Tag Archives: Retro Television Reviews

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 5.2 “Redemption In Blood”

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 Miami Vice, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.  The entire show can be purchased on Prime!

This week, Sonny Burnett continues his reign of terror!

Episode 5.2 “Redemption in Blood”

(DIr by Paul Krasny, originally aired on November 11th, 1988)

When last we checked in with Miami Vice, Sonny thought he was a drug lord named Sonny Burnett and he was firing his gun at Tubbs, who he had just recognized as a cop.  This episode reveals that Sonny didn’t shoot Tubbs.  Instead, he aimed at a wall, firing while Tubbs made his escape.

Working with the psychotic Cliff King (Matt Frewer), Sonny takes over his late boss’s drug empire and continue to fight a war against El Gato (Jon Polito).  El Gato is meant to be a “flamboyant” drug dealer, which is a polite way of saying that Polito overacts through the entire episode.

The show hedges its bets by having Cliff commit all of the murders while Sonny rises to power.  In fact, when Sonny catches Cliff torturing two of El Gato’s men, Sonny orders Cliff to stop and then offers them jobs in the Burnett operation.  Amazingly, over the course of the entire three-episode Burnett arc, Sonny manages to get through the whole thing only killing people in self-defense.  Even the cop that he killed at the end of the previous season was a dirty cop who had been sent to kill him.  I get that the show couldn’t take Sonny totally over to the dark side but it’s still hard to believe that Burnett took over the Miami underworld without getting his hands a bit more dirty than he did.

A car bomb (courtesy of El Gato) knocks Sonny unconscious and, when he wakes up, he suddenly starts to remember who he actually is.  Finally realizing that his name is Crockett, Sonny turns himself into the Vice Squad and is promptly arrested while Kate Bush sings, “Don’t give up.”  Sonny tells Castillo, Switek, and Tubbs that he’s ready to acccept the consequences of whatever he did during his previous bout of amnesia.  But then Sonny escapes custody and sets up both Cliff and El Gato for a great fall so I guess he wasn’t totally ready to turn himself in and head off to prison.

Tubbs, who now trusts Sonny, helps him take out Cliff King and the Burnett organization.  Sonny shoots Cliff to save Tubbs.  With Tubbs dangling off of a walkway, Sonny pulls him back up to safety.  Sonny then goes back to his mansion where he and his girlfriend (Debra Feuer) are taking hostage by a gun-wielding El Gato.  “Where is the safe?” El Gato demands.  Sonny tricks El Gato into thinking the safe is in the room where he keeps his pet panther.  (Apparently, all drug lords were given either a tiger, a panther, a cheetah, or a leopard.)  El Gato gets mauled to death as the episode ends.

This episode suggests that Sonny is going to be let off the hook because he finally remembered he was.  I don’t really think that it would really work like that.  Sonny has multiple warrants out and he also killed a cop, albeit a corrupt one.  If Sonny isn’t on trial in next week’s episode, I’m going to be a little annoyed.

This episode ended the Burnett trilogy about as well as it could be ended.  The idea that all Sonny needed was to survive a second near-fatal explosion made me smile.  What if El Gato hadn’t tried to blow him up?  I guess it’s a good thing that he did!  While Polito went overboard, Matt Frewer gave a very good performance as the villainous Cliff King.  It’s a bit of a shame that he died so dramatically because Cliff would have made a good recurring villain.

This episode was definitely better than anything from season 4.  It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of season 5 plays out.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.9 “Coming of Age”

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 Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

Whatever it takes, I know I can make it through….

Episode 1.9 “Coming of Age”

(Dir by Bruce MacDonald, originally aired on Mary 13th, 2002)

Degrassi: The Next Generation‘s slogan used to be “Degrassi goes there!” and that’s certainly the case with this week’s episode.  Emma goes from being irrationally annoyed by Sean and Manny to crying while watching a documentary about space.  Spike decides to cheer her up by taking her to the mall.  After Spike tells off a random man who makes a misogynistic comment (Go Spike!), she buys Emma a new white skirt to help her get over her depression.

