Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing T. and T., a Canadian show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990.  The show can be found on Tubi!

This week, Mr. T enters the wrestling ring and we all wonder what took so long.  Seriously, T and T, do you not realize who is starring on your show?

Episode 3.8 “The Mysterious Mauler”

(Dir by Alan Simmonds, originally aired on February 24th, 1990)

Teri and T.S. Turner are hired to investigate a series of accidents that have afflicted the wrestlers of the Galactis Wrestling Federation.  With the GWF royal championship coming up, all of the contenders are being taken out of contention before they even step into the ring!  Teri and T.S. think that a wrestler known as the Masked Mauler may be involved but the head of GWF, Mr. Barnum (Elias Zarou, chewing every available piece of scenery), refuses to reveal the Mauler’s true identity.  Instead, Mr. Barnum is more interested in putting a “hood” on T.S. Turner and sending him into the ring.

From the start, this episode confused me.  It opened with Terri excitedly telling T.S. that their money woes were over because they had been hired by an insurance company to investigate all of the accidents that have been taking place in the GWF.  Now, I could understand the company hiring Turner because he’s an established detective but this episode seems to suggest that Terri is now a private investigator as well.  But, in every previous episode, Terri has been portrayed as being an attorney who is almost as prominent and as successful as her sister Amy.  Terri suddenly working for an insurance company as an investigator doesn’t really make sense.  Aren’t the Taler sisters supposed to be crusading attorneys who have dedicated their practice to defending the little guy from heartless corporations?  But now, Terri is suddenly an enthusiastic insurance investigator.  Terri sold out!

And yet, this episode actually isn’t that bad, at least not by the usual standards of T and T.  From the minute I learned this episode was set in the world of professional wrestling, I knew that Mr. T would eventually end up in the ring while wearing a sparkly uniform and that’s exactly what happened.  Mr. T perfectly fits into the flamboyant world of pro-wrestling and he certainly does seem to be in a good mood in this episode.  From the second season on, T and T has often failed to take advantage of the fact that half of their duo was Mr. T.  This episode allows Mr. T to be himself.

As for the Mauler, his identity is eventually revealed.  He owns a pizzeria and wears a mask so that his wife won’t discover that he’s a wrestler.  The Mauler may be fearsome in the ring but, outside of it, he’s just trying to live a peaceful life and make an appetizing pizza.  Good for him!