Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 3.9 “The Brink of Death”

Posted on April 1, 2026 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, OJ has some wisdom to share.

Episode 3.8 “The Brink of Death”

(Dir by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on November 4th, 1987)

There’s a lot happening in this week’s episode.

For instance, Bubba and Jethro now own the bar where all of the Bulls hang out. To be honest, I thought they always owned the bar but apparently, they didn’t. As I’ve said a few times in the past, the way these episodes were edited for syndication occasionally makes it a bit difficult to actually follow the storyline.

Wide receiver Billy Cooper (Michael Toland) was kidnapped by Stuart (Richard Tanner), the nerdy guy whose girlfriend Billy stole. Stuart wrapped up Billy in a straight jacket, forced him to wear a “Dumb Jock” label on his forehead, and then filmed him screaming in fear of a bunch of fire ants. Billy’s girlfriend dumped him because Stuart was “more interesting.”

But the main plotline dealt with Dr. Death, the defensive player who was played by Donald Gibbs. While playing against Oakland, many of the Bulls were tackled by Joe “The Terminator” Morgan (Andre Newman), a notoriously dirty player. Dr. Death decided to get revenge by tackling Joe Morgan during a kick return, even though Joe had signaled for something called a fair catch. (I guess that meant that no one was supposed to touch Joe.) Joe Morgan ended up in the hospital. The owner of the Oakland team pressured Joe to press assault charges against Dr. Death, who was already feeling guilty about injuring Joe as severely as he did.

It was up to O.J. Simpson to talk some sense into Joe Morgan. O.J. went to the hospital and told Joe that football was all about getting injured. O.J. asked Joe if this was the way he wanted to go out.

By appealing to Joe’s desire to be remembered as a killer football player, OJ is able to convince Joe to drop the charges.

(I should mention that OJ himself was an early contender for the role of the actual Terminator.)

O.J. Simpsons saved the day again!

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 3.7 “Mutiny on the Bull Team”

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Things aren’t looking too good for the Bulls!

Episode 3.7 “A Mutiny on the Bull Team”

(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on October 7th, 1987)

After a terrible start to the season (back-to-back losses!), TD tells Coach Grier that he needs to do something to get the team back into championship shape. Coach Grier launches an intensive training regimen and he posts a list of rules in the locker room — no beer in the locker room, players must shave for game day, and a bunch of other things. The players rebel and, during the next game, they stop running the plays that Grier wants. TD confronts Grier and demands to know what’s going on. Grier says that he just did what TD told him to do. TD says that he didn’t tell Grier to become a dictator even though that is kind of what TD told him to do.

Really, “reign of terror?” Coach Grier is like in his 60s and he’s fat and out of shape. The football players are …. well, football players. What exactly is TD Parker saying? It’s hard to say. OJ Simpson delivers all of his lines in the same amiable and bland manner that he used when he said he would devote his life to searching for the real killers. It’s hard to know what TD is thinking.

Anyway, Grier realizes the errors of his ways and the Bulls win the game! So, TD doesn’t have to cut anyone from the team. He can put away his knife for now. Everyone in the locker room should be breathing a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Yinessa and new owner Jill Schrader struggle with their feelings for each other. In the end, Yinessa kisses Jill in the stadium parking lot so I guess they decided to forget about the whole “We have to maintain a professional separation” thing.

One final note: Last week’s episode featured Delta Burke swearing that she was going to reclaim ownership of the Bulls. But, with this episode, Burke is no longer listed in the opening credits so I guess that storyline is over with. Jill is now the owner. Good! Maybe the Bulls will finally win a championship.

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 3.4 “The Comeback Trail”

Posted on February 18, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Some will never play the game….

Episode 3.4 “The Comeback Trail”

(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on August 26th, 1987)

The Bulls are in disarray! Yinessa is in the hospital and might never play again. Diane wants to trade John Manzak for a new quarterback but TD Parker explains that Manzak is actually one of the best players that they have.

Then, OJ — I mean TD — heads to the locker room and catches Manzak shooting up steroids in the bathroom. TD tries to take the steroids away from him and Manzak …. well, Manzak doesn’t appreciate that.

Manzak apologizes and explains that, after ten years of injuries, he needs the steroids to play. TD orders him to stop using them. Manzak doesn’t listen and during the next practice, he collapses on the field. TD runs out to him and checks his pulse.

