Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Retro Television Reviews: Hang Time 4.13 “Nothing In Common” and 4.14 “And Then There Were Nuns”

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!  This week, we learn about geography.

Episode 4.13 “Nothing in Common”

(Dir by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on October 24th, 1998)

We’re back in Indiana!  I guess the San Antonio trip is over.  Yay.

Michael, Silk, and Rico panic when they see Coach K. walking around their favorite after-school hangout, The Stadium.  It turns out that Coach K. wants to buy the place and make it more friendly to older customers.  Michael, Silk, and Rico totally freak out and I don’t blame them.  No one wants to see their teachers outside of school.  Anyway, they come up with the brilliant idea of having Rico’s uncle pretend to be a health inspector so that he can scare off Coach K.  It doesn’t work because Rico’s uncle asks how Rico is doing on the team but Coach K. still decides not to buy the Stadium because this is a silly show where plot developments are brought and abandoned at random.

Meanwhile, Mary Beth is upset when Hammer resists her attempts to change him.  Mary Beth wants to go to an art exhibit.  Hammer wants to go to a boxing match.  (Personally, I’m probably an even bigger culture snob than Mary Beth and I would be happy to go to either of those.  I love museums but a boxing match is a good excuse to wear something nice and show off your cleavage.)  Mary Beth wants Hammer to go sailing.  Hammer wants to spend his time at a biker rally.  Realizing that she’s trying too hard to change Hammer, Mary Beth dresses up in leather and hangs out at a biker bar.  She teaches the bikers all about the proper utensils to use at a formal dinner.  It was actually pretty cute and, in the end, Hammer and Mary Beth agreed that they didn’t have to like the same things as long as they liked each other.  Awwwwwww!

I liked this episode.  Season 4 may not be as strong as the previous three seasons but the Hammer/Mary Beth relationship works surprisingly well.  As far as I’m concerned, any episode that features more of Mary Beth and Kristy being wacky and less of Julie getting annoyed is a good one.

Episode 4.14 “And Then There Were Nuns”

(Dir by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on October 24th, 1998)

Oh hey, we’re back in San Antonio.  Continuity be damned!

With only a few days left in Texas, Kristy suspects that she’s in love with Antonio.  She tells Mary Beth and Julie that she can imagine a future with Antonio.  Awwwwww!  Antonio invites Kristy to a wedding …. in Mexico!  Kristy agrees.  Before leaving, she leaves a note for Julie and Mary Beth.  Unfortunately, it’s a poorly-written note and Julie and Mary Beth are convinced that Kristy’s run off to Mexico to get married!

Because everyone on this show is stupid, they don’t tell Coach K or any other adults about what is happening.  Instead, everyone except for Julie and Michael head down to Mexico and try to stop the wedding.  I guess it’s lucky that they all happened to have their passports with them.  (Either that or they crossed into Mexico illegally.)  Of course, since they won the big Tri-state tournament. they have to get back to San Antonio by 4 p.m. so that they can get ready to do a media appearance.  Michael and Julie are convinced that their friends can go to Mexico and come back while the Coach is taking an hour-long nap.  Apparently, the show’s writers were under the impression that San Antonio is right on the border.  It’s not.  San Antonio is 155 miles away from the border and it appears that the wedding is taking place in a fairly small and remote village.  In short, this trip is going to take a lot longer than an hour.

Admittedly, King of the Hill used to do the same thing.  Hank Hill was literally an hour away from every location in Texas.  But, in that case, it was obviously meant to be intentional and it was a fun in-joke for Texans.  (It helped that Mike Judge was one of us.)  But, in this case, it just feels incredibly dumb on the part of the Hang Time writers.

Anyway, Silk, Rico, Hammer, and Mary Beth arrive at the wedding but a nun tells them that this is a private ceremony.  So, of course, they all dress up like nuns and sneak into the ceremony and….

….

….

Sorry, silently screaming.

The important thing is that it all works out in the end.  Coach K. finds out where the team has gone so he, Michael, and Julie show up for the wedding.  Meanwhile, Antonio promises Kristy that, someday, he will find her in Indiana.  Awwwww!  I’m going to guess that the media appearances were handled by the team’s non-starters, who probably talked about how much fun it was to spend every game sitting on the bench while Michael, Julie, Rico, Silk, and Hammer got all the glory.

What a stupid episode.

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For Double Dragon and Blue Steel!

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 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 1994’s Double Dragon!  Selected and hosted by Bunny Hero, this movie features double the action!  So, you know it has to be good!