(Awww!  My mom used to do the same thing for me whenever I was depressed.)

The next day, Emma wears that cute, bright white skirt to school.

And gets her first period.

This episode is a good reminder of why you never wear white when your period is coming.  It’s also a good reminder that your period is nothing to be ashamed of, which is something that we shouldn’t have to be reminded of but, unfortunately, we sometimes do.  When Emma delivers her book report while wearing oversized gym shorts, JT makes a dumb comment asking if Emma had an accident.  Emma replies that “No, I just got my period for the first time …. it happens to 50% of the population.  Perfectly natural, nothing to be ashamed of.”  Woo hoo!  You tell ’em, Emma!  And seriously, go to Hell, JT.  No wonder you’re going to end up dying in another 5 seasons.

Seriously, Emma’s character usually annoys me to death (and, in later episodes, you’ll see why) but she rocks in this episode.  But you know who is really cool in this episode?  Paige, who comes to Emma’s rescue with a pad and assures her that coming of age is no big deal.

As for the other storyline …. eh.  It’s another boring Ashley/Jimmy storyline.  Jimmy’s parents are professionals who are too busy working to make dinner for their son.  So, Jimmy has been hanging out at Ashley’s house.  Ashley gets tired of her boyfriend always being around.  When Toby overhears Ashley whining to her mother about Jimmy always being at the house, he tells Jimmy.

Did I mention that it’s Jimmy’s birthday?

Long story short, Jimmy breaks up with Ashley and ends up spending his birthday alone, eating pizza.  Oh my God!  That’s so sad!  Seriously, couldn’t he at least have gotten Spinner to come over and split a Ritalin with him?  But, the next day, he and Ashley get back together.  This will be a recurring theme through Jimmy and Ashley’s time on Degrassi so get ready for a lot of break-ups and make-ups.

(I still found it funny that part of Ashley’s issue with Jimmy hanging out at the house was that he was bonding with Toby.  I can only imagine how Toby feels about having Terri basically living in the room next to his.  This season, it’s hard not to notice that Terri is always following Ashley around.  Eventually, in the third season, Terri will get a boyfriend and a life outside of being Ashley and Paige’s servant.  Unfortunately, Terri’s boyfriend will eventually end up leaving her with serious brain damage before shooting Jimmy in the back….)

And remember — Degrassi goes there!

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 4.10 “Full Moon”

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 Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC!  It  can be viewed on Peacock.

This week, Kellerman and Lewis head to a motel.

Episode 4.10 “Full Moon”

(Directed by Leslie Libman and Larry Williams, originally aired on April 5th, 1996)

If you go back and look over my reviews of Homicide, you might notice that the dates don’t always add up.  Last week’s episode aired at the start of January of 1996.  This week’s episode aired in April.  That’s because, when this show originally aired on NBC, the network did not adhere to the production order.  For instance, the show’s producers intended for Blue Moon to be the 10th episode of season 4.  NBC, however, decided to air it later in the season, as the 17th episode..  For the purposes of these reviews, I am following the production order as opposed to NBC’s order.

(Production order is also the order the was used when Homicide was released on DVD,)

As for this episode, it’s a bit of a change of pace.  For one thing, the episode centers on Lewis and Kellerman, with some assistance from John Munch.  The rest of the squad goes unseen as Lewis and Kellerman investigate a murder at a cheap motel on the outskirts of the Baltimore city limits.  As a result, the vibe of this episode is a bit less intense than the Pembleton/Bayliss episodes.  Lewis and Kellerman were far different detectives from Pembleton and Bayliss.  Whereas Pembleton and, at times, Bayliss often seemed to be on a holy crusade, Lewis and Kellerman were just doing their job.

