Welcome to Late Night 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 the Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and Peacock!

This week, some new guy shows up.

Episode 3.3 “Puppy Love”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on October 11th, 1987)

Derek has a crush on–

WHO!?

This episode introduces a brand new character named Derek (played by Andrew Miller).  He’s a shy teenager who works in the store, cleaning the floors and occasionally bagging groceries.  We’ve never seen him before but the show acts as if he’s always been around.  At one point, he talks to Howard about how much he’s always admired him and Howard acts as if he’s known Derek for years.  Derek has quite a bit in common with Murray, who Simon Reynolds played during the first two seasons of the show.  To be honest, it wouldn’t surprise me if this episode’s story was originally envisioned as being a Murray episode before Reynolds left the show.

Anyway, Derek has a crush on Marlene.  The episode opens with him having an extended fantasy about waking up with Marlene in his house.  It’s mostly notable because 1) this is the first time that we’ve ever seen Derek and 2) it’s one of the few times that Check It Out has ever utilized a set other than the grocery store.  Feeling too shy to actually ask her out in person, Derek decides to start leaving Marlene anonymous notes.  Marlene is excited because she thinks that the notes are being written by a handsome customer (Page Fletcher) who always flirts with her.

When one note asks her to dinner, Marlene goes to a nice restaurant and expects to see the customer.  Instead, Derek’s there to meet her.  Still not realizing that Derek is the one who sent her the notes and convinced that she’s been stood up, Marlene makes a joke about Derek being too young for her.  Derek’s heart is broken!  Then again, Derek is only sixteen so, seriously, he is way too young for Marlene. In fact, what’s he even doing at a restaurant by himself?  Where are your parents, Derek!?

In the end, it all works out.  Marlene discovers that Derek was the one sending her the notes and she apologizes for breaking his heart.  Meanwhile, the handsome customer comes by the store and asks Marlene out.  Yay!  Marlene is the character to whom I relate so I’m glad when good things happen to her.  Though, now that I think about it, Page Fletcher was the host of that Hitchhiker show where he was always showing up right before something terrible happened to someone.  Be careful, Marlene!

This episode was okay.  Marlene is one of the best characters on the show and Kathleen Laskey can get laughs out of even the lamest of one-liners so the episodes that center around her are usually better than the ones that don’t.  The only real problem with this episode is that it requires us to suddenly care about Derek, despite the fact that we have no idea who he is.  But, then again, that’s Check it Out for you.  The important thing is that this episode continued season 3’s steak of being more consistently funny than season 2.