Tag Archives: Lisa’s Week In Television

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 8/4/24 — 8/10/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For the first time in a long time, things settled down enough this week that I could find time to watch a little television.  Here are my thoughts!

Atomic TV (Night Flight Plus)

This bizarre show, from the 80s, was an entertaining mix of public domain educational films and excerpts from music videos.  It was enjoyably trippy.

Cobra Kai (Netflix)

I watched the first five episodes of the final season on Thursday and Friday.  I know that some people felt that the new episodes got Season 6 off to a bad start and I can kind of understand some of the criticism.  How many times can Kreese come back from the dead?  How many times can Tory be tempted to join the bad guys?  The show has pretty much taken its premise as far as it can go and it’s probably good that this is the final season.

But, you know what?  Cobra Kai is a fun show, one that works because of the combination of Ralph Macchio’s earnestness and William Zabka’s strong comedic timing.  Yes, the show is silly and over-the-top but that’s kind of the point.  The show’s blend of cringe comedy and melodrama still keeps me entertained and William Zabka’s performance as Johnny continues to make me smile.

Plus, there was this wonderful moment:

Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam (Netflix)

I watched all three episodes of this creepy docuseries on Sunday.  The series told the story of how Lou Pearlman created the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and O Town and how he ended up stealing over $500 million dollars from his investors.  Pearlman came across as being a bit of a monster and even creepier than he did during the first season of Making the Band.  The docuseries featured interviews with former boy banders (though not Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone or anyone else who currently has a career going), in which they shared their mixed feelings about their experiences with Lou.  My heart really broke for Michael Johnson, of Natural, who appeared to have been the most traumatized by his experiences with Lou Pearlman.

Dr. Phil (Pluto TV)

On Thursday night, I watched an episode in which Phil talked to a former Marine whose daughter was out-of-control.  Everyone agreed that it was the father’s fault but the teen was still sent to Turn About Ranch.  Did that ranch ever do anyone any good?

Miami Vice (Prime)

A gangster (played by legendary satirist Frank Zappa) thought Sonny had stolen some money from him.  I’ll be posting a review of this episode on September 2nd so keep an eye out for it!

Summer Olympics (NBC)

Usually, I’m a huge Olympics nerd but this year, I’ve been too busy taking care of my Dad to really pay attention to them.  I did occasionally tune in throughout this week.  Personally, I think I could win a gold medal for Beach Volleyball.  It doesn’t look that hard.

Steve Wilkos (Nosey)

I watched an episode of this talk show on Wednesday morning, when I couldn’t sleep.  A man denied that he was the father of his ex-girlfriend’s nine year-old child.  Steve yelled, “Get off my stage!” and threw a chair at the guy while the audience chanted, “STEVE!”  Lost in all of the chaos and chanting was whether or not the guy was actually the father.  I assume he was, just because of all the booing that went on.

On Saturday, I watched three episodes that featured Steve yelling at someone.  He threw another chair at a different guy.  The audience loved that.

TV 2000 (Night Flight TV)

I watched an episode of this 80s music video show on Saturday morning.  A youngish Gene Simmons was interviewed and come across as being as arrogant but oddly likable as he is today.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/30/24 — 7/6/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Other than the shows that I watch for my retro television reviews, I didn’t watch much TV this week.  I was busy getting ready for the 4th, celebrating the 4th, and fighting to keep my father from getting kicked out of his rehab facility.

I used the Dr. Phil channel on Pluto TV as background noise.  It all kind of blended together.  I lost track of the number of times I heard “How’s that working out for you?”  I also lost track of the number of shots that I saw of Robin McGraw pretending to be shocked that her husband mentioned her.

On Friday, I watched a bit of H&I’s Twilight Zone marathon.  I saw some of my favorites, like The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, Shadowplay, and It’s A Good Life.

So, I didn’t watch much but that’s okay.  I needed the rest.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/23/24 — 6/29/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, I discovered that the producers of the Dr. Phil show finally enforced their copyright and, as a result, all of the episodes on YouTube were taken down.  That’s a shame.  Regardless of what you may think of the man and his show (and my feelings on both are definitely mixed), old episodes of Dr. Phil made for good background noise.  Of course, I can still turn over to Pluto TV, where they have an entire station that just shows Dr. Phil for 24 hours a day.  But Pluto shows the episodes out of order so, it it’s a two-parter, you’re just out of luck.