That works for this episode, which is really more of a mood piece than a typical detective show.  An ex-con is shot and killed at a motel.  Lewis and Kellerman investigate the crime and meet the collection of eccentrics who work and live at the motel.  A large family of illegal immigrants lives in one small room.  A prostitute swims naked in the pool.  (Of course, Kellerman finds time to talk to her.)  The motel night clerk is studying for a better life.  The Reverend Horton Heat appears as a preacher.  The victim’s next door neighbor is an ex-con who stays at the motel because it feels like a prison.  This episode is full of slow and moody images and it’s far more of an examination of life on the fringes than a standard episode of Homicide.

Lewis does talk about his youth, growing up in the projects of Baltimore.  At the end of the show, he watches as the apartment building where he grew up is destroyed by controlled demolition.  The watching crowd cheers.  Lewis says, “Wow,” and then grabs a brick.  Meanwhile, the desperate characters at the motel go on with their eccentric lives.

This episode was a welcome change-of-pace, a noirish mood piece that showcased the teamwork of Clark Johnson and Reed Diamond as Lewis and Kellerman.  After the intensity of the sniper storyline, it was nice to just sit under the moon and watch things unfold.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Good Morning Miss Bliss 1.13 “The Mentor”

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 Saturdays, I will be reviewing Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which ran on the Disney Channel from 1988 to 1989 before then moving to NBC and being renamed Saved By The Bell.  The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!

This week, we close out the Miss Bliss years.

Episode 1.13 “The Mentor”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on March 18th, 1989)

For some reason, Miss Bliss’s mentor — James Lyman (Robert Donner) — shows up at the school to visit his favorite student, Carrie Bliss.  (Apparently, the very British Miss Bliss grew up in Indiana.  I’m not saying it’s not possible, as her parents could have come over when Miss Bliss was still young.  That said, it just seems odd that no one — not even her students — ever mention anything about Miss Bliss being British.  It would seem like something Miss Bliss would have mentioned during all of those lessons about the Constitution and American history.)  Mr. Lyman is retired but he agrees to substitute for Miss Bliss while she spends a week doing paperwork.  (Most teachers would probably just have to suck it up and both teach and do paperwork during the week but not our Miss Bliss!)

This is one of those annoying episodes where Mr. Lyman is the unconventional teacher who gives the kids free hall passes and takes them on extended field trip without getting permission beforehand.  Mr. Lyman makes learning fun!  (Gag!)  Miss Bliss gets upset because Mr. Lyman isn’t following her lesson plan and Mr. Lyman basically accuses Miss Bliss of being a sellout.  For once, I’m on Miss Bliss’s side here.  Mr. Lyman is a substitute.  His job is to follow the lesson plan.  If Miss Bliss doesn’t want him to handing out hall passes, that’s her right.  It’s her class!  And this whole thing of trusting the students not to abuse the hall pass?  I would have totally abused a free hall pass.  Everyone would abuse a free hall pass!  I would laughed at any teacher dumb enough to give me a free hall pass.  It’s almost as if the people who wrote this episode had absolutely no knowledge of how teenagers think.  In the end, Mr. Lyman comes across as being an unlikable crank.  The episode ends up with dressing up like Abraham Lincoln and showing up, unannounced, in Miss Bliss’s classroom.  Seriously, someone call the cops on their weirdo.

Meanwhile, Nikki worries that boys don’t see her as being feminine.  Lisa teachers her how to wear makeup.  Next year, maybe Nikki and Zach….

Oh, wait a minute.  Sorry, Zach, Mr. Belding, Screech, and Lisa are all moving to California.  Nikki, Mickey, Miss Bliss, Ms. Palladino, Mylo are staying in Indiana.  The Mentor was the final episode of Good Morning, Miss Bliss.  The Disney Channel canceled the show but producer Peter Engel took some of the cast over to NBC and launched Saved By The Bell.  The Miss Bliss episodes would later be repackaged for syndication with Zach saying, “I remember this time in Junior High…..”  I remember changing the channel whenever I realized a Miss Bliss episode was starting.

We’ll start Saved By The Bell next week.  Finally, the tyranny of Miss Bliss is over.

