Tag Archives: review

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.11 “Concours d’Elegance”

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 Mondays, I will be reviewing CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983.  The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!

This week, we say goodbye to a member of the highway patrol.  Excuse while I wipe the tears away from my myopic eyes.

Episode 5.11 “Concours d’Elegance”

(Dir by John Patterson, originally aired on December 13th, 1981)

This is it.  This the final episode to feature the character of Steve McLeish.

Played by a pre-transition Caitlyn Jenner, Steve was introduced as a replacement for Ponch while Erik Estrada was recovering from a stunt gone wrong.  Once Ponch rejoined the series, there really wasn’t much for Steve to do but he still stuck around for a few episodes.  He only appears for a few minutes in this episode.  He arrests some joyriding teens who are constantly trying to get older people to buy them liquor.  Maybe they should have asked Steve.  He always seemed like was eager to please.

(I should mention that both of the “teens” appear to be in their 30s.)

I’m going to miss Steve, largely because Jenner’s bland performance was so bad that it actually became rather fascinating to watch.  In this episode, he continues to deliver his lines with a puppy-dog earnestness that can’t disguise his total inability to show any emotion beyond wide-eyed wonderment.

As for this episode, it featured Baker and Ponch getting involved with a rich family.  While matriarch Hannah Chadway (Claudette Nevins) tries to see Baker up with her niece, sleazy Anthony Chadway (Gary Graham) is illegally selling cars and using the family’s charity as a front.  At one point, Hannah offers Baker a private security job.  Baker turns her down.  Couldn’t he have at least put in a word for his friend Steve?  Ponch and Baker eventually take it upon themselves to tell Hannah that she needs to get her spoiled family under control.  Hannah realizes they’re right.  Personally, I would have told Ponch and Baker that it was really none of their business but that’s just me.

This episode feature two slow motion crashes, both of which are so severe that everyone involved should have been killed.  (One accidents features not one but two cars flying through a trailer as it explodes.)  Oddly, no one is seriously injured.  I’m getting the feeling that CHiPs may not have always been a realistic show.

 

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 5.17 “Freefall”

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, Crockett and Tubbs are burned out.

Episode 17 “Freefall”

(Dir by Russ Mayberry, originally aired on May 12th, 1989)

As this episode begins, we find Crockett and Tubbs at their most cynical.  After five years as partners, they’ve seen a lot of bad guys go down.  They’ve seen a lot of innocent people die.  Larry Zito was killed by drug dealers.  Switek has developed a gambling addiction.  Gina has shot numerous men in cold blood.  Trudy was kidnapped by aliens.  Castillo has never once smiled.  None of it seems to make any difference.

When the government approaches them and orders Crockett and Tubbs to go into a war-torn island country and smuggle out dictator General Manuel Borbon (Ian McShane), Crockett is not happy about the assignment.  Tubbs, however, believes that the government is telling the truth about Borbon having information that could take down the world’s biggest drug cartel.  The government, for their part, think that Crockett and Tubbs have the undercover experience to pull off the operation.  Has the government not noticed that Crockett and Tubbs have had their covers blown in nearly every episode?

Of course, it turns out that the government is lying.  They just wanted Borbon out of the country so he wouldn’t reveal what he knows about American intelligence’s activities in Central America.  Crockett and Tubbs manage to get Borbon to Miami but they then find themselves under constant attack from the drug gangs that want Borbon dead.  Borbon proves to be untrustworthy.  Because of his gambling addiction, Castillo suspects that Switek may have sold out his partners.  Switek responds by tracking down three hitmen and gunning them down.  Did Switek sell out Crockett and Tubbs?  The answer isn’t clear but it does seem like his time as a detective is coming to an end.

Finally, Tubbs and Crocket do what they have to do.  They go on a “suicide” mission that involves them firing their weapons at Borbon’s sea plane until it explodes.  Borbon is killed and so are several of his American associates.  When the CIA man in charge of the operation threatens to have their badges, Crockett and Tubbs toss their badges on the ground.  Castillo offers to back them up if they chose to stay on the force.  Tubbs says thanks but no thanks.  Tubbs is going back to New York.  Crockett is heading further south, presumably to live in the Florida everglades.

And so, Miami Vice ends.

Except it doesn’t!  There were four so-called “lost episodes” that aired in syndication.  We’ll take a look at them over the next four weeks.