In the absence of Dr. Phil, I’ve resorted to using episodes of The Trisha Goddard Show as my background noise.  Trisha’s show (of which there are many episodes on YouTube) was just as trashy as Maury and Jerry Springer but Trisha spoke with a posh British accent, which I’m going to assume classed the joint up for whoever it was who watched these shows when they originally aired.  As I said, I used the show strictly for background noise this week and, to be honest, I quickly got annoyed with Trisha and her holier-than-thou attitude.  So, I guess I’ll have to find something else.

As far as new shows are concerned, I am now caught up with both 60 Days In and Inmate to Roommate.  I’m enjoying the latest season of 60 Days In, largely because all of the participants appear to be losing whatever grip they have on their sanity.  Corey became the first of the participants to tap out, which is good because his growing paranoia wasn’t going to do anyone any good.  As for Inmate to Roommate, the main message here seems to be that, if you’re planning on helping an ex-prisoner adjust to life outside of prison, don’t do it.  What a frustrating show!  The inmates are almost all idiots and the roommates are almost all incredibly naive.  I was not surprised when Devon got arrested on his first day on probation.  Devon’s an idiot.

Finally, I swore I would not watch the Presidential Debate and I kept my word at first.  But, on Thursday night, I took one look at what was being said on twitter and I realized that I had to watch it.  Because I know we have readers of all political persuasions, I’m going to refrain from giving my own feelings about the two men who were on the debate stage.  I’m just going to say, “Yikes,” and assume that you know why.  I have no idea what’s going to happen but I do know that hopefully, in 2028, it’ll be time to finally start electing some younger candidates.  Seriously, there’s nothing wrong with bowing out of public life and enjoying retirement.

Apparently, Big Brother is starting in July.  I am not at all enthused.  After last season, I am pretty much exhausted with the show, the twists, and Julie Chen Moonves.  But I’ll watch anyways, because it’s tradition and the houseguest will hopefully make better background noise than Trisha Goddard.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/16/24 — 6/22/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I started out this week thinking that I was going to caught up with everything that I needed to watch and that I would be able to do a full set of Retro Television Reviews.  Unfortunately, my Dad is currently having some health issues and, needless to say, most of my week ended up being consumed with that.  Hopefully, next week will be better!  Don’t worry — the site will be back to normal soon!  The Power of Twonky compels us….

I ended up watching a lot of Degrassi which, as I’ve made clear, is my go-to comfort programming and I also watched perhaps a bit too much Dr. Phil.  I watched both shows via Pluto TV and they largely served as background noise while I spent this week stressing out.  The unfortunate thing about Dr. Phil on Pluto is that the episodes are somewhat randomly selected so it wasn’t uncommon for a “part one” to not be followed by “part two” or for “part two” to air without “part one.”  I’m a completist so stuff like that drives me crazy.

I watched and reviewed episodes of CHiPs, Fantasy Island, Baywatch Nights, The Love Boat, and Monsters.  I also watched an episode of Malibu, CA but it was so bad that I didn’t have the strength to review it.  I’ll do so next week.

Finally, via Paramount Plus, I watched an old episode of the first Star Trek series on Wednesday.  A creepy kid named Charlie came on the Enterprise and kept making people vanish.  It was kind of easy to laugh at some of the acting of the crew members but Robert Walker, Jr. did a really good job as the bratty and neurotic Charlie.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/9/24 — 6/15/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Dancing For The Devil (Netflix)

I watched this 3-part docuseries on Tuesday.  It was yet another show about a cult, in this case one that’s led by a pastor named Robert Shinn and which is known for promoting dancers on TikTok.  Much like HBO’s The Vow, it started strong but it ultimately felt a bit too padded for its own good.  Two episodes worth of material was stretched out to three.  As always, cult documentaries are odd to watch because they never quite get around to answering the question of how someone could be stupid enough to join a cult in the first place.  I guess that some things are unknowable.

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

I watched a few old episodes on Wednesday and Thursday.  Dysfunction was everywhere!

Inmate to Roommate (Thursday, A&E)

On Thursday’s episode, the inmates and the roommates continued to try to adjust to each other.  I don’t think any of this is going to turn out well for anyone.

Intervention (Monday Night, A&E)

I watched two episodes of Intervention on Monday night.  The first featured one of the most annoying addicts that I’ve ever seen, a sarcastic 19 year-old who spent the entire intervention making snarky remarks and then suddenly agreed to get help, showing that she didn’t even have the courage to stand by her snarkiness.  She did get sober, which is good.  She also apparently replaced drugs with food as she gained a ton of weight in rehab.