Following #MondayActionMovie, Brad and Sierra will be hosting the #MondayMuggers live tweet.  We will be watching 1990’s Blue Steel!  The film is on Prime and Tubi!

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 Double Dragon on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!  Then, at 10 pm et, switch over to Twitter and Prime, start Blue Steel, and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag!  The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.   

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special William Castle Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

Today, the Shattered Lens celebrates the 109th anniversary of the birth of director and showman, William Castle!  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 William Castle Films

House on Haunted Hill (1959, dir by William Castle, DP: Carl E. Guthrie)

13 Ghosts (1960, dir by William Castle, DP: Joseph F. Biroc)

Strait-Jacket (1964, dir by William Castle, DP: Arthur E. Arling)

Shanks (1974, dir by William Castle, DP: Joseph F. Biroc)

Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 4/17/23 — 4/23/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This has been a long week.  Not only did I have to put up with two days straight of people coming out to the house to repair things but there’s also currently a road crew working on my street.  They started their work on Thursday and apparently, they’re going to be here for about a month.  It’s stressful.  Now, when I leave in the morning and come back in the afternoon, I have to take a series of detours just to reach my own house.  I’m going to have the worst headaches until they all go away.

Anyway, on a better note, here’s what I watched, read, and listened to this week!

Films I Watched:

  1. An American Hippie In Israel (1972)
  2. The Astral Factor (1976)
  3. Beyond Desire (1995)
  4. The Burning (1981)
  5. Coffee Shop (2014)
  6. Death Wish 3 (1985)
  7. Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)
  8. The Feminist and the Fuzz (1971)
  9. Galaxy Invader (1986)
  10. Let It Ride (1989)
  11. See The Man Run (1971)
  12. Sign O The Time (1987)

Television Shows I Watched:

  1. Are You Being Served?
  2. Barry
  3. Beavis and Butthead
  4. Beef
  5. Dynaman
  6. Farmer Wants A Wife
  7. Half Nelson
  8. Hang Time
  9. The Love Boat
  10. The Old Guys
  11. Survivor
  12. Tulsa King
  13. Waco: The Aftermath
  14. Yellowjackets

Music To Which I Listened:

  1. Adi Ulmansky
  2. Amy Winehouse
  3. Armin van Buuren
  4. Ashlee Simpson
  5. Avici
  6. The Black Keys
  7. Britney Spears
  8. Cannons
  9. The Chemical Brothers
  10. Christina Aguilera
  11. Chromatics
  12. Dillon Francis
  13. Garbage
  14. Haim
  15. Jessica Simpson
  16. Johnny Cash
  17. Muse
  18. Prince
  19. Radiohead
  20. Saint Motel
  21. Sophie B. Hawkins
  22. Stacie Orrico
  23. Talking Heads

Live Tweets:

  1. Fast Times At Ridgemont High
  2. The Burning

News From Last Week:

  1. Actor Dale Meeks Dies at 47
  2. Comedian Barry Humphries Dies at 89
  3. ‘She used to be funny. Now she’s just a joke’: Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines is SLAMMED by fans as a ‘disgraceful hypocrite’ for supporting ‘pathetic’ anti-vaxxer husband RFK Jr’s Presidential bid
  4. Elon Musk, Stephen King tussle on Twitter over blue checks, Ukraine: ‘How much have you donated?’
  5. Jeff Shell Ousted at NBCUniversal for ‘Inappropriate Relationship’
  6. Box Office: ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Dominates Again as ‘Evil Dead Rise’ Scares Up $23.5 Million Debut

Links From Last Week:

  1. Happy 86th Birthday Jack Nicholson! Celebrating An Icon’s Greatest Films!
  2. Tater’s Week in Review 4/22/23

Links From The Site:

  1. I shared music videos from Stacie Orrico, Prince, Amy Winehouse, Cannons, Ashlee Simpson, Johnny Cash, and Jessica Simpson!
  2. I reviewed Beyond Desire and The Feminist and the Fuzz!
  3. I shared my week in television and I reviewed Hang Time, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, City Guys, Half Nelson, and California Dreams!
  4. Erin shared Drag Me Down, Ride the Red Earth, The Surrender of Santa Anna, The College Crowd, The Smuggled Atom Bomb, Death and Taxes, and Joy Street!