Retro Television Review: Baywatch 1.1 “In Deep”

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 Baywatch, which ran on NBC and then in syndication from 1989 to 2001.  The entire show can be purchased on Tubi.

This week, Hobie’s a snitch!

Episode 1.1 “In Deep”

(Dir by Peter H. Hunt, originally aired on September 22nd, 1989)

Hobie, you idiot!

Mitch’s young son is spending the summer with his father and he’s supposed to be concentrating on summer school.  Instead, he hanging out with two older guys, Scott (Christopher Murphy) and Ron (Lance Gilbert), and basically letting himself be used as a slave in return for jet ski lessons.

Mitch is not a fan of jet skis.  They’re unregulated and they’re dangerous, he says.  As if to prove Mitch’s point, Scott collides with a windjammer!  The woman on the windjammer is killed.  (Craig and Eddie pull her body out of the ocean, which is the type of sad thing that Baywatch would eventually stop featuring.)  Hobie, realizing Scott is guilty, tries to find the evidence to prove it and nearly gets himself killed as a result.  Fortunately, Mitch is able to save him and Scott is arrested.  I have to say that, after this episode, I kind of found myself agreeing with Mitch’s ex-wife.  The beach is too dangerous!

Meanwhile, Craig caught Eddie sleeping in his lifeguard tower and realized that Eddie, who I assume is getting paid to be a lifeguard, doesn’t have a home.  Did he ever have a home?  Has he been sleeping on the beach all this time?  How did he apply for Lifeguard School without an address?  Anyway, Craig takes Eddie back to his Venice loft, where Craig’s wife (now played by Holly Gagnier, replacing the pilot’s Gina Hecht) decides that they should let Eddie rent their storage room.  It’s even got a view of the beach, if you ignore all the other buildings in the way and instead just find that one unobstructed alley to look down.  (Actually, Eddie finding and looking down that alley was cute and likable.  He was so excited!)  I have to say that, for a lawyer, Craig’s loft really sucked.  It was pretty impressive for a lifegaurd, though.

The other big development this week is that Garner Ellerbee (Gregory Alan Williams) made his first appearance as the beach cop who hates sand.  (Then why become a beach cop?)  He and Mitch appear to be old friends.  Little do they know that they will eventually open up a detective agency together.

This episode was predictable but the cast was super likable.  The earnestness of it all carried the day.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 1.12 “The End of the World”

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 Fridays, I will be reviewing Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Plex!

This week, dreaming saves the world.

Episode 1.12 “The End of the World”

(Dir by Jonathan R. Betuel, originally aired on January 15th, 1989)

Weird episode.

The first half of the episode featured Mary Kohnert as Amy Collins, a young woman who starts to have dreams about the past and discovers that she can change reality depending on what she does in her dream.  Most of the dreams center around the accidental death of her mother.  Amy sets about to save her mother’s life but she discovers that changing the past will always lead to unforeseen consequences.

Unfortunately, her psychiatrist (George Lazenby) rats her out to the CIA and Amy is soon being forced to work for the U.S. military.  When she senses that a soldier is planning on launching a nuclear attack and plunging the world into war, Amy is forced to do a mind-meld of sorts with him.  She watches as the army manages to break into his bunker and gun him down right before he launches the nukes.

I can’t complain about a show trying something different and I actually found it interesting how the two stories were totally different in style and tone.  The second story featured a dream about a nuclear war that was pretty disturbing.  On TV, Gumby and his horse melted from the atomic heat.  That said, this episode suffered from the same flaw as many of the episode of Freddy’s Nightmares, in that it really didn’t have the budget necessary to achieve what it was hoping to accomplish.

Still, who can forget the image of Freddy Krueger riding a nuclear missile in the style of Slim Pickens at the end of Dr. Strangelove?

Along with having an interesting premise, this one also had some interesting guest stars.  Along with George Lazenby and Gumby, Walter Gotell, Andrew Prine, and Albert Hall all made appearances.  I guess when Freddy Krueger invites you, you don’t say no.

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 2.19 “The Women”

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 Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988.  The show can be found on Hulu and, for purchase, on Prime!