OJ would know!

So ends the saga of John Manzak. He just wanted to play football but he took too many steroids and collapsed dead on the practice field.

How will the Bulls survive without him? We’ll find out next week!

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & 10 3.2 “A Second Chance Once Removed”)

Posted on February 4, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, OJ Simpson makes things awkward.

Episode 3.2 “A Second Chance Once Removed”

(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on August 12th, 1987)

With Coach Denardo no longer around, Diana has kept her promise and promoted Fred Grier to head coach. However, Diana’s boyfriend and the new co-owner of the Bulls, Teddy, wants to hire T.D.’s old college coach, Red Macklin (John Robinson). Though T.D. isn’t comfortable with the idea of betraying Fred or doing anything behind Diana’s back, he does agree that Macklin would be a better coach. After an argument with his wife, T.D. flies out to his old college.

T.D. doesn’t do a very good job of selling the team to Macklin. Macklin finally says, “You don’t want to be the head coach of the Bulls, do you?” T.D. says that he does but the position has already been given to Fred and T.D. doesn’t believe in doing things without being upfront with everyone because …. well, I’ll let T.D. explain it….

This episode is a good example of what happens when one of a show’s main characters is played by someone who is now best-known for somehow getting acquitted of stabbing his ex-wife and a waiter to death. Even the most innocuous of lines seem to take on an entirely different meaning. I have to admit that I cringed every time T.D.’s wife called and said that he was working too hard and spending too much time with the team. No, I wanted to yell, don’t make him mad….

As for the rest of the episode, it largely dealt with training camp. Veteran defensive player John Manzak (John Matuszak) fears that he won’t make the team. There’s a young rookie who seems to have more energy and strength than him. However, Manzak has a secret weapon …. steroids! I cannot imagine that this is going to end well.

Meanwhile, the government wants to deport the Bulgarian kicker, Zagreb (John Kassir). Zagreb applies for political asylum but it turns out that his father is some sort of official in the Bulgarian government and, as such, Zagreb would not be in any danger if he was sent back home. (I don’t really follow that logic, to be honest. Communist dictators, like Zagreb’s father, are notoriously unsentimental when it comes to their children. Fidel Castro had children all over the world and he didn’t leave Cuba to a single one of them. Instead, Justin had to settle for Canada.) Diana has a solution, though. They have to find Zagreb a wife. Again, I cannot imagine that this is going to end well.

Meanwhile, Yinessa is still holding out for money, Bubba is still arguing with his wife, and I’m still not sure what Jethro does on the team.

This episode of 1st & Ten …. actually, it wasn’t that bad. I could actually follow the story for once and it didn’t feel like it had been cut to ribbons for syndication. John Matuszak actually gave a very touching performance as a player who might be past his prime. Hopefully, things will work out for him. We’ll find out next week!

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 2.9 “A Family Affair”

Posted on January 14, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the playoffs continue.

Episode 2.9 “A Family Affair”

(Dir by Burt Brinckerhoff, originally aired on January 13th, 1987)

A playoff game against Denver is approaching. Denver is coached by a former protegee of Denardo’s and Denardo is obsessed with winning. He’s so obsessed that he alienates the players and Coach Grier (Stan Kamber). Grier is tempted to take a job as Houston’s head coach. Denardo says he doesn’t care until Diane reveals that Grier has turned down several other jobs out of loyalty to Denardo.

As for the other assistant coach, T.D. Parker (OJ Simpson) has problems of his own. His youngest son is acting out and the only thing that’s kept him out of juvenile detention is the fact that the cops are all fans of T.D. and the Bulls. T.D. tells his son that he’s not allowed to leave the house. When T.D.’s wife says that she thinks T.D. is being too strict, T.D. tells her to back off. T.D. gets really mad in this episode but none of it is convincing because OJ Simpson was too amiable an actor to really come across as being threatening. That’s something that would prove helpful to OJ in the years to come.

Meanwhile, the players all invest in the stock market. The stock doesn’t do well. The player who recommended the stock is chased out onto the field before the start of the big game against Denver. Ha ha, those players are all broke now. Good luck dealing with life after the game.

