Tag Archives: review

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 8/10/25 — 8/16/25

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Big Brother 27 (CBS, Parmounht+, Pluto TV, 24/7)

With my aunt in the hospital this week, Big Brother didn’t really interest me that much.  I wrote about it over at the Big Brother Blog but there’s a part of me that no longer cares about shows like this.  All of the fake drama and all of the crocodile tears don’t add up to much when you’re dealing with real drama and shedding real tears.

The Simpsons (Disney+)

Jeff and I watched a few episodes this week, out of the hope that they might cheer me up and give me a break from worrying.  And they did.  I enjoyed the episode with Mr, Burns’s son.  I enjoyed the episode with Poochie.  There was also an episode in which Homer enrolled in clown college.  That made me smile.

Retro Television Review: The American Short Story #11: Paul’s Case

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, Lisa will be reviewing The American Short Story, which ran semi-regularly on PBS in 1974 to 1981.  The entire show can be purchased on Prime and found on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, Eric Roberts appears in an adaptation of a Willa Cather short story.

Episode #11: “Paul’s Case”

(Dir by Lamont Johnson, originally aired in 1980)

At the turn of the century, Paul (Eric Roberts) is a young man from Philadelphia who struggles academically and who just doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere.  He comes from a poor family but he wants people to think of him as being rich and worry-free.  He gets a job working at a theater and finally experiences a life other than the dreary one forced on him by his father.  But eventually, Paul steals money from his job and uses it to go to New York.  In New York, he lives out his fantasy of being rich and free but, after a few days, he realizes that the fantasy is only temporary.  With his father coming to the city to claim him, Paul throws himself in front of train.

Based on a story by Willa Cather, Paul’s Case is an effective and heart-breaking entry in The American Short Story series.  It feature a very early performance from Eric Roberts.  Roberts was only 24 years old when he played Paul and he gives a poignantly vulnerable performance as a young man who simply does not fit in with the world in which he’s been born.  He’s too delicate, too much of a “dandy,” for his father’s unimaginative (and homophobic) world but he’s also not rich enough to truly be a part of the exciting world that he discovers in the theater and in New York.

Perfectly capturing the tone of the source material and featuring an excellent turn from Eric Roberts, Paul’s Case is The American Short Story at its best.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

  1. Star 80 (1983)
  2. Runaway Train (1985)
  3. To Heal A Nation (1988)
  4. Best of the Best (1989)
  5. Blood Red (1989)
  6. The Ambulance (1990)
  7. The Lost Capone (1990)
  8. Best of the Best II (1993)
  9. Love, Cheat, & Steal (1993)
  10. Voyage (1993)
  11. Love Is A Gun (1994)
  12. Sensation (1994)
  13. Dark Angel (1996)
  14. Doctor Who (1996)
  15. Most Wanted (1997)
  16. Mercy Streets (2000)
  17. Raptor (2001)
  18. Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534 (2001)
  19. Strange Frequency (2001)
  20. Wolves of Wall Street (2002)
  21. Border Blues (2004)
  22. Mr. Brightside (2004)
  23. Six: The Mark Unleased (2004)
  24. We Belong Together (2005)
  25. Hey You (2006)
  26. Depth Charge (2008)
  27. Amazing Racer (2009)
  28. The Chaos Experiment (2009)
  29. In The Blink of an Eye (2009)
  30. Bed & Breakfast (2010)
  31. Enemies Among Us (2010)
  32. The Expendables (2010) 
  33. Sharktopus (2010)
  34. Beyond The Trophy (2012)
  35. The Dead Want Women (2012)
  36. Deadline (2012)
  37. The Mark (2012)
  38. Miss Atomic Bomb (2012)
  39. Assault on Wall Street (2013)
  40. Bonnie And Clyde: Justified (2013)
  41. Lovelace (2013)
  42. The Mark: Redemption (2013)
  43. The Perfect Summer (2013)
  44. Self-Storage (2013)
  45. Sink Hole (2013)
  46. A Talking Cat!?! (2013)
  47. This Is Our Time (2013)
  48. Bigfoot vs DB Cooper (2014)
  49. Doc Holliday’s Revenge (2014)
  50. Inherent Vice (2014)
  51. Road to the Open (2014)
  52. Rumors of War (2014)
  53. Amityville Death House (2015)
  54. Deadly Sanctuary (2015)
  55. A Fatal Obsession (2015)
  56. Las Vegas Story (2015)
  57. Stalked By My Doctor (2015)
  58. Enemy Within (2016)
  59. Hunting Season (2016)
  60. Joker’s Poltergeist (2016)
  61. Prayer Never Fails (2016)
  62. Stalked By My Doctor: The Return (2016)
  63. The Wrong Roommate (2016)
  64. Dark Image (2017)
  65. The Demonic Dead (2017)
  66. Black Wake (2018)
  67. Frank and Ava (2018)
  68. Stalked By My Doctor: Patient’s Revenge (2018)
  69. Clinton Island (2019)
  70. Monster Island (2019)
  71. The Reliant (2019)
  72. The Savant (2019)
  73. Seven Deadly Sins (2019)
  74. Stalked By My Doctor: A Sleepwalker’s Nightmare (2019)
  75. The Wrong Mommy (2019)
  76. Exodus of a Prodigal Son (2020)
  77. Free Lunch Express (2020)
  78. Her Deadly Groom (2020)
  79. Top Gunner (2020)
  80. Deadly Nightshade (2021)
  81. The Elevator (2021)
  82. Just What The Doctor Ordered (2021)
  83. Killer Advice (2021)
  84. Megaboa (2021)
  85. Night Night (2021)
  86. The Poltergeist Diaries (2021)
  87. The Rebels of PT-218 (2021)
  88. Red Prophecies (2021)
  89. A Town Called Parable (2021)
  90. Bleach (2022)
  91. Dawn (2022)
  92. My Dinner With Eric (2022)
  93. 69 Parts (2022)
  94. The Rideshare Killer (2022)
  95. D.C. Down (2023)
  96. Aftermath (2024)
  97. Bad Substitute (2024)
  98. Devil’s Knight (2024)
  99. The Wrong Life Coach (2024)
  100. When It Rains In L.A. (2025