The second episode featured model Amber Rose searching Philadelphia for a childhood friend who had fallen into drug addiction.  It felt more like an extended commercial for Amber Rose than a serious look at drug addiction.

I’m kind of amazed that people apparently still fall for the “she thinks she’s appearing in a documentary about addiction.  Little does she know she’ll soon be facing an intervention” line.  It’s been like what?  20 years since this show started?

Miami Vice (Amazon Prime)

On Saturday, I finally got back to watching Miami Vice!  Look for my review on Monday.

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

I watched two episodes on Friday.  The first one was about Australian bands.  The second featured the best music of 1987.

60 Days In (Thursday Night, A&E)

Everyone’s favorite true crime jail docudrama is back.  This time, the jail is in Utah and, for all the talk about how the Utah jail is as dangerous as any jail, it was hard not to notice that both the guards and the prisoners seemed to be far more polite than usual 60 Days In crowd.  I watched the first two episodes on Tuesday.  The sheriff said that he didn’t want anyone tapping out but I don’t know  …. I get the feeling that Corey is about to say, “Get me out of here!”

I watched the latest episode on Thursday and my suspicions about Corey turned out to be totally justified as he revealed that spending less-than-a-week in jail had apparently driven him to the verge of a paranoia-fueled mental breakdown.  Corey hasn’t tapped out yet but it feels like it’s only a matter of time.  I also have to say that I totally related Nina and her decision to get dressed up for jail.  I mean, why not?

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/2/24 — 6/8/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Ugh.  We got our power back on Sunday but this week still kind of sucked for me.  I’ve just been in a funk, as you can probably tell by how little I’ve posted over the past few days.  Going a week without power really threw me off of my rhythm.  Even with the return of the lights, there’s been a lot of cleaning up to do, around both the house and the neighborhood.  For that reason, I’ve put a lot of my regular posts on a temporary hiatus.  My regular Retro Television Reviews, for instance, will return on June 17th.

So, I guess my point is — don’t give up on me!  I’m in a funk right now but it happens and I’ll snap out of it, definitely sooner than later.

As far what I watched on television this week:

Degrassi: The Next Generation (Pluto TV)

I’ve watched only one show this week but I also watched 14 seasons of it.  It takes a total of 7 and a half days to binge the entirety of Degrassi: The Next Generation.  When the lights came on, Pluto was showing the very first episode, in which Emma ran afoul an online stalker and, as I write this, Pluto is approaching the final episodes, in which Tristan and Miles took the title of the worst Degrassi couple ever.

For the last seven days, I have been binging Degrassi.  I haven’t rewatched every episode, of course.  I’ve had to sleep.  I’ve had to take care of my day-to-day responsibilities.  But, when I needed to relax, I sat down on the living room couch and watched Degrassi.  I reexperienced everything from Manny’s pregnancy to Craig’s breakdown to Ellie’s cutting to Jimmy’s shooting to Spinner …. well, acting like Spinner.  Unfortunately, the show itself became a bit less interesting as the old cast left and the new students enrolled.  (I’ve never been able to bring myself to care about Connor.)  Later seasons of the show got a bit preachy and it was hard not to get annoyed by the fact that everyone was apparently in a band.  (House arrest …. house arrest…. really gets stuck in your head.)

Still, revisiting this show helped to call my nerves during an otherwise stressful week.  Thank you, Degrassi and Pluto!

From Inmate to Roommate (A&E)

I watched two episodes of this new reality show on Saturday.  The show follows ex-cons as they leave prison and move in with people who have never been to prison.  The two episodes were actually interesting, just because of the contrast between the former prisoners and their new roommates.  None of the convicts really seem like they benefitted from being in prison.  My personal favorite moment was when the leftist, justice reform activist discovered that his new former inmate roommate had no interest spending his first day of freedom at a political protest.

Happy Hour (YouTube)

I watched an episode of this silly 90s game show on Saturday.  Dweezil and Ahmet Zappa hosted.  Among the celebrities in the competition: Adam West, Vivica A. Fox, Kathy Griffin, Diedrich Bader, and Taylor Dane.  The show provided several excuses for Dweezil and Ahmet to perform.  Dweezil was (and is) obviously a great guitarist, even when performing on a show as silly as this one.  As a vocalist, Ahmet …. well, Ahmet tried really hard.

