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Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/7/26 — 6/13/26

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Election Coverage

I was hoping that the Democrats of Maine would show a little decency and reject Graham Platner but it didn’t happen.  Two years from now, everyone will claim they were against Platner from the start.

George Gently (YouTube)

George Gently and Inspector Bachus investigated a murder in 1968.  The killer turned out to be a smug child.  It was a pretty depressing episode.

Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Shout TV)

Jeff and I watched three more episodes of this Japanese series on Saturday morning.  The space witch is still trying to conquer the planet.  Fortunately, there’s always a giant robot around to stop her.

The Larry Sanders Show (HBOMax)

Jeff and I watched a handful of episodes of this old 90s show over the week.  Garry Shandling played a neurotic talk show host.  Rip Torn was his producer.  Jeffrey Tambor was the sidekick and Bob Odenkirk was the agent.  The show made me laugh a lot more than I expected I would.  Rip Torn could make any line funny.  One scene, with Jeffrey Tambor singing Spinning Wheel, will stay in my memory forever.

Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butthead (Paramount Plus)

I finally watched season 3 this week.  I’m amazed that Beavis and Butthead are still alive.  Tom Anderson’s War Stories are so wholesome.

Night Flight (NightFlight+)

On Friday, we watched an episode about how bands were using animation in their music videos.  The episode was from the early 80s so the animation really wasn’t that impressive.

The Simpsons (Disney+)

After watching Glengarry Glen Ross on Friday, I watched an episode featuring Old Gil  (who was clearly based on Jack Lemmon) overstaying his welcome at the Simpsons home.  “Eggs a la Harold Stassen …. because they’re always running!”

Twisted Yoga (Apple TV+)

This was yet another docuseries about a cult.  This ran into the same problem that a lot of cult documentaries run into.  It’s hard to have much sympathy for anyone stupid enough to get brainwashed in the first place.

Unlocked: A Jail Experiment (Netflix)

On Sunday and Monday, I watched the second season of this reality show about what happens when prisoners are allowed more freedom than usual.  Prisoners just aren’t that interesting.  There’s only so many times you can listen to someone say, “Treat me like a man,” before you get bored with it.

Retro Television Review: Baywatch 2.7 “Sandcastles”

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, it’s Eddie vs Hector the Collector!

Episode 2.7 “Sandcastles”

(Dir by Monte Markham, originally aired on October 28th, 1991)

Eddie is freaking out because there’s too many homeless people on the beach. As he explains it to Shauni, he’s always feared that he could end up homeless. When Shauni suggests that maybe the homeless could live on a deserted army base, Eddie says that people like that are never willing to accept help. Eddie is really not a fan of the homeless!

Of course, in Eddie’s defense, he does get stabbed in the shoulder by a homeless man at the start of this episode. Hector the Collector (Ron Howard George) not only breaks into Eddie’s lifeguard tower but he also tries to steal a framed photograph of Shauni. When Eddie tries to stop him, Hector plunges a shard of glass into Eddie’s shoulder!

Hobie, meanwhile, is having a far better experience with the homeless. He meets Charlie (played by a young Nikki Cox), who is living in an abandoned power plant with her mother (Wendy Robie, who played the one-eyed Nadine on Twin Peaks). When Charlie’s mother disappears, Hobie helps Charlie look for her. When Hector the Collector steals Charlie’s journal, the entire Baywatch crew is there to help her get it back. Fortunately, Mitch is also there to save Charlie when she gets shoved into the ocean by Hector.

WOW! What is Hector’s problem!?

“Mine! Mine!” Hector hisses whenever anyone tries to take back any of the stuff that he’s stolen.

Calm down, Hector!

Meanwhile, Harvey needs a new place to live. Harvey? Oh yeah, he’s the new goofy lifeguard. He can’t sleep in his tower. He can’t live with Mitch. However, Harvey finds a big house with a pool and immediately imagines hundreds of swimsuit-clad women beckoning him to swim with him. This episode has two musical montages, one involving the homeless and one involving Harvey and a bunch of imaginary women. I’m getting the feeling that Baywatch really wasn’t that concerned with the problem of homelessness in Los Angeles.

Baywatch was (and, since it’s been revived for the upcoming television season, is) a very odd show. This episode deals with a very real social problem and David Hasselhoff is so earnest in the scenes that he shares with Nikki Cox that you can’t help but feel that maybe the Hoff’s heart was in the right place. But the show itself always seems more concerned with getting to the next beach shot. Watching this episode, you can hear the producers whispering, “Don’t worry, we’re not going to spend too much time with these homeless people….”