This show, I never know what to make of it. Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? Why is it so oddly edited? How many scenes were cut for syndication? Why do storylines start and then just disappear? For that matter, why do characters suddenly vanish? Dr. Death was a huge part of the show during the first half of the second season but I haven’t seen him during the second half. Did he get traded? Did he get injured? Seriously, what’s going on with this show?

I have no idea. Football’s a confusing sport.

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 2.8 “Easy Come Easy Go”

Posted on January 7, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Time to get back to 1st & Ten. To be honest, with all the excitement of the holiday season, I totally forgot that I was reviewing this show.

Episode 2.8 “Easy Come, Easy Go”

(Dir by Burt Brinckerhoff, originally aired on January 6th, 1987)

This is yet another episode of 1st & Ten that felt as if it was put together almost at random.

Mad Dog (Tony Longo) has a one night stand with a lawyer named Molly (June Chadwick) and he ends up becoming obsessed with her. He shows up at a fancy cocktail party being hosted by Molly’s law firm. “This man is stalking me!” Molly yells. All of the men at the party are like, “Mad Dog! You’re my favorite player!” Now, I will say that this is a realistic portrayal of how most men act whenever they see a professional athlete but it still felt a bit icky to watch.

Jethro takes a blood test and discovers that little Tommy is not his son. But he still wants to be a part of the kid’s life.

Yinessa sees a tabloid newspaper headline about his “nude pictures” and starts yelling at a supermarket manager for selling the paper.

Waldren is in financial trouble because he’s been tossing money around. A group of gamblers approach him and offer to pay to shave points. OJ Simpson (in the role of offensive coordinator T.D. Parker) tells Waldren, “I’m keeping my eye on you.” Oh no! LOOK OUT, WALDREN!

However, Waldren does not shave points. Instead, he catches the ball that seals the Bulls victory in their first playoff game. Woo hoo! Go, Waldren!

A lot happened but, in typical 1st & Ten fashion, none of it added up to much. It could be because the streaming episodes were edited for syndication but this is just a weird show. Every episode feels as if their huge chunks of plot missing.

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 2.7 “Yinessa’s Interview”

Posted on December 3, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Bulls are in the playoffs!

Episode 2.7 “Yinessa’s Interview”

(Dir by Burt Brinckerhoff, originally aired on December 30th, 1986)

Last week, training camp finally ended.

This week, the Bulls are in the playoffs!

Wow, we skipped the entire regular season. Well, that’s okay. It was obvious from the start that the Bulls were going to make it to the playoffs so why hold off on the inevitable? Tom Yinessa has led the Bulls to a spot in the Wildcard and woo hoo!

The only problem is that Yinessa hasn’t had time to get laid. When he does try to make time for Christy (Betsy Russell) — who I guess is his new girlfriend because she wasn’t his girlfriend an episode ago — they are interrupted by reporter Donna Starkey (Brianne Leary), who needs to finish up her interview with Yinessa. Christy leaves angry but then she returns to make up for Yinessa, just to discover him on the verge of fooling around with Donna.

While all of this is going, the other team tries to fool the Bulls by sending them a fake playbook. Coach Denardo thinks that it’s genuine but T.D. Parker is like, “I’ll kill you if you use that playbook! I’ve done it before!” Also a woman tells Jethro that he’s the father of her son. Jethro is skeptical but he agrees to get a paternity test.

Donna writes an article about how Yinessa is an unimpressive quarterback. But the Bulls still win their playoff game by relying on defense. Mad Dog Smears angrily notes that reporters never want to interview anyone defense …. wait a minute, where’s Dr. Death? Seeing as how the defense wins the game, this seems like a weird episode not to feature Dr. Death.

The Bulls win their game but Yinessa no longer has a girlfriend. Womp womp.

This episode was weirdly unsubstantial. It may be because of how the episodes have been edited for syndication to remove all of the nudity and cursing but 1st & Ten never seems to be able to develop any sort of narrative momentum. Instead of each episode building towards something, it’s usually just 20 minutes of random events that never seem to really be tied together. One could say the same thing of life in general, I suppose.

This is my final 1st & Ten review of 2025. Retro Television Reviews is taken a break for the holidays but this feature will return in January. My next 1st & Ten review will be on January 7th, 2026.

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 2.2 “The Veterans”

Posted on October 22, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the Bulls face a dilemma. What to do with O.J. Simpson?

