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Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 3.10 “Wicked Stepbrother: Part One”

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 can be purchased on Prime!

This week, we meet Jessie’s new stepbrother!  I’m sure he’ll be around forever.

Episode 3.10 “Wicked Stepbrother: Part One”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 2nd, 1991)

Jessie’s mom has gotten married …. again!

Now, in this episode, we don’t actually meet Jessie’s mom.  Nor do we meet her new stepfather.  In fact, she says next to nothing about her new stepfather.  Instead, this entire episode is all about Eric Tramer (Joshua Hoffman), her new stepbrother from New York!

That’s right.  Jessie has a stepbrother and I’m sure that he’s going to be a major part of the show!

(Incidentally, I’m assuming that Eric Tramer was named after script consultant Bennett Tramer.)

Unfortunately, Eric is a little bit cocky.  He’s got that New York attitude.  When Zack pretends to be Jewish so he can skip school on Rosh Hashanah and go to a baseball game, Eric finds out and blackmails him into giving up his locker.  When Jessie calls Slater a “curly Conan,” Eric records it and threatens to play it for the whole school.  Jessie gives up her bedroom to Eric.

(Hey, remember how, during the first season, Zack and Jessie lived right next to each other and Zack would regularly climb in through Jessie’s window?  Apparently, the show forgot about that.)

Eric has a weakness.  He has a crush on Lisa but Lisa doesn’t want anything to do with him.  Zack has a plan.  Belding is away for the weekend and he’s given the keys to his red sportscar to Slater so that Slater can install a CD player.  (Hello, 1990s!)  Zack offers to give Lisa two tickets to the MC Hammer concert if she agrees to go out with Eric.  Then, he and Slater allow Eric to borrow Belding’s car for his date.  Their plan is to take a picture of Eric driving Belding’s car and then …. well, I’m not sure what the next step is.  I guess they’re going to frame Eric for auto theft and send him to prison so that Zack can get his locker back.

Lisa goes out with Eric.  They go to see Casablanca.  Eric does a really bad Bogart impersonation.  Lisa is charmed.  Eric lets Lisa drive the car.  Awwww!  Zack pops up with his camera and takes a picture.  The flash blinds Lisa and she crashes Belding’s car!

“We’re trouble,” Zack says to the audience.

Hey, Zack — your best friend Lisa just crashed a car!  Maybe go check on her and make sure she’s not dead….

This is a two-part episode so we’ll take a look at the conclusion next week.  As for the first part, this whole thing is a good example of people overreacting to nothing.  Because Eric had Screech tape the baseball game, he has video evidence of Zack not being at school.  Well, so what?  Zack skips class all the time and, in this case, his absence was pre-approved.  To get Zack in trouble, Eric would have to prove that Zack was lying about being Jewish and Zack being at a baseball game doesn’t do that.  Then, Jessie gives up her room so people won’t know that she called Slater a “curly Conan.”  Jessie does this to avoid being embarrassed but would it really be that embarrassing?  Slater’s the most popular guy at school and he calls her “mama” in public.  And finally, the biggest overreaction is Zack and Slater deciding to frame Eric for a crime as opposed to just ignoring him.  It just seems like this whole thing could have been resolved by everyone going out dancing or something.

Can things get any dumber?  We’ll find out next week!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 10/11/26 — 10/17/26

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about The Amazing Race here!

Austin City Limits (PBS)

I watched an episode featuring Olivia Rodrigo on Saturday morning.

Bar Rescue (Weekdays, Paramount)

I was up early on Wednesday so I could watch Sweet November on TCM.  After the movie ended, I watched two episodes of Bar Rescue on Paramount,  The first one was set at an Irish bar that needed some help.  The second one was at a North Carolina nightclub that was pouring cheap liquor into expensive bottles and then overcharging the customers.  John Taffer got mad and yelled at everyone, as he should have.

In between watching the first and the second episodes of Crystal Lake on Thursday, I ended up watching three episodes of Bar Rescue.  I only meant to watch one but I couldn’t help it.  I got drawn into all the drama and the shouting,

Baseball: Devil Rays vs Guardians (TBS, Tuesday Night)

My sister was so sweet about watching the Twilight films with me that I watched a baseball game with her on Tuesday night.

Baywatch Nights (YouTube)

David Hasselhoff and two Vikings!  I watched a classic episode this week.  Valhalla!

Carrie (Prime)

I finished Carrie on Sunday and promptly shared my thoughts.

Crystal Lake (Peacock)

My thoughts can be read here.

Diff’Rent Strokes (Tubi)

My friend Mark recommended that I watch an episode featuring Arnold, his younger stepbrother Sam, and an epileptic street performer.  The performer had a seizure in Central Park and Sam yelled, “It’s Karen!  She’s dying!”  Later, Arnold cracked a joke about the performer and got yelled at by his housekeeper, who was epileptic herself.  That served Arnold right!