Anyway, the important thing is that everything works out for the best. Harvey moves in with some flight attendants. Charlie is reunited with her mother. And Hector the Collector gets the help he needs. Don’t you worry, Baywatch will be always there.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 2.16 “Interior Loft”

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 Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Tubi!

This week, a husband and a wife live in a loft and obsess on sex and death.

Episode 2.16 “Interior Loft”

(Dir by Ken Wiederhorn, originally aired on January 28th, 1990)

Kim Lewis (Elizabeth Keifer) has quit her job so that she can work on her novel.  Her husband, David (Kip Gilman), is a lazy grad student who doesn’t bring in much money to the household.  David suggests that Kim could record a message for a sex line.  Kim agrees but, when a serial killer becomes obsessed with the message, she finds herself being stalked.  Fortunately, the killer dies before he can harm Kim.  But Kim is so traumatized and mentally shaken by her stalker’s bloody death that David comes to worry that she might be plotting to become a killer herself.  And, of course, she is.

There was nothing supernatural about this episode, other than Freddy popping up for the host segments.  Apparently, even in his Hellish afterlife, Freddy tries to keep up with all the latest novels.  This episode was instead an attempt at neo-noir and director Ken Weiderhorn manages to create an appropriately ominous atmosphere.  Elizabeth Keifer gives a strong performance as Kim so it’s unfortunate that the rest of the cast isn’t as memorable.  This was not a bad episode but it was hard not to feel that it could have been even better.

In the end, I appreciated the fact that this episode actually did have something on its mind.  David fears that Kim is a potential killer because of the book that she writes.  That’s something to which any creative person in the horror field can relate.  Audiences often seem to assume that a morbid imagination is linked to a morbid personality whereas the opposite is often the case.  I’ve been lucky enough to meet a few horror people.  They’re nice!

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 3.23 “Bang The Eardrum Slowly”

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, everyone’s thinking about death.

Episode 3.23 “Bang the Eardrum Slowly”

(Dir by David Anspaugh, originally aired on March 20th, 1985)

Every by the standards of St. Elsewhere, this was a depressing episode.

Auschlander buys his morning newspaper and discovers that his old friend Dr. Wyler was murdered by revolutionaries in Africa. The terminally ill Auschlander finds himself thinking about his own death and how he’ll be remembered. Will he also only rate a small mention in the local newspaper? Will anyone care or will they just shrug off his death and go on with their lives? The only thing that kept this storyline from being unbearably depressing was the knowledge that, in real life, Norman Lloyd would live to be 106.

Elliot has been entrusted with Mrs. Hufnagle’s ashes. He spends most of the episode carrying them around in a cigarette box and thinking about how someone’s entire life can be reduced to just a small amount of ashes. After an unpleasant meeting with Hufnagle’s estranged son (Boyd Bodwell), Elliot and Fiscus spread Hufnagle’s ashes at sea. Alone amongst the doctors at St. Eligius, Elliot feels bad that Hufnagle checked into the hospital and died due to her doctors and nurses getting tired of dealing with her. Elliot has a point. Hufnagle’s son really should be suing the Hell out of that place.

Westphall …. oh Hell, you already know that Westphall spent this episode depressed. Westphall is depressed in every episode. He’s perhaps the most glum character that I’ve ever come across. Even when something good happens, Westphall finds an excuse to get upset about it. This week, he’s depressed that he’s moving out of his house. He’s also depressed that his son Tommy would rather watch cartoons than talk to him. Seriously, Westphall can be difficult to deal with. I’ve been in a bit of melancholy mood myself and watching Westphall does not help.

Dr, Craig is not so much depressed as he’s annoyed by the news that his son, Stephen, is engaged. Craig has never forgiven Stephen for getting hooked on drugs and dropping out of medical school. Ellen says that, as Stephen’s parents, they have to be supportive and happy for him. Good luck convincing your husband of that, Ellen.

Finally, Luther is deafened by a boiler room explosion. His hearing eventually returns but Luther finds himself haunted by how close he came to dying. I would be haunted by the idea of getting seriously injured at a hospital that appears to be as much of a death trap as St. Eligius.

What a dark episode! This was a difficult one for me to get through, though that’s not necessarily a criticism. It’s just an acknowledgement of the fact that St. Elsewhere didn’t hesitate or offer false hope when it came to issues of mortality. Next week, season 3 comes to a close. Let’s hope for the best!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Hunter 1.8 “Dead or Alive”

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, there’s somebody else shooting criminals in L.A.