This week, St. Elsewhere tries something different.

Episode 2.19 “The Women”

(Dir by Bruce Paltrow, originally aired on March 28th, 1984)

Four women share a room at St. Eligius.

Evelyn Milbourne (Eva La Galliene) is elderly, headstrong, and rich.  She’s also about to lose her independence as it’s clear that she can no longer live on her own.

Rose Orso (Brenda Vacarro) is only in her 40s but is already showing signs of dementia.  She struggles to remember who she is.  Her husband is becoming a stranger.  At one point, she grabs some scissors.  At first, it seems like she might be planning on attacking one of the other women.  Instead, she cuts her hair and doesn’t do a very good job of it.

Paige (Blythe Danner) is in for a nose job and she tells a lot of stories about her glamorous life outside of the hospital.  Towards the end of the episode, she confesses that she’s actually a pathological liar who got her nose job because she didn’t have anything better to do.

The fourth woman never speaks.  She’s in a coma.  She dies in the middle of the night and is rolled out of the room with disturbing efficiency.

This episode was basically a play.  A few of the regulars got scenes of their own but, for the most part, the action stayed in that one hotel room and it focused on the four women.  When I first realized what this episode was going to be like, I really thought I was going to hate it.  It seemed like the sort of thing that would bring out the worst in the show’s writers.  Instead, it turned out to be a very well-done and extremely well-acted episode, one that reminded the viewer that every patient has their own story.  After spending most of this season focusing on the doctors, The Women announced that the patients matter too.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 4.17 “We Have Forever: Part One”

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 Thursdays, I will be reviewing Highway to Heaven, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1989.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!

This week, Jonathan loses his powers.

Episode 4.17 “We Have Forever: Part One”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on February 10th, 1988)

When Jonathan’s former wife (Dorothy McGuire) dies, Jonathan assumes that God will release him of his duties and bring him to Heaven to be with her.  Instead, Jonathan is told that he is still needed on Earth and that he has an assignment.  Jonathan gets upset and uses some language that one doesn’t always expect to hear from an angel.  God responds with thunder and lightning.

Long story short, Jonathan loses his angelic powers.  He becomes a human again.  But since Jonathan died 40 years ago, shouldn’t taking away his powers cause him to drop dead on the spot?  I’m a bit confused on how this works but then again, it’s also pretty obvious that God is trying to teach him a lesson as opposed to just punishing him.

Jonathan runs away from Mark, refusing to speak to him.  He sees a movie theater that is showing Heaven Can Wait and he proceeds to throw beer bottles at the marquee until all of the letters have fallen.  Jonathan ends up in jail but Mark manages to track him down and gets him released.  Jonathan borrows some money from Mark so that he can go get drunk.

Later, walking along the beach, Jonathan sees a young woman named Jennifer (Leann Hunley) who looks just like his wife did when they first got married.  Jennifer attempts to commit suicide by walking into the ocean.  Jonathan saves her life.  It turns out that Jennifer is suicidal because her boyfriend dumped her.  Jonathan tells her that her boyfriend isn’t going to care that she killed herself.  In fact, he’ll probably brag about it to all of his friends.

Long story short, it’s obvious that Jonathan and Jennifer are falling in love.  Meanwhile, Mark is looking for some way to occupy himself and considers accepting a job at the camp for the blind that he and Jonathan visited earlier in the season.  Finally, this is a two-parter so we’ll see how everything works out next week!

I will say that this was a nice change-of-pace for the series.  Seeing Jonathan finally get mad after four seasons of doing whatever he was assigned to do was interesting and Michael Landon’s anger and sadness felt very real.  Victor French also did a good job of portraying Mark’s sadness over not being able to help his best friend.  This was an episode where Highway to Heaven‘s unabashedly earnest and emotional approach really paid off.

Retro Television Review: Decoy 1.7 “Deadly Corridor”

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 Thursdays, I will be reviewing Decoy, which aired in Syndication in 1957 and 1958.  The show can be viewed on Tubi!

