Tag Archives: Samantha Paris

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 4.19 “Vigilante”

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!

It is time to leave the Bronx….

Episode 4.19 “Vigilante”

(Dir by Arnold Laven, originally aired on May 3rd, 1981)

A citizen’s patrol has taken to the streets of Los Angeles and, despite their good intentions, they’re getting in the way of the Highway Patrol.  They’re supposed to call the cops if they actually see anything but one member of the group is trying to take the law into his own hands.  If that wasn’t bad enough, Getraer has someone sending threatening messages to his house.  Getraer thinks that he can handle things on his own but apparently, he’s forgotten the name of the show that he’s on.

This episode wasn’t bad.  I actually appreciate any episode that gives Robert Pine a chance to do more than just bark out orders as Pine was one of the better actors on the show.  Because Getraer was under so much pressure, he ended up snapping at a lot of the officer during the morning briefing and one got the feeling that Pine enjoyed getting to yell.  Still, at one point, Getraer punishes Grossman by giving him desk duty and you have to wonder if maybe that’s why Los Angeles now needed vigilantes to keep the streets safe.

The vigilantes themselves reminded me a bit of New York’s Guardian Angels.  I checked and the Guardian Angels were themselves formed in 1979 so I guess it’s possible that this episode was inspired by them.  I can’t say for sure because I don’t know how prominent the organization actually was in 1981.  Today, of course, the Guardian Angels are once again very prominent because their founder, Curtis Sliwa, is running for mayor of New York.  Apparently, he’s stuck in third place, which is a shame when you consider who is in first and second place.  Personally, I would vote for Sliwa because he owns six cats and I happen to be collector of berets but I’m also not a New Yorker.

As for vigilante justice, I don’t condone it but I certainly see the appeal.

Back to School: I Think I’m Having A Baby (dir by Arthur Allan Seidelman)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

 

Poor Jennifer Jason Leigh!

Seriously, whenever you watch any of the movies that Leigh made early in her career, your heart just goes out for.  She was always either getting stalked or getting abused or getting lost or struggling through a pregnancy scare.  In Fast Times At Ridgemont High, she actually did get pregnant and had to go to the abortion clinic on her own after Mike Damone failed to keep his promise to be there for her.  It doesn’t get quite as bad as that for her in 1981’s I Think I’m Having A Baby but she still has to put up with a lot.

In I Think I’m Having A Baby, Jennifer Jason Leigh plays 15 year-old Laurie, who is not only socially awkward but also has the worst haircut that has even been inflected on an otherwise attractive person.  Laurie idolizes her older cousin, Phoebe (Helen Hunt).  Phoebe is dating a lunkhead jock named Peter (Shawn Stevens).  Phoebe does Peter’s homework for him and Peter complains that Phoebe won’t go beyond some mild making out in his car.  That’s the kind of relationship that they have.  On the night of his birthday, Peter and Phoebe have an argument at the outdoor party that Phoebe went out of her way to set up.  Peter drives off in his car, little realizing that the shy Laurie is hiding in the backseat.  When Peter notices Laurie there, he pulls over and starts talking about how difficult (cue a massive eye roll from me) his life is.  By the end of the night, Peter has revealed himself to be a whiny jerk and Laurie is no longer a virgin.

Soon afterwards, Laurie starts to feel ill.  Her nerdy best friend, Marsha (Samantha Paris), thinks that Laurie might have the flu.  Laurie, however, fears that it’s definitely not the flu.  When Laurie tells Peter that she thinks she might be pregnant, Peter freaks out.  He tells her to take care of it and makes it clear that he has no interest in being a father.  Marsha says that she can’t understand why anyone would want to have a baby.  She announces that she’s never going to have one.  Instead, she’ll just adopt a dog.  That really doesn’t help out Laurie, though.  Eventually, Marsha and Laurie head to the clinic to discover whether or not Laurie is actually pregnant.