Episode 1.8 “Dead or Alive”

(Dir by Guy Magar, originally aired on November 30th, 1984)

Jimmy Joe Walker (Wings Hauser) is a cowboy bounty hunter who wears black and carries a wide array of weapons. He hunts for criminals who are wanted “dead or alive.” He specializes in brining them in dead because …. well, he just like shooting people. Hunter and McCall try to capture the escaped bank robber Panhandle Pete (Jimmie F. Skaggs) before Jimmy Joe puts a bullet in him.

This was a pretty average episode of Hunter, one that was mostly distinguished by the cheerfully unhinged presence of Wings Hauser. With his Southern accent and his country clothes, Hauser largely gives the same performance here that he gave in Vice Squad. The only difference is that he’s playing a bounty hunter and not a pimp here. He still finds time to beat up McCall. I can’t help but notice that McCall is constantly getting either shot or punched on this show. I think the idea is to show that McCall is just as tough as Hunter and I do like the fact that, no matter how serve the injuries, McCall never stops fighting back. That said, it would be nice to see someone else get a black eye for once.

(This is also yet another episode that finds McCall working undercover as a prostitute. She spends the first half of the episode wearing a blue top with feathers attached to the sleeves. I kept expecting someone to mention the feathers but not even Wings Hauser said a word about them. You would expect Wings to be all over that.)

The plot of this one felt a bit silly. A bank robber named Panhandle Pete? Really? I get the feeling that this episode was done in order to protect the show from charges that it glorified the idea of gunning down criminals. We’re supposed to look at Hunter and Jimmy Joe and say, “Hunter shoots a lot of people but at least he doesn’t laugh about it.” This was Hunter’s version of Magnum Force.

Again, this was an average episode but it’s worth watching just for Wings Hauser.

Retro Television Review: Decoy 1.34 “Shadow of Van Gogh”

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 Decoy, which aired in Syndication in 1957 and 1958.  The show can be viewed on Tubi!

This week, Casey investigates a case of art forgery!

Episode 1.34 “Shadow of Van Gogh”

(Dir by Michael Gordon, originally aired on June 2nd, 1958)

Casey investigates art forgery!

Someone has produced and sold a forged recreation of Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night.  Casey’s investigation leads her to Jack Wilson (Ray Reinhardt), a struggling artist who is obsessed with Van Gogh.  Apparently, Jack once even pretended to cut off his ear.  Casey discovers that Wilson did paint the forgery but that he was manipulated by a crooked art dealer named Cors1 (Edgar Stehli).  When Casey confronts Corsi, he threatens to shoot her.  Casey responds by threatening to take a dagger to the real Starry Night.  And then Wilson shows up and grabs Corsi’s gun.  With Corsi off to jail, Casey looks at the camera and encourages everyone to go to their local museum and see a real Van Gogh.

Oh, how I wanted to love this episode!  I really did.  I majored in Art History.  I love Van Gogh.  This episode should have been right up my alley.  And there were some parts of the episode that I really did appreciate.  During her investigation, Casey goes to Greenwich Village and we get some on-location footage of a 1950s art fair.  We get to see some real-life beatniks!  I enjoyed that.

Unfortunately, the rest of the episode doesn’t really live up to its promise.  It’s not a particularly well-acted episode.  Edgar Stehli plays Corsi as being obviously sinister from the start and Ray Reinhardt seems to be mildly channeling every single crazed artist cliche that has ever existed.  If you’re going to make one of your characters a struggling artist obsessed with Van Gogh, you can either portray him as a realistic, undiscovered painter or you can go totally over-the-top and have him actually cut off his ear.  This episode tries to go for the middle ground and, as such, it’s never as interesting as it should have been.

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 4.4 “Down and Out in Bulls Stadium”

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.

Episode 4.4 “Down and Out In Bulls Stadium”

(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on October 26th, 1988)

The first game of the year is approaching and the Bulls, now owned by the Dobbs Corporation, have got a lot to deal with.

Mad Dog has to explain to an aspiring cheerleader (Christie Claridge) that he no longer has the power to make her a Bullette, despite the fact that he promised that he would do so when he was trying to get her to sleep with him.

New quarterback Doug Clayton (Scott Geyer) has to prove that he can lead the team, despite having a reputation for being an intellectual. Doug gave up a Rhodes scholarship so that he could play professional football. That doesn’t sound that smart, to be honest. I mean, will Oxford still be willing to give Doug a chance after he’s suffered twenty concussions?

TD Parker (OJ Simpson) must now work for the Dobbs Corporation, despite previously criticizing the corporation for not promoting enough minorities. TD explains to the press that he and the new owners came to an agreement. He also mentions that the corporation agreed to pay him a lot of money. So, I guess TD’s days as a radical labor leader have been slashed short.

