon” (Heba Thorisdottir, Shaunna Bren Chavez, Jean Black, Mandy Artusato)
“Blonde” (Tina Roesler Kerwin, Elena Arroy, Cassie Lyons)
“Elvis” (Shane Thomas, Angela Conte)
“Till” (Denise Tunnell, Janice Tunnell, Ashley Langston)

Best Special Make-Up Effects, Feature-Length Motion Picture
“The Batman” (Michael Marino, Mike Fontaine, Yoichi Art Sakamoto, Göran Lundström)
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Joel Harlow, Kim Felix)
“Elvis” (Mark Coulier, Jason Baird)
“Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical” (Barrie Gower, Emma Faulkes, Chloe Muton-Phillips)
“The Whale” (Adrien Morot, Kathy Tse, Chris Gallaher)

Best Contemporary Hair Styling, Feature-Length Motion Picture
“The Batman” (Zoe Tahir, Melissa Van Tongeran, Paula Price, Andrea Lance Jones)
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Camille Friend, Evelyn Feliciano, Marva Stokes, Victor Paz)
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” (Anissa E. Salazar, Meghan Heaney, Miki Caporusso)
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Jeremy Woodhead, Tracey Smith, Leslie D. Bennett)
“The Menu” (Adruitha Lee, Monique Hyman, Kate Loftis, Barbara Sanders)

Best Period Hair Styling and/or Character Hair Styling, Feature-Length Motion Picture
“Amsterdam” (Adruitha Lee, Lori McCoy-Bell, Cassandra L. Russek, Yvette Shelton)
“Babylon” (Jaime Leigh McIntosh, Ahou Mofid, Aubrey Marie)
“Blonde” (Jaime Leigh McIntosh, Lynnae Duley, Ahou Mofid, Robert Pickens)
“Elvis” (Shane Thomas, Louise Coulston)
“The Woman King” (Louisa Anthony, Jamika Wilson, Plaxedes Kelias, Charity Gwakuka)

Of the winners, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Elvis, and The Whale are all nominated for the Best Makeup and Hair-Styling Oscar, along with All Quiet On The Western Front and The Batman.  The Whale is favored by most Oscar prognosticators and it did win an award from the Guild.  But, Elvis won two awards.

We’ll see who wins the Oscar on March 12th!

Retro Television Reviews: Hang Time 3.19 “Love on the Rockies” and 3.20 “Fuller’s Camp”

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!

Hang time!  Today, we go from the Rockies to a basketball camp.  Sorry, Deering High, your team has abandoned you.

Episode 3.19 “Love on the Rockies”

(Dir by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on November 15th, 1997)

The team’s rather bizarre ski vacation continues in this episode.  Two episodes ago, it was established that the team was invited to the ski lodge by Mary Beth’s parents so that they could help her celebrate her birthday.  Well, the birthday has been celebrated and Mary Beth’s parents haven’t been seen for a while so why is the team still at the lodge?  And why is Coach Fuller there?

While Coach Fuller takes the boys on the team skiing, Julie and Mary Beth head off to the mall.  However, as they’re walking through the ski lodge, they’re approached by a guy named Paul.  It turns out that, even though he look like he’s about 40, Paul is supposed to be Julie’s ex-boyfriend!  Apparently, Julie and Paul went out over the summer.  Paul wants to have dinner with Julie but Julie explains that she’s up at the lodge with her current boyfriend, Michael.  Paul says okay and walks off and then Julie mentions that Michael is going to be so surprised to hear that she ran into Paul.  Mary Beth tells Julie to not tell Michael about seeing Paul.  That’s actually pretty good advice.  Then again, Julie goes through a dozen boyfriends per season so I’m surprised she can step outside of the house without running into one of them so really, Michael should be used Julie’s ex-boyfriends popping up.  On Hang Time, the only thing that gets passed around more than a basketball is Julie.

Julie attempts to keep Michael from meeting Paul.  Unfortunately, as soon as Michael is away from Julie and hanging out with Vince, Paul walks by, overhears their conversation, and starts to tell them about how he’s been in love with a girl since the summer and he’s determined to win her back.  Michael wishes him the best of luck.  At this point, I’m finding it odd that no one on the team met Paul while he was dating Julie.  I assume that Paul also lives in Indiana and probably in the same general area as Julie.  How big is Deering supposed to be?  Anyway, Paul then reveals that Julie is the girl and Michael freaks out, both because Julie didn’t tell him but also because he thinks she might still like Paul.

After an unsuccessful attempt to befriend Paul and keep him too occupied to flirt with Julie, Michael and Vince end up watching through a hotel room window while Julie and Paul speak.  Julie tells Paul that she loves Michael and Paul apologizes for coming on too strong and he asks if they can still be friends.  Julie hugs Paul.  The audience says, “Awwww!”  Unfortunately, since Michael and Vince can’t hear what’s being said, they just see Julie hugging Paul and they decide…. give me a minute while I scream in frustration …. that Julie actually does like Paul.  This is the type of episode that I hate, where all of the misunderstandings could have been avoided by everyone not being an idiot.

Michael confronts Julie.  Julie breaks up with Michael, angry that he doesn’t trust her despite all of the time that she previously spent lying to him about Paul.  Luckily, there’s a “Snow Ball Dance” at the Lodge so Michael and Julie get back together, despite having next to zero romantic chemistry.

In the B-plot, Danny, Teddy, and Kristy rescue a millionaire who has had a skiing accident.  They think they’re going to get a big reward.  They don’t.

Episode 3.20 “Fuller’s Camp”

(Dir by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on November 15th, 1997)

The ski vacation is over but now, everyone’s working as a camp counselor at Coach Fuller’s Basketball Camp!

Wait, what?

I mean, I guess I can buy that Coach Fuller has a camp.  Supposedly, he was a pro NBA player before he became a coach and he does appear to have some money lying around.  And we’ve already seen that he’s willing to help young kids improve their basketball game.  But why are the Deering Tornadoes the counselors?  Are they getting paid for it or did Fuller tell them they had to do it?  And why are Kristy and Mary Beth working as counselors, despite the fact that neither one of them plays basketball?  It’s confusing.

Anyway, this episode was all about how Julie is the worst person in Indiana.  When she meets the only girl who is enrolled at the camp, Julie puts way too much pressure on her and tries to turn her into a miniature version of Julie. Julie puts so much pressure on Mini-Julie that Mini-Julie nearly quits the camp.  With Michael’s help, Julie sees the error of her ways and Mini-Julie agrees to stick around.

As far as the B-plots go, Danny is jealous of how much the campers love Teddy.  Vince is upset to discover that one of the campers has a crush on Mary Beth.  As for me, I’m just hoping that Coach Fuller’s basketball camp was a one-episode storyline because I really don’t want to have to spend multiple episodes listening to Julie pressure Mini-Julie.  Seriously, why aren’t these people in school!?

I will say that, in theory, Fuller having a basketball camp does make more sense than everyone hanging out in Aspen.  But, this episode really suffers without the high school.  I mean, Hang Time is about a high school basketball team and the knowledge that the members of the team will always treasure their high school memories.  If you take the school out of Hang Time, the show loses its focus.  Hopefully, next week, we’ll be back in Deering.