More From Us:

  1. For Horror Critic, I reviewed The Astral Factor!
  2. For Reality TV Chat Blog, I reviewed the latest episode of Survivor!
  3. At my music site, I shared songs from Cannons, Haim, Chromatics, Radiohead, Muse, Johnny Cash, and Jessica Simpson!
  4. At her photography site, Erin shared The Look, Blue, Squirrel In Black and White, Heading For The Water, Fountain, Just Visiting, and Dollhouse!

Do you want to see what I did last week?  Click here!

Retro Television Reviews: The Feminist and the Fuzz (dir by Jerry Paris)

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 Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay.  Today’s film is 1971’s The Feminist and The Fuzz!  It  can be viewed on YouTube!

At first glance, Jane Bowers (Barbara Eden) and Jerry Frazer (David Hartman) don’t have much in common.

Jerry is a cop, though he’s attending night school with the hope of someday becoming a lawyer.  Jerry is an old-fashioned law and order man.  He expects the law to be followed.  He’s also the type who definitely believes that there are clear differences between men and women.  As he explains it, there are some thing that men are just better at.  Jerry is dating Kitty (Farrah Fawcett), who works as a waitress at the local Playboy Club.

Dr. Jane Bowers is a pediatrician and a proud feminist, one who takes it personally when a cop like Jerry refuses to give her a parking ticket just because she’s a woman.  She wants to be treated as an equal in all matters.  She’s dating Wyatt Foley (Herb Edelman), an attorney who still lives with his mother and who constantly goes out of his way to let everyone know that he’s an ally.  Jane’s best friend is Dr. Debby Inglefinger (Jo Anne Worley), who has decided that it’s time to lead a protest at the Playboy Club.

The only thing that Jerry and Jane have in common is that they both desperately need an apartment but apparently, apartments were not easy to find in San Francisco in the early 70s.  Fortunately, a hippie (Howard Hesseman) has just been evicted from his apartment because the landlord (John McGiver) didn’t like the fact that he was constantly having overnight guests.  Jane and Jerry both end up at the apartment at the same time, with Jane getting offended by Jerry’s refusal to give her a traffic ticket.  (Jerry makes the mistake of saying that he’s going to let her off “with a warning.”  He wouldn’t give a warning to a man!  Seriously, though, who in their right mind would actually demand a ticket?  Those things cost money.)  Even though they take an instant dislike to each other, Jane and Jerry still decide to pretend to be husband and wife so that they can rent the apartment together.  With their busy schedules, they figure that they’ll never have to see each other.  They won’t even know the other is around.

Of course, it doesn’t work out like that.  Jane allows Debby to hold a consciousness raising meeting at the apartment.  (Future director Penny Marshall appears as a participant.)  Meanwhile, Jerry lets a prostitute (Julie Newmar) stay at the apartment, just to keep her off of the streets for the night.  The landlord is getting suspicious.  So, for that matter, is Jane’s father (Harry Morgan).  And, as you probably already guessed, Jerry and Jane are falling in love.

With its hippies and its militant feminists and its jokes about the Playboy Club, The Feminist and the Fuzz is a film that practically yells, “1971!”  Unfortunately, script’s attempt to turn the film’s rather predictable plot into a Neil Simon-style jokefest never quite works.  The “humorous” dialogue feels forced and the film’s 75-minute run time doesn’t do it any favors, as we never really have the time to get to know Jerry or Jane as human beings.  Instead, they just remain “The Fuzz” and “The Feminist.”  As a result, it’s not that easy to care about whether or not they actually get together.  Some of the supporting performances are amusing.  Barbara Eden manages to avoid turning Jane into a caricature of a humorless activist but poor David Hartman is stiff as a board and in no way convincing as a veteran cop.

The main thing I took away from this movie is that the Playboy Clubs were exceptionally tacky.  Way back in 2011, NBC actually tried to air a drama series that took place at a Playboy Club in the 60s.  (This was when every network was trying to come up with the next Mad Men.)  The pilot started with creepy old Hugh Hefner assuring the viewers that, “Everybody who was anybody wanted to be a member of the club.”  I mean, seriously?  What a strange world.

Music Video of the Day: (There’s Gotta Be) More To Life by Stacie Orrico (2003, dir by Dave Meyers)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

No one’s having a good time in this video!

Indeed, there does have to be more to life.  That was a true sentiment in 2003 and it’s a true sentiment 20 years later.  People are still trying to figure out what else they can get out of life.  I think the answer is different for everyone.  That said, if you’re standing in your front yard while your significant other impotently yells at a repo man who is trying to take away your baby’s crib …. I don’t know if there’s really anyway to come back from something like that.  You might want to find a new partner because the one you’ve got obviously isn’t holding up their end of the deal.