Meanwhile, Laurie’s little sister, Carrie (Tracey Gold), makes the mistake of letting her pet rabbits all socialize with each other.  Carrie learns a lesson about the importance of keeping a safety barrier between male and female rabbits.  At school, the students smirk as Mr. Fenning (David Birney) ties to teach a sexual education class.  One of the students is played by future Breakfast Club member Ally Sheedy, making her television acting debut by uttering a handful of lines.  The ultimate message is that no one knows anything and all of the education that they’ve gotten so far has been inadequate.

It’s pretty heavy-handed and some of the acting is a bit less than award-worthy.  (Samantha Paris shouts nearly every line that she has.)  But Jennifer Jason Leigh gives a good performance as Laurie, perfectly capturing not only Laurie’s fear of being pregnant but also the sadness that comes from being painfully shy.  Your heart breaks for her when you watch this film.  If nothing else, hopefully Laurie realizes, by the time the end credits roll, that she can do far better than Peter.  For that matter, so can Phoebe.  While everyone has a bright future ahead of them, Peter is destined to spend the rest of his life wondering why he peaked at 17.

And that’s the way it should be.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Highway to Heaven 1.6 and 1.7 “One Fresh Batch of Lemonade”

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’s episode finds Jonathan and Mark working as physical therapists!

Episodes 1.6 and 1.7 “One Fresh Batch of Lemonade”

(Dir by Michael Landon, aired on October 24th, 1984 and October 31st, 1984)

Deke Larson, Jr. (Ken Olandt) is a high school baseball star who is being watched by the scouts, much to the joy of his father, Deke, Sr. (Jim Haynie).  The elder Deke was quite an athlete in his day and his house is still full of the trophies that he won through the years.  Deke, Sr. was recruited to play professional baseball but he never made it out of the minor leagues.  As a result, Deke, Jr. has spent his entire life being prepared to do what his father never accomplished.

However, that dream comes to an end when Deke, Jr. has a motorcycle accident and is hit by a truck that is being driven by Richie Halbertson (Bart Conner), a gymnast who attends a rival high school.  As a result of the accident, Deke, Jr. loses both his legs.  Now, he spends his time at a rehab clinic, consumed by his own bitterness.

Jonathan and Mark are the clinic’s newest physical therapists.  While Jonathan tries to get Deke, Jr. to accept his condition and forgive Richie, Mark tries to talk to Deke, Sr.  With the help of a quadriplegic law student named Scotty (James Troesh), Deke, Jr. starts to realize that it’s better to focus on what he has instead of obsessing on what he’s lost.  Deke, Jr. starts to recover from his bitterness and soon, he’s even being nice to the classmate (Samatha Paris) who has a crush on him.  But when Jonathan suggests that Deke, Jr. could still compete as gymnast, will Deke, Jr. be able to accept being trained by Richie Halbertson?  And will Deke’s parents be able to set aside their own anger to support their son?

If you answered no to any of those questions, you’ve obviously never seen this show before.

This two-parter is pretty much the epitome of a typical Highway to Heaven episode.  It’s earnest, heartfelt, well-intentioned, and there’s isn’t a moment of cynicism to be found.  It’s the type of episode where Jonathan tells two snotty teenage boys that they shouldn’t park in a handicapped spot and, when the boys ignore him and go into a nearby bookstore, God turns their car upside down.  (Plus, they get a ticket!)  Even the episode’s title, which refers to the old-saying about making lemonade whenever life gives you lemons, pretty sums up Highway to Heaven‘s unapologetically positive outlook.   At the same time, it’s also an episode that, because it is so earnest, won’t take anyone by surprise.  If you can’t guess how this episode is going to end, I can only assume that you’ve never watched television or a movie before.

Predictable as it may be, it’s still an effective episode, largely because it is so unashamed of being sentimental and heartfelt.  You do have to wonder just how exactly Deke, Jr. managed to become a competition-worthy gymnast in what appears to have just been a matter of weeks but still, this is a case where the good intentions make up for the rough spots.

Next week, Jonathan and Mark help an industrialist who thinks that he is King Arthur.  Who does the grail serve?