Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Lisa Marie’s Editorial Corner: 10 Things For Which I Am Thankful In 2025

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, it’s that time.

Every Thanksgiving, I come up with an even-numbered list of things for which I’m thankful.  I know some people are saying that we shouldn’t be thankful for anything this year.  There are people who say that, because they’re miserable, it’s somehow offensive that everyone else isn’t miserable.

But you know what?

Screw that.

Never be ashamed of being happy.  Never feel like you can’t be thankful.

1) I’m thankful for our readers.  2025 has been the most successful and busy year that Through the Shattered Lens has had in a very long time.  In both October and November, we have set records for the number of site views we’ve received.  Thank you to all of you.  I hope you’ve enjoyed what you’ve found on this site and I hope you’ll continue to read in 2026!

2) I’m thankful for our contributors!  Arleigh, Erin, Jeff, Leonard, Brad, Case, and the music lover by the name of Necromoonyeti, thank you so much for your contributions this year.  Thank you for making this a site of not just one opinion but of many opinions.  Thank you for inspiring me to keep writing, if just to keep up with the great work that all of you are doing!

3) I’m thankful to once again be an American!  A few weeks ago, twitter (or X or whatever the Hell you want to call it) made public where everyone’s account was located.  It was a needed action.  A lot of accounts that have been at the forefront of spreading disinformation and brewing conflict in the United States were revealed to be located in Russia and the Middle East.  However, the process wasn’t perfect.  For four days, due to a VPN that I was definitely not using to watch movies that weren’t available in the U.S., my account was listed as being based in Ireland.  While I am of Irish descent, I am definitely based in Texas.  I’m glad to say that twitter has fixed the error and I can now say “Happy Thanksgiving!” without having to worry about someone saying, “Aren’t you in Ireland?”

4) I haven’t watched a lot of television this year but I will say that I am thankful that the King of the Hill reboot was wonderful and more than worthy continuation.  The show managed to keep up with the changing times while retaining the humor and outlook that made it a classic to begin with.  All reboots should be this good!  I’m thankful for Mike Judge.  (I’m also thankful for Greg Daniels, despite what happened with The Paper.)

5) I’m thankful that I stopped watching All’s Fair after the first episode.  Sometimes, a bad show is just a bad show and there’s nothing wrong with admitting that.  Not everything is camp.  Sometimes, it’s just crap.

6) I’m thankful that the horror genre — thanks to films like Sinners, Weapons, and Frankenstein this year and Nosferatu last year — is finally getting some respect.  I’m less thankful that some of the genre’s new fans still look down on the horror films of the past.

7) I’m thankful for my family. Last year was not an easy one for us.  This year, we dealt with even more loss.  But we were there for each other and we always will be.  I’m happy to be spending this Thanksgiving with them.

8) I’m thankful for American Anthem!  Seriously, I’ve watched that stupid movie seven times this year.  Steve Tevere has thrown a tripus!

9) I don’t care what anyone says.  I liked Happy Gilmore 2.

10) Most importantly, I’m thankful that we’re all still here and we’re all still moving forward.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday, Arleigh!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is not just Thanksgiving!  Today is also the birthday of the co-founder and the editor-in-chief of Through the Shattered Lens, Arleigh Sandoc!

Sing it, Marilyn!

Next month, it will have been 15 years since Arleigh asked me if I wanted to collaborate on this wonderful site.  Wow — FIFTEEN YEARS!  In a world where most entertainment-related blogs tend to close up shop after their third entry, we’ve been going for fifteen years and we’re just getting better and better.

So today, while I give thanks for so much, I will definitely be giving thanks for Arleigh and his friendship and also, for the trust that he’s put in me over the years.  I love TSL.  It gave me some direction at a time when I desperately needed it and it built up my confidence at a time when I was at my most fragile.

Happy birthday, Arleigh!  Here come the cats!

No, not that cat!  These cats!

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 2.6 “The Unkindest Cut”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night 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 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.

Yay!  Training camp is over!

Episode 2.6 “The Unkindest Cut”

(Dir by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on September 29th, 1986)

When arrogant quarterback Johnny Valentine refuses to enter drug rehab, Diana reacts by having him traded to Buffalo.  Johnny may be a superstar but he won’t be playing for the Bulls.  That means that Yinessa, the player who nearly kicked off the team twice, is now the starting quarterback.  Yinessa also makes up with his girlfriend (Katherine Kelly Lang) so I guess he’s having a good week.

Bubba has to lose five pounds to retain his starting position.  When he goes in to be weighed, it appears that he’s only lost four pounds.  Bubba quickly takes off his gold watch and he makes weight!  Good for Bubba, I guess.

Finally, Rick Lampert (Marcus Allen) shows up at training camp is given a number 32 jersey by T.D. Parker (O.J. Simpson).  Lampert’s like, This is your number.  Parker replies that the number now belongs to Lampert.  Awwww!  In the role of T.D. Parker, O.J. Simpson has a way of slashing his way to the heart of the matter,

Training camp finally ended with this episode and I’m glad about that because those training camp episodes were getting really dull.  I have to be honest, though.  We’re halfway through the second season and I still don’t feel like I know any of these characters.  Donald Gibb occasionally makes me laugh as Dr. Death.  And, as T.D. Parker, OJ Simpson seems like a really nice guy.  Otherwise, though, this show feels oddly hollow.  Of course, that may be because I’m watching the syndicated version, which apparently edited out a lot of nudity and bad behavior on the part of the players.

Oh well.  Let’s see how the team does!  This episode ends with Diana saying she wants to win a championship.  Does Yinessa have it in him to lead the team with victory?  With OJ Simpson as his coach, he better!