Music Video of the Day: We’re Not Going To Make It By The Presidents of the United States (2025, dir by Chris Ballew)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This just happened to come up on my YouTube recommendations.  Before anyone yells at me, I realize the song is not from 2025.  But the video was just uploaded by the band 3 weeks ago so that’s why I’m going with the 2025 date.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 4.9 “Why Punish the Children?”

Posted on by Bradley Crain

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

Episode 4.9 “Why Punish the Children?”

(Dir. by Michael Landon, originally aired on November 25th, 1987)

In this Thanksgiving episode, Jonathan Smith (Michael Landon) and Mark Gordon (Victor French) take on roles as history teachers in a women’s prison. It seems a compassionate social worker named Melanie Canner (Sally Spencer) has been fighting hard to improve the lives of the women on the inside and has been getting close to nowhere with prison warden Thomas Inman (Bruce French). The first positive step that Melanie has been able to secure for the inmates from the warden are these history classes. Once on the inside, we meet inmates like Maria Rojas (Tasia Valenza), a young woman who’s just about to have her first baby, and Reba Williams (Bebe Drake), a mother of five. Both women want to straighten out their lives in order to give their children a better chance in life. It soon becomes clear that Jonathan, Mark, and Melanie are on a mission to convince the warden to open up more opportunities for the women to improve their lives and spend more quality time with their kids. The warden isn’t an easy case, as he seems convinced that the women shouldn’t be given any real favors as they pay their debts to society. As you might imagine, Jonathan has a couple of divine tricks up his sleeve.

I liked this episode of HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN even if it’s not the most realistic story you’ll ever see. Each woman we meet has 100% accepted the error of their ways and are determined to be a productive member of society if they can get just one more chance. The cynical part of me has to overcome this unrealistic element of the story, and the “women in prison” movie lover in me would have enjoyed a couple of good catfights. Alas, this is HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN and director Michael Landon is not in the business of going for complete realism or providing B Movie fan service! Rather, Landon is interested in creating a world where basically good people have done wrong, honestly regret how their choices negatively impact those they love, and vow to do better for their children. This series built its five seasons on the prospect of people turning their lives around, and I’ll admit I got pretty emotional again with this one. This episode really focuses in on a mother’s love for her children, and I certainly want to believe that these women would do anything for theirs. Each mother is given a beautiful moment, at Thanksgiving no less, and the chance that they need to be the mom their children deserve. I’m getting a little misty just thinking about it as I type these words. The character of the warden is there to learn the lesson that we all need to learn, which is to try to see situations from different points of view. He gets a little angelic help in this area, which is quite heavy handed and completely in line with the show’s expectations.

Overall, I again enjoyed this episode as a nostalgic trip down memory lane with a series I grew up watching with my mom. The fact that I got a little emotional is also no surprise because the older I get the more I cry when watching movies and TV shows. The fact that I was bawling in my office while I watched the show at work could have been a little hard to explain… luckily, nobody came by during those waterworks moments.

Retro Television Review: Malibu CA 2.26 “Three Dudes And A Baby”

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 Malibu CA, which aired in Syndication in 1998 and 1999.  Almost the entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

Yes, this is from the first season. I don’t care. I refuse to waste my time looking for a second season advertisement.

All good things must end.

And so must all bad things.

Episode 2.26 “Three Dudes And A Baby”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on May 20th, 2000)

It’s over!

After two seasons and over 50 episodes, Malibu, CA is over!