As for Freefall, it’s not a terrible conclusion to the story of Crockett and Tubbs.  It stays true to the cynicism that ran though the entire series.  Crockett and Tubbs finally admit that the War on Drugs is a sham and they quit.  It’s a shame that Gina and Trudy didn’t get to do much in the finale.  I wasn’t happy with the idea of Switek being a traitor but it actually did work for his character.  Switek had been spiraling ever since Zito was killed.  This episode has a lot of surprisingly violent action, the show’s trademark political subtext, and Johnson and Thomas bringing their characters to life one last time.

Apparently, this episode was originally envisioned as ending with both Crockett and Tubbs dying.  That actually would have been a totally appropriate ending as both characters have often seemed as if they had a death wish.  However, the network turned down that idea because they were hoping to do a spin-off series.  Crockett and Tubbs were spared by the higher-ups.  The series ends — or it would end if not for the four extra episodes — with Crockett and Tubbs speeding through the streets of Miami and it’s had not to feel that’s the way it should be.

Song of the Day: Reach Out (I’ll Be There) by The Four Tops

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

A friend of mine recently watched Cooley High for the first time.  We both agreed that the film ends on two powerful musical notes, first with It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye playing over the scenes of Cochise’s funeral and then with today’s song of the day playing over the scenes of Preach literally running towards his future.

Here is Reach Out (I’ll Be There) by The Four Tops.

Music Video of the Day: Artifacts by Karate, Guns & Tanning (2021, dir by Andrew Knives)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

You run and you run and you run and where do you end up?  You just end up still running.  This video appeals to my existential side, which is probably why I like it so much.  The whole grainy retro feel, combined with the run through the universe makes this entire video feel like sort of existential daydream.  Keep running because who knows where you’ll eventually end up.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 1.14 “The Election”

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 Saved By The Bell, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993.  The entire show is currently streaming on Prime and Tubi!

This week, Zack and Jessie fight over a pointless, ceremonial title.

Episode 1.14 “The Election”

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

This is the episode where Jessie is running unopposed for student body president.  When Zack overhears Belding and Mr. Dewey (Patrick Thomas O’Brien) discussing how the new president will win a week-long trip to Washington, D.C., he decides to enter the race.  Because, seriously, what California kid doesn’t want to spend a week in one of the most humid cities in America?

Back when reruns of Saved By The Bell were running on every basic cable station, this episode seemed to show up a lot.  Rewatching it for this review, the first thing I noticed was that the cast all looked quite a bit younger than they did in last week’s episode.  Zack’s voice still hadn’t cracked and Mark-Paul Gosselaar was still overacting in much the same way as he did during Good Morning Miss Bliss.  I also noticed that none of the relationships between the characters felt correct.  Neither Zack nor Slater appeared to have a crush on Kelly.  When Lisa volunteers to be Jessie’s campaign manager, Jessie acts as if she barely knows Lisa.  Just as in the Dancing to the Max episode, a lot of emphasis is put on the idea of Zack and Jessie being lifelong friends.  I’ve always suspected that the showrunners originally meant for Zack and Jessie to become a couple and this episode seems to lean in that direction.  As for this episode, it feels like it was meant to be the first or second episode of the show but, for whatever reason, it didn’t air until halfway through the first season.

Episodes like this always amuse me because, seriously …. it’s just the Student Council!  The Student Council has no real power.  No one cares about the Student Council or, at least, they didn’t when I went to high school.  It’s a ceremonial position.  When Jessie talks about wanting to make real change, I was on Zack’s rather cynical side.  The Student Council President can’t change anything, Jessie!  When Kelly said that she needed time to think about her vote because the winner would “be in charge of the whole school,” I really wanted someone to explain to Kelly that no, the principal and the school board and the school superintendent are in charge of the whole school.

Despite trying to sabotage his own campaign after Belding tells him that the trip has been canceled, Zack is elected by one vote.  (Jessie gives Kelly the glare of death because Kelly earlier switched her vote from Jessie to Zack.  “I voted for Gilligan,” Kelly assures her.)  It turns out that Belding was lying about the trip being canceled but Zack now feels so guilty that he decides to resign as student council president so that Jessie can have the job.  Jessie would be student council president for the entirety of her time at Bayside but let’s never forget that she owed it all to Zack.

This episode was dumb but I have to admit that I enjoyed watching it.  I guess that’s the power of nostalgia.  As soon as I saw Jessie putting up her campaign poster, I felt like I was back in college, looking for an excuse not to study.

One final note: In later episodes, the show’s hairstylists and costuming supervisors sometimes seemed to have it out for Elizabeth Berkley.  I assume that was because it was eventually decided that Kelly would be the “pretty one.”  Jessie’s hair looks really good in this episode.  Good for her.