The Ghost Writer (YouTube)

I watched this unsold pilot on Monday and I shared my thoughts on Thursday.

Holy Mass In Honor Of Our Lady of Fatima (EWTN, Tuesday Night)

Erin and I watched this on Tuesday.  It was very moving.

In Search Of…. (YouTube)

I watched (and shared!) a few episodes of this old Leonard Nimoy-narrated series this week.  They were pretty fun!  The entire series is on YouTube so I might watch them all.

Jail (Reelz, Weekdays)

I watched two episodes on Wednesday.  Just about everyone who was brought into the jail was drunk.  The deputies called everyone “buddy.”

Mother Angelica Classics (EWTN, Weekday Mornings)

In a show that probably originally aired in the 80s or the early 90s, Mother Angelica, the founder of EWTN, discussed the importance of faith.  At one point, Mother Angelica went to commercial because she was having “mic problems.”  It was a nice, humanizing moment.

Night Flight (Night Flight+)

On Friday night, I watched an episode about “women in rock.”  I’m pretty sure that I had watched that one before.

SCTV (Netflix)

Erin Nicole and I watched two episodes on Sunday.  Mel did his best to host Mel’s Rockpile, despite his audience not having much respect for him.  We followed this up with another Mel’s Rockpile episode.  Richard Harris came by to sing MacArthur Park.

Seinfeld (KDAF, weeknights)

Erin and I watched two episodes of this show on Tuesday night.  The first featured an old movie theater, Elaine losing a button, everyone thinking that George was crazy, and Lloyd Braun (Matt McCoy) acting strange.  The second episode features Kramer using butter to shave, Jerry purposefully bombing on stage to make Kenny Bania look bad, and Elaine and Puddy flying back to America after a European vacation.  George also pretended to be handicapped so he could get a job at a company that manufactured playground equipment.  Who wouldn’t?

Shawn’s Eyes (EWTN, Wednesday Morning)

This sweet short film from 2014 aired on EWTN on Wednesday morning.  It was a profile of Shawn, a 41 year-old man with Down’s Syndrome.  It was very touching.  Both Erin and I had tears in our eyes by the end of it.

Survivor (CBS, Wednesday Night)

I wrote about Survivor here!

Twilight Zone (Paramount+)

On Sunday, Jeff and I watched Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, with William Shatner and the Gremlin.

Horror on TV: Freakylinks 1.7 “Still I Rise” (dir by Joe Napolitano)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s episode of Freakylinks, we have a little something called Still I Rise.  It has a zombie theme to it.  Towards the end of the episode, Ethan Embry goes a little crazy, as if it’s Rex Manning Day all over again.

This episode originally aired on January 12th, 2001.  And you can watch it below!

Retro Television Review: Baywatch 3.1 and 3.2 “River of No Return”

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.

This week, we start the third season!

Episodes 3.1 and 3.2 “River of No Return”

(Dir by Douglas Schwartz, originally aired on September 14th, 1992)

The third season of Baywatch begins with Mitch learning of the death of his uncle, an eccentric old prospector who always claimed that he was going to find gold. Mitch and Hobie decide to head to Northern California to investigate, and Eddie and Shauni agree to join them. For Eddie, it’s a chance to have one last adventure with Mitch before he heads off to Australia as part of the lifeguard exchange program. For Shauni, it’s a chance to reveal to Eddie that he knocked her up. For the show, it’s a chance to introduce CJ Parker (Pamela Anderson), a river guide who plays the saxophone and who gives good relationship advice.

Yes, this episode was Pamela Anderson’s first appearance on Baywatch. It turns out that, before she was a sax-playing river guide, CJ was a lifeguard, and Mitch would love it if she would return to the beach. Oddly, even though everyone already knows CJ, no one has ever mentioned her before. Considering that she was apparently a legendary lifeguard, you would think that she would have been mentioned in the past.

However, before CJ can return to the beach, she has to help Mitch and the gang find the gold mine that Mitch’s uncle found shortly before he died. Unfortunately, Drew (Bill McKinney) and Lonny (Mickey Jones), two no-good rednecks, also want to find the mine.

Meanwhile, back at the beach, Summer Quinn (Nicole Eggert) and her mother, Jackie (Susan Anton), have moved to Los Angeles to get away from Jackie’s abusive ex, Jed (Geoffrey Scott). Jed follows them but, fortunately, he’s put in his place by Matt Brody (David Charvet), a rich kid who is hoping to become a lifeguard. Like all of the other prospective lifeguards, Matt Brody is curious about “Bobby Quinn,” who is new to California and who was apparently a champion swimmer back in Pennsylvania. At the lifeguard try-out, Summer tells Matt that Summer is just a nickname and her first name is actually Roberta.

