For tonight’s Halloween on television, we have the story of four aliens who came to Earth on Halloween and search for candy for their planet. After an initial misunderstanding, two kids help the aliens in their search. It’s sweet!
This was directed by Savage Steve Holland of Better Off Dead fame and it originally aired on October 28th, 1991.
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 Hulu and, for purchase, on Prime!
This week, Victor gets married!
Episode 2.13 “In Sickness and In Health”
(Dir by Mark Tinker, originally aired on February 8th, 1984)
This week’s episode features three storylines.
The least interesting one features Joan Halloran’s father, Charlie Halloran (William Windom), being admitted to and eventually dying at St. Eligius. The entire Halloran family comes out to visit Charlie and this is one of the storylines that would have worked better if I had the slightest bit of interest in Joan or her family. For the most part, though, Joan is a boring character and her wealthy family is not that interesting. I got the feeling this storyline was mostly included to remind us that Joan is a character on the show. We really have seen much of her over the past few episodes.
Dr. Chandler trained for the Boston Marathon by running the route in the rain. A car ran him off the road. A dog chased him. An attractive woman flirted with him. (He is Denzel Washington, after all!) And he finally reached the finish line and nearly collapsed while imagining everyone cheering for him.
Finally, Ehrlich married Roberta. The wedding took place at Dr. Craig’s house. Dogger (Kevin Scannell) was the best man and turned out to be just as crude as you might expect someone named Dogger to be. Dr. Craig was disgusted by the whole thing. Roberta got cold feet after her mother confessed to having never loved her father. However, Dr. Craig’s abrasive mother-in-law (Lurene Tuttle) was there to order Roberta to take a chance and marry the man who she might eventually come to love. This marriage is so obviously doomed. I’m predicting Ehrlich will be divorced before the season ends.
This episode really didn’t work. Dr. Chandler training for the Boston Marathon finally gave Denzel Washington something to do but the storyline excuse was mostly just an excuse to do some Boston location shooting. The Halloran storyline didn’t work because the Hallorans themselves aren’t that interesting. And, after all the build-up, the wedding was a bit anti-climatic.
They can’t all be winners.
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, the fourth season premiere concludes.
Episode 4.2 “Man’s Best Friend Part 2”
(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on September 23rd, 1987)
Picking up where last week’s episode, this episode opens with Alex (Danny Pintauro) visiting Jake the Siberian Husky at the big home that Jake shares with Jenny (Elisabeth Harnois), her grandfather (William Schallert), and her parents, Paul (Stan Ivar) and Michelle Raines (Laurie Walters).
Yay!
Alex’s attitude improves so much that it’s decided to move him into a foster home.
Uhmm….what about the Raines family?
The surrogate hired to carry Paul and Michelle’s baby loses the baby. Paul and Michelle are heartbroken.
Uhmm….hey, I think Alex needs a family….
Jenny gives Jake to Alex.
Awwww!
Alex’s foster family lives in a building that doesn’t allow pets.
Oh no!
Alex and Jake run away and, after nearly dying in the desert, they end up with the Raines family’s home.
I see where this is going….
If you guessed that Paul and Michelle announce that they’re going to adopt Alex and that Jake is going to continue to live with them on the ranch, congratulations! You could have been a Highway to Heaven writer!
This episode didn’t make me cry as much as last week’s, mostly because it was pretty easy to see where things were heading from the beginning. Even when Alex and Jake were lost in the desert, I knew they would be okay because this is Highway to Heaven. Children and their adorable dogs don’t die on this show. (Except, of course, for those two times that they did. Actually, three times, now that I think about it.) That said, I was still relieved when Jake was rescued because seriously, that dog was adorable!
This was a good conclusion to last week’s episode. Everything worked out for the best. At the end of the episode, Mark said that he understood why “they call them man’s best friend.” Michael nodded and then said, a little sadly, “Shouldn’t man’s best friend be …. man?”
You tell ’em, Hippie Angel!
You tell them.
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, we start the fourth season of Highway to Heaven. This episode features orphans and dogs! I feel the tears coming….
Episode 4.1 “Man’s Best Friend Part One”
(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on September 16th, 1987)
Oh, this episode made me cry and cry.
Why? Well, for a couple of reasons….
First off, Jonathan and Mark got new jobs working at a kennel. Many of the dogs at the kennel had been abandoned by their owners and Ms. Lil (Fran Ryan) took care of them all, rather than taking them to the pound. And listen, I’m not a dog person. I’m a cat person. We all know this. But seriously, those dogs were adorable!
A Siberian husky named Jake gets lost. After running across the interstate (gasp!), he finds himself alone at night. Coyotes approach. (OH NO!) Suddenly, Jonathan appears and turns into a lion, scaring the coyotes off. (*sniff* *sniff* I’m okay.)
Every few days, Lil takes the dogs down to the local orphanage — (OH MY GOD!) — and lets them play with the orphans. Jake, now a part of the kennel crew, begs young Alex (Danny Pintauro, who had a much worse experience with a dog in Cujo) to play with him. Alex is shy and introverted but Jake quickly becomes his best friend. Alex starts to come out of his shell and says that he knows he’ll never be separated from Jake. For the first time in his young life, Alex is happy.
(Oh dear.)
The local media does a story on Lil and her dogs. They take a picture of Alex and Jake. The next morning, a young girl named Jenny (Elisabeth Harnois) sees the picture and recognizes Jake. For the past month, she’s been desperately looking for Jake!
(This isn’t good….)
Jenny and her grandfather (William Schallert) pick Jake up from the kennel. Jonathan has to go to the orphanage and tell Alex that his best friend is no longer going to be visiting him.
(Sorry, give me a minute.)
Alex is depressed. Jake is depressed. Jonathan shows at Jenny’s home and asks if Alex can come and visit Jake. Jenny and grandpa say yes. (YAY!)
Suddenly, three dreaded words appear on the screen: “TO BE CONTINUED”
What!? No, there’s no need to continue. Alex and Jake have been reunited, let’s end the story here….
This episode was Highway to Heaven at its most earnest, manipulative, and effective. Not only did it feature orphans but also an adorable dog and William Schallert as a genial authority figure. There was also a subplot about Jenny’s parents trying to have another child with a surrogate and I’m sure that has something to do with that promise of “TO BE CONTINUED.”
Nothing better happen to the dog!
Through the Shattered Lens 