Finally, after Bubba and Jethro spot him living in a parking lot and wiping windshields for a living, they convince TD to hire Joe Hearns (Harold Sylvester) as a defensive coach. Hearns was once a linebacker, which I guess is a defensive position. His career came to an end when he crippled a wide receiver. As a defensive coach, Hearns is a wash. At one point, he nearly runs out onto the field to tackle an opposing player. To me, that would indicate that Hearns has some mental issues and poor impulse control. To Coach Denardo, it means that Joe should be playing instead of coaching. Hearns returns to the lineup and promptly starts to have nightmares about the player he crippled.

Here’s the important thing, though. Doug leads the Bulls to victory in their first game and he makes it a point to praise defensive players like Mad Dog and Dr. Death. Tim Yinessa? Who needs him! Team Doug all the way!

This episode …. actually, it wasn’t that bad. I will admit that I laughed when Hearns had a vision of a wheelchair-bound football player rolling straight at him but that’s just because it was such an absurd image. Harold Sylvester actually gave a pretty good performance as the emotionally damaged, guilt-ridden Joe Hearns. I’m interested in seeing what the show is going to do with the Hearns character and Doug is far more interesting quarterback than the somewhat whiny Yinessa.

This season might be okay!

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 7.23 “Side by Side/A Fish Out of Water/Rub Me Tender”

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 Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986!  The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!

This week, we have a very odd cruise indeed.

Episode 7.23 “Side by Side/A Fish Out of Water/Rub Me Tender”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on March 10th, 1984)

When the ship’s masseuse abruptly quits, Gopher is forced to make a split-second decision.  He hires Dorrie Butterworth (Mandy Perryment) as a replacement but, because he had to do so at the last minute, he doesn’t get a chance to tell Captain Stubing about it.  When Stubing meets Dorrie and invites her to dine at the Captain’s Table, Dorrie assumes that it’s all a part of the job.  When Dorrie wants to give the Captain a massage, he assumes that it’s her way of flirting.  (Myself, I always find it weird that, on every cruise, the Captain always seems to be struggling to find a date.  I mean, he’s the Captain!)  Gopher is worried that he’ll get in trouble for hiring Dorrie without telling the Captain ahead of time.  Instead, once Captain Stubing learns the truth, Dorrie is hired full time.

Yay!  Dorrie’s a new member of the crew!  I wonder if we’ll ever see her again.  Probably not.

(Don’t laugh.  Ace joined the crew two episodes ago but he’s nowhere to be seen in this episode.)

Edna Miles (Glynis Johns) boards the ship with her teenage grandson, Toby (Rossie Harris).  Everyone is charmed by how attentive Toby is to his grandmother.  Toby tells Doc that his grandmother is dying and he wants her to enjoy her final days.  However, when Doc talks to Edna, she reveals the truth.  Toby is the one who is dying, though he doesn’t realize it.  I’m not sure how you wouldn’t realize that but whatever. It was a sad and sweet development.  Toby thought he was comforting his grandmother during her final days but instead the opposite was true.  Still, someone really should let Toby know the truth at some point….

Finally, Allen (Ed Begley, Jr.) boards the ship and confesses to Isaac that he doesn’t know how to talk to women.  Isaac assures him that everyone finds love on the Love Boat.  After recovering from an accidental blow to the head, Allen wanders into the ship’s cargo hold and discovers that there’s a mermaid named Cora (Mary Crosby) being transported in a crate.  Allen sets Cora free and they have a nice romance on the boat.  But when Allen realizes that Cora is going to die if she doesn’t get back in the water, he tosses her overboard.

And then he wakes up!  It turns out that it was all a dream!  Wait — does that mean everything else that happened on this episode was just a dream as well?  Maybe that kid really isn’t dying!  Unfortunately, it turns out that the kid is still dying but Allen does meet a woman who looks just like Cora, except she’s not a mermaid.

Not many shows would have the courage to combine a story about a terminally ill child with a comedy about a shy man and a mermaid.  The Love Boat, however, did.  This was an odd episode.  The tone was all over the place.  The kid made me want to cry and the mermaid thing made me laugh because, even when it came to something as silly as this, Ed Begley, Jr. knew how to deliver a comedic line.  The two stories should not have existed anywhere near each other but they did.

As a result, this was a great cruise!  Seriously, The Love Boat is at its best when it breaks the rules.

Finally, I should slso note that, on the How Coked Up Was Julie Scale, this episode scores only a 5 out of 10.  Who needs cocaine when you’ve got mermaids and terminal illnesses to deal with?