This two-part episode largely exists to introduce Pamela Anderson, Nicole Eggert, and David Charvet as regulars. All three of them do pretty well for their first episode. They all seem like they actually want to be there, which is quite a contrast to Billy Warlock and Erika Eleniak, both of whom have subsequently been pretty vocal about not being happy with the direction the show took during the second season. Of course, as soon as Eggert and Charvet show up, it’s easy to see that there’s no longer going to be room for Warlock and Eleniak. So, it’s not a shock when this episode ends with Shauni and Eddie marrying and leaving Baywatch.

This was a good way to start the season. Yes, the whole gold mine thing was a bit silly, but it gave David Hasselhoff a chance to do the earnest action hero thing, and it also introduces Pamela Anderson, who—in this episode at least—comes across as being surprisingly natural and down-to-earth in the role of CJ.

Next week, Matt goes undercover and meets even more new characters!

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Sledge Hammer1 1.10 “If I Had A Little Hammer”

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 SLEDGE HAMMER!, a cop comedy which ran on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The entire series can be found on Prime!

Sledge Hammer says to trust him.  Does that mean he’ll be able to find a bunch of missing babies?

Episode 1.10 “If I Had A Little Hammer”

(Dir by Kim Manners, originally aired on November 29th, 1986)

Someone has abducted all of the newborn babies from the local hospital.  Captain Trunk suspects that the babies are going to be sold to couples looking to adopt.  “You mean like a mom and pop operation?” Hammer asks.  Doreau asks to be assigned to the case and Trunk reluctantly agrees.  He has full faith in Doreau.  It’s her partner that worries him.

Most of the humor in this episode comes from the fact that Hammer doesn’t like babies.  The reason why the humor works is because Hammer never changes his mind.  Hammer dislikes babies just as much at the end of the episode as he did at the start.  It provided a nice contrast to not only every other character on the show but also to what we usually expect from television shows.

(Personally, I love babies but I get tired of seeing them in commercials where the whole joke is that they need their diapers changed.)

The babynappers are a brother/sister team.  Brion James plays the brother and it was nice to see that he could handle comedy just as well as drama.  He fit right in with the Sledge Hammer universe.  The big confrontation between him and Sledge Hammer took place inside the warehouse of baby products supplier.  Hey, it made laugh!

This was perhaps the most wholesome show about kidnapping and illegal adoption that I’ve ever seen.

Bonus Horror On TV: In Search Of…. The Siberian Fireball

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

What was the Siberian fireball?

One of the more intriguing mysteries of history is investigated in this episode of In Search Of….  Leonard Nimoy narrates!

(It’s always strange to me that there hasn’t been hundreds of movies made about the Tunguska event.  I know that the current popular theory is that it was a comet or, at the very least, a really big asteroid.  Personally, I like the theory that it was Nikolai Tesla testing out a death ray.)

 

Horror On TV: FreakyLinks 1.5 “Desert Squid! Myth or Legend?” (dir by Scott Lautanen)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On tonight’s episode of FreakyLinks, Derek and the team head down to New Mexico to investigate reports of a tentacle-bearing desert creature!  If not for the tentacles, I would say it was probably a chupacabra. Seriously, if you ever see a chupacabra coming at you, run!

This episode originally aired on November 3rd, 2000!

Enjoy!

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 4.15 “Family Feud”

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 Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988.  The show can be found on Daily Motion.

This week, Bobby Caldwell returns.

Episode 4.15 “Family Feud”

(Dir by Mark Tinker, originally aired on January 29th, 1986)

After being gone for the last few episodes, Bobby Caldwell (Mark Harmon) returns to St. Eligius. As he explains it, he’s spent the last month or so with his family in Baltimore. He worked on his family’s farm and got in touch with what actually matters in life. Westphall is so happy to hear this that he immediately starts talking about the time he spent volunteering in Ethiopia.

Caldwell is ready to get his facial scar taken care of. He meets with an old colleague from medical school, Dr. Duncan Harper (Kip Gilman). Harper says that the operation should be simple and quick and then Caldwell will be ready to hit the bars again. As a precaution, Caldwell gives blood, just in case it’s needed during the surgery.

Later, a shaken Harper comes to St. Eligius and meets privately with Caldwell. Harper says that the lab did some standard tests on Caldwell’s blood and that it appears that Caldwell might have AIDS. Caldwell says there has to be some sort of mistake, but Harper shakes his head. Harper retested the blood himself. He asks if Caldwell has any lesions. Caldwell looks down at a spot on his hand and says, “I thought it was just an infection.”