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 6.27 and 28 “Country Music Jamboree”

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!

This week, the Love Boat goes a little bit country.

Episodes 6.27 and 6.28 “Country Music Jamboree”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on April 30th, 1983)

It’s the special, two-hour country music cruise!

I have to admit that I lost interest in this episode as soon as I saw the banner in the Love Boat lobby that read “County Music Jamboree.”  Country music’s not my thing.  I lost even more interest when Florence Henderson showed up as country singer Annabelle Folker.  Florence Henderson was a frequent guest on both Fantasy Island and The Love Boat and I can’t think of a single time that I was ever happy to see her name in the credits.  Whenever she appeared, she almost always seemed like she was trying too hard.  Her performances always brought to mind dinner theater and holiday special guest spots.

Annabelle was traveling with her boyfriend (Bert Convy) and the three orphans (Michael Evans, Angela Lee Sloan, and Neil Billingsley) that she was planning on adopting.  The problem was that her boyfriend didn’t want to adopt the kids.  But then, he changed his mind because the show was nearly over and the storyline needed a happy ending.  Seriously, the kids were obnoxious as Hell.

While that went on, singer Holly Hartmann (Jessica Walter) was upset to discover that her husband (Mel Tillis) was secretly writing songs for an up-and-coming singer named C.G. Thomas (Tanya Tucker).  Holly was not happy when she found out but then she sang Stand By Your Man and that solved everything.

The Love Boat chef (Pat Buttram) was upset that his kitchen implements kept disappearing.  That’s because Isaac, Doc, Gopher, and Julie were stealing them so that they could form a country-western band.  Meanwhile, two fat people (Kenny Price and Lulu Roman)  boarded the boat and never stopped eating.

(Don’t give me that look, I didn’t write the script.)

Effie Skaggs (Minnie Pearl) sold homemade elixirs from her cabin while Doc attempted to romance her granddaughter (Misty Rowe).  When Effie got sick, she refused to accept any of Doc’s strange modern medicine.  No antibiotics for Effie Skaggs!

Jeannie Davis (Beth Howland) feared that her husband (Steve Kanaly) would learn that her latest piece of jewelry was given to her by a man with whom she had an affair.  A jewelry appraiser (Sherman Hemsley) insisted on finding out how much the jewelry was worth.  Jeannie feared that her husband would suspect something was amiss when he discovered how expensive it really was.  She begged the appraiser to lie about how much it was worth.  The appraiser said that he could not risk damaging his reputation but then he decided to lie anyway.

Gopher and Isaac tried to get a picture with Dottie West (a singer who played herself) but Dottie just wanted to rest.

Is that it?  Is that all of the storylines or is that just all my exhausted mind can remember?  Seriously, this was a busy two-hour episode.  It was an annoying episode too.  Maybe I’d feel differently if I was into country music.  Of the guest stars, Mel Tillis and Jessica Walter gave the best performances.  Of the Love Boat crew, no one came out of this episode with their dignity intact.

This was a cruise to miss.

This cruise?  This cruise was a perfect 10 out of 10 on the How Coked Up Was Julie Scale.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Mark L. Lester Edition

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 is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to director Mark L. Lester.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Mark L. Lester Films

Roller Boogie (1979, dir by Mark L. Lester, DP: Dean Cundey)

Class of 1984 (1982, dir by Mark L. Lester, DP: Albert Dunk)

Commando (1985, dir by Mark L. Lester, DP: Matthew Leonetti)

Public Enemies (1996, dir by Mark L. Lester, DP: Misha Suslov)

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 3.7 “Repeat Offenders”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night 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 Pacific Blue, a cop show that aired from 1996 to 2000 on the USA Network!  It’s currently streaming everywhere, though I’m watching it on Tubi.

It’s a Chris epiosde. *Yawn*

Episode 3.7 “Repeat Offenders”

(Dir by Charles Siebert, originally aired on September 28th, 1997)

When this show first started, Chris Kelly was introduced as being a hotshot Navy pilot who was forced into reserve status due to her eyesight.  In this episode, it’s revealed that she actually left active duty because she was involved in an accident that was the fault of her commanding officer.  Rather than testify against him and run the risk of being crucified on the stand and then run out of the Navy, she instead took the blame.

Five years later, she discovers that another Navy pilot, Rebecca Santori (Liza Snyder), is facing the same dilemma.  Her commanding officer — who was also Chris’s commanding officer — screwed up and Santori is being pressured to take the blame.  Chris encourages Santori to fight for her right to fly.  Cory suggests that Chris is pressuring Snantori because Chris feels guilty about giving up when she was in the same position.  Cory suggests that Chris is putting Santori’s career at risk just to deal with her own anger and resentment.  Chris says that’s not true and the show seems to expect us to take her word for it.  Fortunately, things do work for Santori.  She is cleared in the accident and Chris is vindicated when its determined that their commanding officer has a long history of incompetence.

This storyline had potential but Chris is just such a one-note character that it’s hard to get excited about anything involving her.  Every week, it seems like Chris finds something new to get upset about and every week, anyone who suggests that Chris isn’t being totally honest about her motivations has to deal with the Chris Kelly glare of death.  In order to remain sympathetic while glaring at people and telling them that they’re idiots, you have to have some shred of charisma.  Chris does not and whenever she’s at the center of an episode, even when she’s in the right as with this one, I just find myself thinking about how much I would dread to have to work with her on a daily basis.

As for the other storyline, thieves are targeting foreign tourists on the boardwalk.  Palermo and TC put on Hawaiian shirts and pretend to be foreign tourists.  The thieves get arrested.  Yay.  How exciting.  Bike patrol does it again.