Midnight Special (YouTube)

I watched an episode of this old variety show on Friday night.  The episode was from 1973 and featured some mellow music and the comedy stylings of Fred Willard (amongst others).  In fact, the whole thing was almost too mellow for me.  I like loud music to which you can dance.  Paul Williams showed up and talked about his role in the upcoming film, Battle for the Planet of the Apes.  He really didn’t do a very good job selling the movie.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 5/19/24 — 5/25/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

Okay, I’ll admit it.  I was wrong.  I thought last week was the finale but it turns out, the season finale was this week.  And what a finale.  Janine threw a party and learned a lesson about not being a control freak.  Gregory finally stopped being so annoying and kissed Janine.  Yay!  And what’s really great is that all of this was due to the wonderful advice of Mr. Johnson, who is one of the best characters on television right now.  I had some issues with this season but this finale made up for almost all of them.

Baby Reindeer (Netflix)

I watched the first episode of Netflix’s acclaimed stalking drama on Tuesday.  It was undoubtedly well-made but it was coming from a bit too dark of a place for me so I haven’t watched any of other episodes yet.  I’ll watch the rest of it next week.

Baywatch Nights (YouTube)

I wrote about Baywatch Nights here!

Booked: First Day In (Hulu)

I watched a few episodes of this A&E series on Tuesday night.  It follows people as they are being booked into jail.  As always with these shows, the cops came across as being cocky jerks while the people being booked were far more sympathetic.  I felt especially bad for the 70 year-old owner of a used car dealership who was booked for the crime of not putting some tag on the windshield of some of his cars.  Seriously, if you didn’t already hate the regulatory state already….

Check It Out! (Tubi)

A mini-review of this week’s episode will be dropping in a few hours.

CHiPs (Freevee)

I wrote about CHiPs here!

Degrassi Junior High (YouTube)

I wrote about Degrassi Junior High here!

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

On Sunday, I watched an episode of Dr. Phil in which Phil interviewed a woman who had coached her 4 year-old son to falsely accuse her ex-husband of being a part of a child porn ring.  The man was obviously innocent and easily passed a polygraph test.  In what can only be described as being a massive tell, the woman appeared to be upset at the fact that her husband was cleared of a terrible crime.

On Saturday, I watched an episode with a teenage girl who got pregnant because she wanted to be on 16 and Pregnant.  Ugh.  That entire episode made me want to throw something.

Fantasy Island (DVR)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)

I wrote about Friday the 13th here!

Highway to Heaven (Tubi)

I wrote about Highway to Heaven here!

The Larry Sanders Show (Max)

Jeff and I watched a few episodes of this old HBO show on Thursday night.  Rip Torn made me laugh every time he spoke.  What a great actor!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Malibu CA (YouTube)

I wrote about this terrible show here!

Miami Vice (Prime)

I wrote about Miami Vice here!

Monsters (YouTube)

I wrote about Monsters here!

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

On Friday night, Jeff & I watched an episode that profiled musician Bryan Ferry.

T and T (Tubi)

I wrote about T and T here!

Welcome Back Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back Kotter here!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 5/12/24 — 5/18/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This was a week of season finales.  I watched two of them.

On Wednesday, I watched the third season finale of ABC’s Abbott Elementary.  While I certainly had my issues with this season, I did really enjoy the finale.  Jacob tried to set up the perfect field trip and, needless to say, things did not go as planned.  My favorite part of the finale was, not surprisingly, Ava standing up for her school.  I know some would complain that the show is dragging out the will they/won’t they stuff with Janine and Gregory (and sometimes I get annoyed with the deliberate pace myself) but I think the show is avoiding the mistake that The Office made when it got Jim and Pam together too quickly.  Janine and Gregory are destined to be together but I think, as characters, they’re more fun when they’re single.

On Thursday, I watched the season finale of NBC’s Law & Order.  Together with last week’s episode, the finale erased any doubt I may have had about Tony Goldwyn as the new District Attorney.  In fact, there’s a part of me that kind of wishes the Nick could somehow step down as D.A. and take over Price’s job because Goldwyn is believable and compelling on this show in a way that Hugh Dancy never has been.  (Dancy is a fine actor but, as a character, Price is just too wishy washy.)  Price could become second chair and Maroun, who spent the entire third season whining about having to do her job and prosecute people, could join the Public Defender’s Office.