Caldwell tells Westphall about his diagnosis. Westphall tells Caldwell not to give up hope, that a cure might be right around the corner. Caldwell replies that he’s probably got 15 months to live and he’s not going to stop working. After Caldwell leaves, Westphall meets with Auschlander and they both agree that they have no idea what to do.

Meanwhile, it’s Jack Morrison’s birthday! Clancy arranges for him to have a birthday party in the doctor’s lounge. She also continues to flirt with Fiscus. You might expect Morrison to be upset about that, but Morrison is too busy flirting with Mona, Fiscus’s ex! Yeah, we’ll see how that works out….

Finally, Augusta Endicott previously told Dr. Craig that she didn’t want to have a bypass, even if it meant that she would die otherwise. However, when the entire Endicott family comes to visit her, she changes her mind. (During the operation, Dr. Wade comments that Dr. Craig must really be looking forward to the next Endicott presidential campaign. Craig snorts and says that the Endicotts are a bunch of bleeding-heart liberals and he wouldn’t vote for them in a million years.  I love Dr. Craig.) Sen. Gordon Endicott (Charles Cioffi) goes to the chapel to pray and ends up getting shot by a lone gunman.

Gee, who saw that coming?

The Endicotts continue to bore me. They’re just not that interesting as either characters or as thinly-veiled stand-ins for the Kennedy family. On the other hand, Bobby Caldwell’s storyline was powerful and Mark Harmon gave an especially good performance. (I just wish the show had made it clear that AIDS wasn’t meant to be some sort of narrative punishment for Caldwell’s previous bad behavior.) It will be interesting to see how the hospital deals with Caldwell’s diagnosis. Will he actually be allowed to continue to do his job? We’ll find out next week.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Hunter 2.6 “Rape and Revenge: Part 1”

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 Hunter, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1991.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!

This week’s episode is a difficult one.

Episode 2.6 “Rape and Revenge: Part 1”

(Dir by Gary Winter, originally aired on November 2nd, 1985)

I nearly didn’t watch this episode.

When I saw the title of this episode and then read the plot description on the IMDb, my first instinct was to try to find an excuse to get out of having to watch and review it.  The plot description read: McCall is raped by a visiting diplomat and her colleague’s hands are tied when he claims diplomatic immunity.  Nearly every episode of Hunter so far has featured McCall getting into some sort of trouble.  She’s been kidnapped countless times.  She’s been shot at least three times.  She’s been in more than a few fights.  In the past, that didn’t bother me because no one is going to mistake Hunter for a realistic show.  But when I read what was going to happen to her in this week’s episode, I immediately imagined that the show would handle it in the worst and most insensitive way possible.

Still, I watched the episode because I’m a completist.  And you know what?  I was wrong.

This episode opens with Hunter and McCall investigating the discovery of a dead woman at the Curaguayan Consulate in Los Angeles.  (Curaguaya is a fictional country in South America.)  One of the consuls, Raoul Marino (Richard Yniguez), immediately starts hitting on McCall, despite the fact that she’s conducting a police investigation.  Later, Raoul sends three different flower deliveries to McCall’s house.  When Raoul then shows up at McCall’s house, she tells him to leave.  He rapes her and then flees.  McCall calls Hunter, who rushes over to her house and then takes her to the hospital.

Because he has diplomatic immunity, Raoul thinks that he can get away with rape.  He also thinks that he can get away with shooting Hunter in the shoulder when the latter confronts him.   And it turns out that Raoul is correct.  With both McCall and Hunter temporarily out of action, he boards a plane to Curaguaya and returns home.

To the show’s credit, it handles McCall’s rape sensitively.  Stepfanie Kramer gives a strong performance as McCall.  The scenes at the hospital, where the still bruised McCall is examined by doctors and investigators, capture the fact that the trauma of being raped doesn’t just end with the act.  My fear was that this episode would have McCall magically recover at the end of the hour.  It didn’t.  Instead, we watch as McCall goes through therapy and as she slowly reaches the point where she feels that she can return to work.  But even when she does return, the pain and the trauma are still there.  This episode doesn’t simplify rape or use it as just another melodramatic plot twist.  For that, it deserves a lot of credit.

(My only real issue that, during a recovery montage, the scenes of McCall in therapy are mixed with scenes of Hunter recovering from being shot in the shoulder.  I feel like McCall deserved to have that montage to herself.)

This is a two-part episode.  The first hour ended with McCall realizing that Hunter had traveled down to San Pablo, Curaguay to get revenge on Raoul.  (Hunter previously told McCall that he was taking a few days off to go fishing.)  McCall then made a reservation on the next flight to San Pablo.  The story concludes next week!