Episode 2.2 “The Veterans”

(Dir by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on September 1st, 1986)

This week, veteran running back T.D. Parker (O.J. Simpson) shows up for training camp. All of the players are excited to see him. At the bar where all of the Bulls hang out, Dr. Death (Donald Gibb) announces that T.D. Parker has had over one hundred injuries over the past twelve years but he’s still the heart and the soul of the Bulls franchise. He’s the face of the team! When people think of the Los Angeles Bulls, they think of T.D. Parker slashing through the other team on his way to an ~~acquittal~~ touchdown.

Speaking as a viewer, it seems kind of strange that this is the first that I’m really hearing about the legendary T.D. Parker. Where was he last season? The Bulls went all the way to the Championship Game but I never once heard anyone mention T.D. Parker. I certainly didn’t see him in the locker room. The Bulls actually had a totally different running back named Carl Witherspoon. Oddly, Carl seems to have vanished this season….

As for T.D., his injuries are catching up with him. Denardo and Diana are forced to confront that fact that T.D. can no longer cut it. Even in practice, he’s spilling a lot of blood on the field. Denardo cuts T.D. from the team. When T.D. says that football is all that he knows, Denardo announces that T.D. may not be playing but he’ll still be on the field …. AS A COACH! T.D. looks confused. He’ll figure it out eventually, I guess.

Meanwhile, Jeff East briefly returns as quarterback Bryce Smith but just long enough to fall out of a window at training camp and bust his knee. (He was trying to keep the new kicker — a Bosnian played by future voice of the Crypt Keeper John Kassir — from sneaking out to go into town to get drunk.) Bryce is done for the season. Veteran quarterback and all-around druggie sleaze Johnny Valentine (Sam J. Jones) becomes the new starter and Tom Yinessa is brought back to be his backup. That’ll make Yinessa’s roommate (Jeff Kaake) and Yinessa’s potential girlfriend (Katherine Kelly Lang) happy.

Finally, the NFL owners don’t want to give their players a pension or a raise. They do, however, want to give them mandatory drug tests. Diana protests but she’s overruled by the other owners, all of whom are male and in their 60s. There’s a lot of toupees and cigars at the ownership meeting.

This episode was actually kind of entertaining. That’s doesn’t mean it was good. 1st & Ten isn’t a really a show that’s ever good. But this episode did feature Sam J. Jones giving a totally over the top performance as creepy quarterback Johnny Valentine. Speaking of going over the top, the same can be said of Delta Burke’s performance this season. It would appear that between seasons one and two, Burke realized there was no need to try to be in any way subtle in her line readings. That was probably the right decision.

Next week …. who knows? I’m getting a little bored with training camp so hopefully, we’ll move on!

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

Posted on October 8, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 1.11 “Rona’s Fling”

Posted on September 24, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the Bulls try to keep their season alive.

Episode 1.11 “Rona’s Fling”

(Dir by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on February 3rd, 1985)

Rona (Ruta Lee) has been Diane’s best friend and biggest supporter since she first appeared during 1st & Ten’s pilot. And yet I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned her in any of my review because her character just wasn’t that interesting. She was a sarcastic society maven who was always drinking. She was a bit of a sitcom cliche and I didn’t really see any need to waste a lot time on her character.

This episode, however, opens with Rona getting out of rehab. She’s stopped drinking! And she’s also met a guy, a fellow alcoholic. Tim (Will Bledsoe) is a young and handsome and he and Rona have great sex. Tim is also the Bulls’s new punter! With Tim on the team, the Bulls are guaranteed to make it to the playoffs! (I never knew punters were so important.)

Meanwhile, the Arcola Brothers are also determined to make sure the Bulls make it to the playoffs. They bribe a referee.

The referee, however, is knocked out early in the game when two plays collide with him. However, the Bulls win the game on their own, no doubt thanks to Tim and his amazing punting abilities! Rona would be happy except she’s recently learned that Tim is married. Tim was separated when he went into rehab but, once he got out, his wife fell in love with him all over again.

And that’s pretty much the episode. It wasn’t a bad episode, even if the whole thing with the referee felt a bit anti-climatic. Ruta Lee gave a good performance as Rona and I appreciated the fact that she was still sober at the end of the episode. And, hey ….. The Bulls are going to the playoffs!

Thank God for the kicking team, I guess.