On Thursday, I also watched Spacey Unmasked on Max.  Spacey Unmasked is the latest documentary to feature people sitting on an empty soundstage and talking about how badly they were treated by a celebrity.  The ten men featured in the documentary all told stories about their encounters with Kevin Spacey.  Some of the men were compelling but it still felt as if the main reason this documentary was made was because Kevin Spacey is currently an easy target who really doesn’t have the resources to retaliate.  I’d have more respect for a documentary that exposed someone who is currently in power as opposed to someone who is already on his way to obscurity.

On Friday and Saturday, I binged a few episodes of Seinfeld on Netflix.  George obsessively wanting to tell someone that the “Jerk Store called and they’re all out of you!” was definitely the highlight of the episodes I watched.  I also enjoyed Kramer turning his apartment into a talk show set.

Finally, on Friday Night, I watched an old 90s talk show called Night Music on YouTube.  David Sanborn interviewed musicians and performed with them.  Sting, who I usually can’t stand, performed a really good version of Ain’t No Sunshine.

Watched And Reviewed Elsewhere:

  1. Baywatch Nights (YouTube)
  2. Check it Out! (Tubi) — My review should be dropping in about an hour!
  3. CHiPs (Freevee)
  4. Degrassi Junior High (YouTube)
  5. Fantasy Island (DVR)
  6. Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)
  7. Highway to Heaven (Tubi)
  8. The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)
  9. Malibu, CA (YouTube)
  10. Miami Vice (Prime)
  11. Monsters (YouTube)
  12. T and T (Tubi)
  13. Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 5/5/24 — 5/11/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

This Abbott Elementary Mother’s Day episode was sweet and funny.  No, Janine, Kevin Hart is not your father.

Baywatch Nights (YouTube)

I wrote about Baywatch Nights here!

Check It Out (Tubi)

My review of this week’s episode will be dropping shortly.

CHiPs (Freevee)

I wrote about ChiPs here!

Coronation Street (Hulu)

On Tuesday, I watched two episodes of Coronation Street on Hulu.  They were both from January of this year.  Bethany returned home!  I have no idea who Bethany is or who anyone else on this show is but I still found it interesting to watch.  Maybe I just miss London.  Due first to the pandemic lockdowns and now to the way that anti-Semitism is spreading its shadow across Europe, it’s been a while since Jeff & I last visited.

Degrassi Junior High (YouTube)

I wrote about Degrassi Junior High here!

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

On Monday morning, I watched a really sad two-parter in which Phil talked to an old widow named Kaye who had basically become so enthralled by a catfish that she gave him the password to her bank account.  Kaye’s daughter tried to tell Kaye that her online boyfriend was a fake but Kaye was very angry and would not listen.  I felt terrible for her and her family.

On Tuesday, I rewatched the episode with the woman who was convinced that she was married to Tyler Perry, despite having never met him before.  Dr. Phil, of course, took time to point out that he knows Tyler Perry and is apparently one of his best friends.  Dr. Phil knows everyone!  I followed this up with an episode featuring a man who thought he was engaged to a Kennedy cousin named Misty.  Not surprisingly, there is no Kennedy named Misty.

On Friday and Saturday, I watched too many episodes.  Most of them were about feuding in-laws.

Fantasy Island (Daily Motion)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)

I wrote about Friday the 13th here!

Highway to Heaven (Tubi)

I wrote about Highway to Heaven here!

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

On Tuesday evening, I watched last week’s episode of Law & Order and I have to say that I groaned a bit when I saw it was going to be yet another episode about a murder involving a wealthy family.  There’s a lot that I have liked about this season but I’m a bit bored with every episode revolving around the same generic wealthy characters.  Not every case has to be a society scandal.  That said, last week’s episode did feature some interesting twists and turns and personally, I think the jury made the right decision.  Overall, it was a good episode though, once again, we had to spend some time listening to Maroun whine about having to do her job.

On Friday, I watched this week’s episode.  The defendant was an ex-con who had previously been given a lenient plea deal by Nolan Price.  Because of Price’s involvement, Baxter took over as lead prosecutor on the case and demoted Price to second chair.  This not only kept Maroun out of the courtroom and minimized her involvement in the episode (yay!) but it also gave Baxter a chance to show off his abilities.  The great thing about this episode is that Price finally got called out for being so wishy-washy and self-righteous.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Malibu, CA (YouTube)

I wrote about Malibu, CA here!

Miami Vice (Freevee)

I wrote about Miami Vice here.

Monsters (YouTube)

I wrote about Monsters here!

Snub (Night Flight Plus)

On Friday, I watched a bunch of music videos from 1987.  It was fun!

T and T (Tubi)

I wrote about T and T here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back Kotter here!