As opposed to the other Peter Engel shows that I’ve reviewed on this site, Malibu CA doesn’t get a real finale.  Instead, the final episode is just another stupid 22 minutes that signify nothing.  When waitress Stacie (Kristen Miller) goes out of town, Murray, Jason, and Peter take care of her baby.  Awwwww …. wait a minute.  Why would anyone leave their baby with those idiots?

When the three men find out that Stacie is getting divorced from her husband, all three try to step up.  Murray asks Stacie to marry him.  So does Jason.  Peter offers to adopt her.  Stacie reveals that she and her husband have decided to stay together.  Are you sure, Stacie?  Murray is like really rich.

Meanwhile, Lisa (the character, not me!) gets upset because her little sister is a fan of Traycee’s television show and is thinking of quitting college so she can become an actress.  Lisa blames all of this on Traycee which is weird because 1) Traycee didn’t force Lisa’s sister to do anything and 2) Traycee has found a lot of success as an actress and if Traycee can do it, why can’t Lisa’s sister do it?

This is a typical Lisa story.  Lisa (the character, not me!) acts like a total bitch, whines nonstop, and blames everything on Traycee, even though none of it is really Traycee’s fault.  Adding the character of Lisa was one of the biggest mistakes that was Malibu CA made during its second season.  The first season was pretty dire but, in the end, it was actually better than the second season and that’s entirely because the first season did not feature Lisa (the character, not me).  I don’t want to be too hard on the actress who played her because it’s not exactly as if she was being given great material to work with.  That said, Lisa was a poorly-written character who basically was portrayed as always being annoyed with something.  The fact that the finale of the show focuses on her as opposed to wrapping up the stories of Jason and Scott says a lot about why this show was the most forgettable of all of the Peter Engel-produced sitcoms.

And so, Malibu CA comes to a close and there’s really not much to say about it.  Peter Engel tried to work his Saved By The Bell/California Dreams/Hang Time magic but the show never really found a consistent tone and neither of the Collins brothers were particularly likable protagonists.  It’s really not a shock that neither Jason Hayes nor Trevor Merszei went on to have acting careers after this show ended.

On a positive note, Brandon Brooks and Priscilla Inga Taylor were consistently amusing, if just because they were smart enough to embrace the oddness of their characters.  And Ed Blatchford had his moments as the father figure.  Otherwise, this was a forgettable sitcom that signified the end of an era.

Next week, something new will be coming to TSL in this timeslot.  What will it be?  We’ll find out next Thursday!

Music Video of the Day: Dulce Amor by David Archuleta (2025, dir by Nathan Kim)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In case you were wondering whatever happened to David Archuleta, here you go.

Myself, I can still remember when David Archuleta was on American Idol.  There was actually a lot of controversy when he came in second to David Cook, which always struck me as a bit odd.  Archuleta seemed like a nice guy with an okay voice.  David Cook actually had talent.

(If anything, this was the season that showed how silly it was to have adult performers competing against teenagers.)

Oh, the Archuleta stans were crazy.  I remember posting some very jejune criticism of Archuleta’s performance of Imagine on a message board and getting accused of being a “psychopath” for not enjoying Archuleta’s rather weepy interpretation.

My favorite that season was Jason Castro, just because of how obviously stoned he was.

As for today, Archuleta’s a boring ex-Mormon now.  Who didn’t see that coming?  This video presents us with Archuleta the angel, which is like whatever.  I honestly think it wouldn’t hurt him to get a new management team.  Either that or I guess he could become a perennial political candidate like Clay Aiken.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 1.5 “Play Me Or Trade Me”

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, an injury leads to the promise of sex …. or does it?

Episode 1.5 “Play Me Or Trade Me”

(Dir by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on December 23rd, 1984)

Carl Whitherspoon, the star running back who is always demanding more money, is injured while filming a commercial for a rental car company.  (“Call OJ,” the commercial’s director says when it becomes obvious that Carl won’t be able to jump over any more luggage.)  The Bulls are struggling and Coach Denardo wants a championship but his star player is out for four weeks!

It’s time to trade!  Unfortunately, the only way that the Bulls are going to be able to get the running back they want is by trading their aging quarterback, Bob Dorsey.  Dana is upset about losing Bob but then she realizes she can finally have sex with him if he’s no longer a Bull and she decides that she’s okay with the trade.

But then the running back that the Bulls were hoping to trade for is injured so the trade is called off.  So, Dana can’t have sex with Bob.  But Bob still leads the team to victory.  Actually, the team wins because Bubba (Prince Hughes) blocks a field goal with his oversized ass.   (That’s not me being rude.  Bubba’s weight and the size of his ass is a running theme on this show.)  The Bulls are now 5-3 and I guess they don’t need a running back after all.

The main theme of this episode seemed to be that Dana needs to get laid.  I liked the chemistry between Delta Burke and Geoffrey Scott.  And the scene where Carl injured himself made me laugh just because of Sam Scarber’s over-the-top facial expressions as he crashed into a table.  Otherwise, this episode was pretty forgettable.