Retro Television Review: Baywatch 1.15 “Muddy Waters”

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 viewed on Tubi.

The drudgery of season 1 continues.

Episode 1.15 “Muddy Waters”

(Dir by Paul Schneider, originally aired on February 2nd, 1990)

It’s a busy couple of days in Malibu!

Hobie has been getting into fights at school.  Is it because the kids refuse to believe his amazing stories about his lifeguard father or is it because he has a crush on his teacher, Amanda Keller (Sherilyn Wolter)?  Amanda wears glasses but takes them off whenever Mitch comes into the room so we all know what that means.  Mitch is about to get a girlfriend.

Meanwhile, a picture of Shauni appears in a cheap calendar, posing in her official Baywatch bathing suit.  The Captain (Monte Markham) wants to fire her but Craig proves that Shauni isn’t lying about the picture being used without Shauni’s knowledge.  Not only does Craig print a calendar with the captain as “Miss March” but he also tricks the Captain into signing a release form.  Shauni is vindicated.  Craig’s wife complains about how sexist the calendar was.  This storyline felt a bit hypocritical for a show run people who reportedly spent hours obsessing on how everyone looked in their swimsuits.

Finally, Cort and Eddie are training the junior lifeguard at the water park.  An angry man who always wanted to be a lifeguard keeps loosening the bolts on the water slide.  Cort, Eddie, and Garner catch him but the trouble’s not over yet!  The ex-boyfriend of one of the lifeguards is making trouble and vandalizing park property.  He’s captured after a dramatic chase up a water slide.  Even though Cort is chasing the guy up the water slide, people keep sliding down.  It felt kind of dumb, to be honest.  Why not just climb the stairs to the top so that you can be there whenever the guy gets there?  Why not position one lifeguard at the top and one at the bottom so the guy will eventually be caught no matter which way he climbs or slides?  It seems like Eddie and Cort put a lot of people in danger for no good reason.

This episode was forgettable and dumb.  That’s kind of the standard when it comes to the first season of Baywatch.  Some people stand in the darkness for good reason.

 

Music Video of the Day: Back to Black by Amy Winehouse (2006, dir by Phil Griffin)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Amy Winehouse.  Her talent is missed more with each day that passes.

This beautifully shot video takes place at a funeral.  What’s being buried?  Amy’ heart, after another failed love affair.  Originally, the video made this clear by featuring a close-up of the tombstone, announcing that Amy had just buried her heart.  After Amy died in 2011, that shot was cut from the video.  That’s an understandable decision and I think it actually adds an extra hint of mystery to the video.  That said, I’ve always wondered if that’s the same decision that Amy would have made if she had some sort of say in the matter.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 2.4 “Photo Finish”

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 Tubi!

This week, it’s Halloween in Springwood!

Episode 2.4 “Photo Finish”

(Dir by Tom DeSimone, originally aired on October 29th, 1989)

This episode starts with Freddy welcoming us to a special Halloween episode of Freddy’s Nightmares.  Because it is the season, Freddy actually plays a role in both of this week’s stories and it must be said that they are both rather gruesome, even by the standards of this show.

In the first story, photographer Stoney Adler (Patty McCormack) is commissioned to take some photos for a Halloween spread that will appear in Kink Magazine.  Stoney is amazed at how good her models are at pretending to be scared.  That’s because they’re all actually terrified because they keep seeing Freddy.  Stoney isn’t aware of Freddy’s presence, at least not until Freddy drives a stake through the heart of one of her models.  Stoney tries to avoid doing any more horror shoots but she takes on one final assignment.  Freddy appears and asks Stoney, “Do you want me to make (the model) scream?”  Stoney says yes.  Freddy plucks out Stoney’s eyes.  That certainly does lead to some screaming.

The second story feature three FBI men trying to figure out why a suburban father shot his wife and daughter the night before Halloween and then apparently slit his own throat.  One of the agents — a profiler who owes more than a little to William Petersen’s performance in Manhunter — figures out that Freddy possessed the father.  Freddy, however, then possesses another one of the FBI agents and the tragedy plays out a second time.  The profiler ends up with his throat slashed, slowly dying while the camera lingers on him.  There’s no way this episode didn’t inspire a few nightmares.

This was a good episode.  It was scary, it was gory, and it was definitely designed to offend people who weren’t into horror.  This episode was exactly what you would want Halloween with Freddy Krueger to be.  The second season continues to be a hundred times better than the first.