This week, Casey goes to prison!

Episode 1.7 “Deadly Corridor”

(Dir by Teddy Sills, originally aired on November 25th, 1957)

A murder has occurred in the medium security wing of a woman’s prison.  The Warden (Agnes Young) and the District Attorney (John Newton) asks Casey to go in undercover to discover who killed a prisoner.  Casey will pretend to be a prisoner and only the Warden will know that she’s actually a cop.  Casey won’t have her gun, her badge, or her usual backup.  It’s a dangerous assignment but the medium security wing will be shut down if there’s another incident.  The District Attorney starts to explain the importance of rehabilitation.  Casey replies, “I’m a police woman, not a sociologist.”  Casey accepts the assignment because that’s her job.

Casey’s in jail!  She has a really nice cell.  It comes with a dresser, a vanity mirror, a bed, a lamp, and a desk!  She’s even allowed to wear makeup in prison.  Sign me up!  Casey comes to suspect that the murder was committed by the butch Taffy (Colleen Dewhurst) but instead, it turns out the killer was the mentally-fragile Lois (Lois Nettleton).  Lois is a kleptomaniac and killed the other prisoner after she ratted Lois out to the warden and caused Lois’s sentence to be lengthened.  Lois subsequently attacks Casey because she’s worried that Casey is also “a fink” and Lois doesn’t want to end up spending any more time in prison.  She wants to be released in three months so she can finally visit the grave of her baby.  (Awwww!)  Unfortunately, by the end of this episode, it’s looking like Lois will be lucky to escape the electric chair.

This episode has all of the usual women-in-prison cliches but they were all handed in a way so as to not upset the 1950s television viewing audience.  For instance, the episode never came out and said that Taffy was a lesbian but the way she stared at Casey and ordered her to “come and see me,” didn’t really leave much doubt.  When Taffy beats up Casey, she’s establishing her dominance and reminding the viewer that no one can walk away from a fight in prison.  When Casey snitches to the warden, it’s because she wants to get Taffy out of the way for 24 hours so that Casey can investigate the murder.  Casey can get away with that because she’s a cop and she can always just go to the Warden and ask to be released from the prison.  If Casey were an actual prisoner, being labeled a snitch (or a “fink” as they apparently put it back then) would be a fatal error.

This episode had its campy moments but Lois Nettleton and Colleen Dewhurst both gave excellent performances and the final confrontation between Casey and Lois was actually pretty suspenseful.  To my surprise, this turned out to be a good episode.

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 1.13 “Super Bull Sunday”

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.

This week, season one comes to an end with the Championship Game!

Episode 1.13 “Super Bull Sunday”

(Dir by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on February 17th, 1985)

The Bulls make it to the Championship Game!

And lose!

In fact, they lose in spectacular fashion.  We don’t actually see much of the game but we do see the aftermath.  We learn that star running back Carl Witherspoon set a record for fumbles.  Star quarterback Bob Dorsey set a record for interceptions.  The offensive line set a record for letting their quarterback get sacked.  Coach Denardo blames himself but Diana announces to the press that the Bull will be back next year so …. “LOOK OUT!”

Admittedly, the big game only took up about 5 and a half minutes of screentime.  Most of this episode centered around a dumb plot to trick Diana into selling the Bulls to the Japanese so that her ex-husband (remember him?) could swoop in and buy back his team.  It was a pretty dumb plan that fell apart easily but, at the very least, it appears that it finally led to Diana firing her duplicitous general manager, Roger Barrow (Clayton Landey), something she should have done at the start of the season.

But let’s give the show some credit.  It would have been really easy to just have the Bulls pull off another last-minute victory.  Instead, season one ended with the agony of defeat and the actors actually did a really good job of playing up their depression.  It can’t be easy make it to the Championship Game and fail.

So, that’s it for season one.  It wasn’t really that good of a season but maybe I would feel differently if I was a football fan or if I was a dude.  This is very much a guy-centered show.  Next week, we’ll start season 2!