Enjoy!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 4/16/23 — 4/22/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Barry’s back!

Barry (Sunday Night, HBO)

Barry returned last Sunday with the first two episodes of season 4.

The first episode updated the viewers on what happened after Barry was arrested.  Barry went to jail, where he was reunited with Fuches.  Fuches briefly became an FBI informant until Barry told him that he loved him, which led to Fuches not only stepping away from the FBI but also declaring that he was going to start his own prison gang.  Sally went back to Joplin and promptly got into a fight with her mother over the television show and its portrayal of Sally’s abusive ex.  Gene plotted to control how the story of his relationship with Barry would appear in the media.  Cristobal and NoHo Hank plotted to start a semi-legitimate business, selling sand to construction sites.  Directed, as all of this season will be, by Bill Hader, the first episode was full of surreal touches and it left me feeling rather unsettled.  Sitting in prison and only showing emotion when Sally briefly came by to visit and demand to know whether he had killed their dog, Barry appeared to have finally snapped.  He went as far as to taunt a guard into nearly beating him to death.  The show had its funny moments but, make no doubt, the first episode was all about tapping into Barry’s heart of darkness.

The second episode had a bit more of the show’s trademark bizarre humor.  Cristobal and NoHo Hank attempted to convince two rival crime families to join them in their sand enterprise.  In order to convince them, they arranged for a meeting at the happiest place on Earth …. Dave and Buster’s!  The meeting went well, up until NoHo Hank announced that freeing Barry from prison would be a part of the plan.  An upset Cristobal told NoHo Hank that his loyalty to Barry made him appear to be “soft.”  However,  Fuches then called NoHo Hank for prison and told him that Barry had decided to become an FBI informant.  A stunned NoHo Hank announced that Barry would have to die.

While that was going on, Gene finally gave an interview about his experiences with Barry but, being Gene, he couldn’t just sit down and answer questions.  Instead, he put together a one man show, one that actually turned out to be pretty good, even if Gene’s version of events was a bit self-serving.  Meanwhile, Sally has returned to Los Angeles and is trying to put the pieces of her life and her career back together.  Unfortunately, her career still hasn’t recovered from last season’s viral video scandal and, to top it all off, she is now known for being the girlfriend of a serial killer.

As for Barry …. well, Monroe wasn’t lying.  At the end of the second episode, it appeared that Barry has decided to work with the FBI!

What a wonderful way to start the fourth season!  This is the final season of Barry and I can’t wait to see how the story wraps up.  I have a feeling that there won’t be many happy endings.

Beavis and Butthead (Paramount Plus)

Barry’s not the only one to have returned this week.  These two morons, Beavis and Butthead, have returned as well.  This week, Beavis and Butthead ruined meditation for everyone and then they went hunting with Mr. Anderson and nearly got killed.  Of all the supporting characters on this show, Mr. Anderson is probably my favorite because he’s basically just a really old version of Hank Hill.  His World War II flashback was wonderfully odd.

Beef (Netflix)

Unfortunately, it’s been a long week so I’ve only had time to watch the first four episodes of this miniseries.  Ali Wong and Steven Yeun are both giving outstanding performances in this series about a road rage incident that spirals out of control.  I’m looking forward to finishing it up during this upcoming week.

Dynaman (Night Flight Plus)

I watched an episode of this Japanese series on Saturday morning.  A bunch of fish monsters were trying to take over the world.  Dynaman stopped them.  Sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words so here’s a screenshot:

Farmer Wants A Wife (Wednesday Night, Fox)

The farmers are still not married.

Half Nelson (YouTube)

I reviewed Half Nelson here!

Hang Time (YouTube)

I have watched and written up reviews for several hours of Hang Time this week.  In fact, I’m nearly done with the show.  (My reviews of the show will be running through September.)  Read this week’s review here!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I recapped this week’s episode for the Reality TV Chat Blog!

Tulsa King (Paramount Plus)

I finally got around to watching the second episode of Tulsa King this week and I’m afraid the show still isn’t working for me.  I think it’s because Stallone’s character is a bit too aggressive.  Stallone is at his best when he’s playing either a dumb but likable mook (i.e., Rocky) or when he’s fighting for his survival, like in First Blood.  But when he’s the one who is actually barking out orders and intimidating innocent people, it’s just not as much fun.  Plus, there’s only so many times that any show can go to the “Old people sure are confused by technology” well before the joke starts to run dry.  That said, I’ve been told the show get better so I’ll stick with it and see what I think of the third episode.

