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 the Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and Peacock!

This week, Howard and Leslie go into business together!

Episode 3.19 “Losing It”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on January 30th, 1988)

After Howard refuses to give Leslie a raise and suggests that Leslie instead explore other ways to make extra money, Leslie ends up inviting Howard to a franchise convention.  Howard agrees and, one scene later, Howard and Leslie are in charge of a weight loss franchise!

Howard is thrilled, especially after a group of overweight individuals comes to the store for a meeting.  Howard can’t wait to start making money off of them but Leslie is concerned.  He’s worried that the diet and the dietary supplements that come with it are a sham.  He doesn’t want to cheat anyone.  Leslie shares a story about being sent to the “husky” department when he was a teenager looking for a jacket.  Howard comes to realize that he doesn’t have it in him to cheat the people who are coming to the store in hopes of losing weight.  At the next meeting, Howard announces that the product is a sham.  The group forgives him and they decide to continue meeting at the store in order to give one another moral support.

Awww!

Listen, when I saw that Check It Out! was going to do an episode about weight loss, I was expecting the worst.  Check It Out! has rarely dealt sensitively with body issues.  But I have to say that this was really a heartfelt and surprisingly sweet episode.  The jokes were not mean-spirited and the show’s message was one of acceptance and empowerment.  I was stunned!

A lot of the credit goes to Aaron Schwartz, who was often underused on this show but who always shined whenever he was given a chance.  The scene where Schwartz, as Leslie, talked about the insecurity that he felt over his teenage weight was beautifully acted.

This was a good episode.  As I’ve said before, as uneven as this series often is, the third season has been a marked improvement over the two that came before.  This episode was a perfect example of that.

Only three more episodes to go!