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 4.6 “Silver Dollar”

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 Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Pacific Blue, a cop show that aired from 1996 to 2000 on the USA Network!  It’s currently streaming everywhere, though I’m watching it on Tubi.

This week, gamblers are causing trouble on campus! It’s time to send in an undercover bike cop!

Episode 4.6 “Silver Dollar”

(Dir by Scott Lautanen, originally aired on August 30th, 1998)

At the local college, a bookie is trying to fix games and having his henchwoman beat up the students and the teachers who owe him money. The funny thing about the bookie’s enforcer is that she wears all black and a translucent top and she is constantly kicking people in the face but no one ever seems to notice her. I mean, I can still remember how, during the fourth season of The Wire, Wee-Bey Bice got angry at his son Namond for having a different haircut from all the other members of his crew. Wee-Bey said that you never want to give the police an easy way to spot you in a lineup and that really does make sense. I get the feeling that Pacific Blue might not be as realistic as The Wire was.

Anyway, this is yet another episode where a bike cop goes undercover. This time, recovering gambler Russ is sent undercover to take down the bookies and he’s given $500 of the department’s money to play with. This seems like a terrible idea. Cory eventually figures out that it’s a terrible idea and she spends the entire episode randomly showing up and yelling at Russ about his attitude. Eventually, Cory gets so mad that she beats Russ up. “That was so badass!” Russ says and it was kind of. That said, I do have to wonder about the fact that all of the members of Pacific Blue really do seem to hate each other. They’re always getting into fights or yelling at each other. It takes a lot of charisma to pull off the whole “renegade who does things his way” schtick and, as a character, Russ really doesn’t have it. Unfortunately, Cory doesn’t really have the charisma to pull off the “boss who demands results” thing eitehr.

My point is that this was a boring episode, Russ is a boring character. His roommate, Jamie, is even more boring. The whole subplot about Russ having a lucky silver dollar felt idiotic. For all the time that was spent on Russ trying not to blow his cover, it’s debatable whether or not his police work really had that much to do with taking down the bad guys. Instead, Cory just showed up and beat everyone up. That’s one way to get results. And it actually makes a lot more sense than assigning a bike cop to work undercover.

Why are bike cops going undercover? Aren’t they just supposed to be handing out tickets? On a good day, it appears that there are only seven members of the bike patrol so can they really afford for one of them to go a week without riding his bike? Seriously, is this any way to keep Los Angeles safe?

None of this would happen if Spencer Pratt was mayor.

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.5 “Squash It”

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 Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Saved By The Bell: The New Class, which ran on NBC from 1993 to 2o00.  The show is currently on Prime.

Hey, it’s time for yet another school carnival!

Episode 2.5 “Squash It”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 25th, 1994)

Because no one at this school actually has to go to class or anything, it’s time for the annual Bayside carnival!  Who will win the prize for best booth?

Will it be Tommy and Lindsay’s kissing booth?  Neither Tommy nor Lindsay are happy about the idea of either one of them kissing anyone else.  So why did they agree to a kissing booth in the first place?

Will it be Rachel and Brian’s dunk tank?  When Belding comes down with a cold, Brian takes Belding’s place as the dunkee.  Everyone wants to dunk Brian because he’s spent a week deliberately insulting everyone.  However, Brian has rigged the tank so he won’t fall in the water.  “You forgot to release the safety!”  Belding says, not realizing that there’s a reason for that.  Uh-oh.  Soon, Brian is soaked and the audience is saying, “Woooo!”

Will it be Megan and Bobby’s mind-reading booth?  Let’s hope not because that’s really dumb.  Bobby also has to remove his mind-reading turban so he can fight a bully.  Fortunately, Screech has taught him karate!

I know this all sounds terrible but this is actually a pretty cute episode.  Instead of being Screech-centered, this episode actually allows every member of the cast to have at least one moment to shine.  (I hate to keep pointing this out but the season 2 cast has a far more appealing chemistry than the season 1 cast.)  Even Screech teaching Bobby karate is amusing.  There’s nothing subtle about Dustin Diamond’s performance but, for once, the broad humor actually works.  Add to that, Bobby learns how to fight but then he chooses not to.  Hey, that’s actually a good lesson, even if it is a bit anticlimatic.

We never learn who wins the Best Booth prize.  I would have given it to Brian and Rachel.  They’re a cute couple, even if they’re not technically dating.  (It also helps if you don’t think about the fact that there was a 8 year age-difference between the actors.)

All in all, this was a good episode.  I’m as shocked as anyone.