Waco: The Aftermath (Sunday Night, Showtime)

This miniseries picks up where Showtime’s last Waco miniseries left off.  The Branch Davidian compound has been burned down.  David Koresh is dead.  The main FBI negotiator (Michael Shannon) feels guilty about what happened at the compound but he also fears that the stand-off is going to embolden the militia movement.  (And he’s right!)  Meanwhile, the surviving Davidians are being railroaded in court and treated as scapegoats for the failures of both Koresh and the government.  Things got off to a strong start on Sunday.  I look forward to seeing where this show ends up going.

Yellowjackets (Sunday Night, Showtime)

This week’s episode was intriguing.  I loved the scene where Shauna confessed to Callie.  I’m still worried about Walter and Misty though.  I can just see Walter getting on Misty’s nerves and getting poisoned as a result.  I’ll also say that, as much as I enjoy this show, I’m starting to get a bit tired of the whole Taissa thing.  The show need to either explain what’s going on with all that or just move on.

Retro Television Reviews: California Dreams 5.4 “Mop n’ Pop” and 5.5 “Diss Honored”

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 Saturdays, I will be reviewing California Dreams, which ran on NBC from 1992 to 1996.  The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

This week, Jake’s Dad gets a job and Sam wins an election!

Episode 5.4 “Mop n’ Pop”

(Dir by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on September 28th, 1996)

With graduation approaching and everyone feeling restless, the senior class of PCHS have all gotten caught up in the newest game, Ba-Boominator!  Basically, it’s a game of elimination, where everyone carries a phallic-looking Ba-Boom gun and they shoot silly string at one another.  The goal is to be the last one untouched by the milky, white string that spurts out of the end of the gun.

Needless to say, it’s a rather messy game.  Fortunately, the school has a new janitor who is very understanding and doesn’t have any problem cleaning up after the students.  Unfortunately, that janitor also happens to be Jake’s Dad.  Jake’s Dad was an airplane mechanic but, after getting laid off from his job, he had to take whatever he could find and he ended up as a janitor.  Jake is not particularly happy about it.

His friends are supportive about it, except for Sly who makes one too many janitor jokes and ends up getting punched in the face by Jake.  Sly ends up with a black eyes and Jack’s Dad ends up quitting his job because he realizes how much it embarrasses Jake.  At first, Jake is happy but after Sly yells at Jake and tells him that he should be happy just to have a father who cares about him (which is something Sly does not have), Jake realizes that he’s been a jerk.

This episode was a bit of a change-of-pace, if just because it featured Jake learning a lesson as opposed to teaching one.  It was also another strong fifth season episode, highlighting just how much the cast had grown as actors over the course of the show.

Finally, the Ba-Boominator competition is won by Sam and Tony, who both decide that their love is more important than winning any game.  Awwwwww!

Episode 5.5 “Diss Honored”

(Dir by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on October 5th, 1996)

Samantha has been elected President of the Honors Society!  Everyone’s totally excited, even though Sly says that it’s a stupid office that nobody really cares about.  In this case, I tend to agree with Sly but, apparently, it really is a big deal in the world of California Dreams.  Suddenly, Sam has a lot of extra responsibilities and she can’t spend as much time with Tony.  Tony fears that he’s going to lose her!  To be honest, if their relationship can’t survive Sam holding a ceremonial post for a few months, maybe there are bigger issues at play.

Tony decides that he has to do get into the Honors Society so he cheats on his midterm.  Unfortunately, Sam’s rival and the former president of the Society, Harvey, figures out what Tony did and publicly challenges him to some sort of weird Honors Society duel.  At first, Tony lies but then he comes clean and all of his friends act like a bunch of jerks and shun him.

(Because, seriously, no one in the entire history of the world has ever cheated on a high school midterm, right?)

The main highlight of this episode was Tony being haunted by two spirits, an evil spirit that looked like Sly and a good spirit that looked like Tiff.  It was a bit silly but William James Jones, Michael Cade, and Kelly Packard really threw themselves into their roles.  In particular, this episode probably features Jones’s best work on California Dreams.

And feat not!  Tony comes clean to Sam and everything works out in the end.

Next week: Jake appears on a reality show and we finally meet Sly’s father!

Live Tweet Alert: Watch The Burning with #ScarySocial

Posted on 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, I will be hosting 1981’s The Burning!

It looks like a red hot classic to me!

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 and Tubi!  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.

And don’t watch alone!