Retro Television Review: Crime Story 2.4 “Atomic Fallout”

Posted on October 26, 2026 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 Mondays, I will be reviewing Crime Story, which ran on NBC from 1986 to 1988. The entire show can be found on Tubi!

This week, a major player returns! Actually, two major players….

Episode 2.4 “Atomic Fallout”

(Dir by Bill Duke, originally aired on October 27th, 1987)

Two new members of the Task Force, who were assigned to keep an eye on Max Goldman, are discovered dead and burned to a crisp at a landing strip in the desert. At the same time, a scientist who is suspected of being a serial killer disappears from Las Vegas just as Torello is on the verge of arresting him.

Torello immediately assumes that the two things are connected. Unfortunately, the Atomic Energy Commission wants Torello to back off on his investigation of Dr. Gantman (George Bartenieff), the scientist-turned-serial killer. Gantman is working on a special project for the government. Torello and the Task Force head to Mexico to capture him anyway.

Torello isn’t the only Vegas resident in Mexico. Manny Weisbord is visiting Mexican crime boss Jorge Senterro (Ismael “East” Carlo). Two old friends of Manny’s are currently living with Senterro, and I bet you can already guess who they are.

That’s right! LUCA AND PAULI LIVE!

Despite having found themselves on a nuclear testing site at exactly the wrong time, Pauli and Luca survived. Pauli appears to be no worse for the experience. Luca, meanwhile, has only recently had his bandages removed. His back is scarred. Weisbord watches as Luca receives a shot from a very large hypodermic needle held by a chain-smoking doctor. Luca has survived, but he’s changed. He’s no longer content with building a national crime syndicate. Luca tells Manny that he’s planning on going international.

Weisbord is impressed with Luca’s ambition. However, he’s considerably less happy to learn that Luca and Senterro have teamed up to smuggle heroin into the United States. Weisbord has always been opposed to getting involved in the drug trade. Luca used to be opposed as well, but, as he explains it, drugs are where the money is going to be in the future. When Weisbord says that dealing drugs will cause the Justice Department to come after him, Luca says that he’s being protected by the U.S. government. The implication is obvious. The time of honorable crime bosses like Manny Weisbord has come to an end. Luca is the future.

While Luca is talking to Weisbord, Torello and his men are tracking down Dr. Gantman. They find him in a small safehouse, protected by Mexican soldiers. After a gunfight with the soldiers (and one has to wonder how that’s not going to become a diplomatic incident), Torello bursts in on Gantman just as he’s about to murder another woman. Torello guns the scientist down, and whatever information Gantman may have had about what the U.S. government is doing in Mexico dies with him.

In the episode’s final scene, Lt. Col. Milton Dance (Richard Zobel) meets with Luca and Pauli. Luca mentions that he heard about Gantman’s death and asks who was responsible. Dance replies that it was no one that Luca would know. Dance then hands Luca and Pauli their passports so that they can return to the United States.

This episode was a true treat for those of us who are interested in conspiracy theories. Dr. Gantman brought to mind the Nazi rocket scientists who were recruited by the CIA after World War II and who eventually ended up working for NASA. Luca working for the government would be implausible if not for the fact that the CIA and the Mafia actually did work together in the early ’60s to try to assassinate Fidel Castro. This episode was full of atomic imagery. When Luca talked about surviving the nuclear test, there was a quick flashback to a mushroom cloud rising over the desert. Torello and his men enjoy hanging out at a bar decorated with neon signs of mushroom clouds. A picture of a mushroom cloud was prominently displayed in Gantman’s house. This episode was all about atomic-age paranoia.

Best of all, Luca and Pauli are back. The first few episodes of the second season suffered because Torello himself seemed directionless without Luca to pursue. With this episode, we know that Luca is returning. Torello might not know it, but we know it.

And I can’t wait to see what happens!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Hunter 1.6 “Flight of the Dead Pigeon”

Posted on May 21, 2026 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, Hunter searches for a pigeon.

Episode 1.6 “Flight of the Dead Pigeon”

(Dir by Michael Preece, originally aired on November 9th, 1984)

When a little girl (Marissa Mendenhall) shows up at the police station and asks for Hunter’s help in finding her stolen carrier pigeons, Hunter’s like, “Buzz off, kid!” However, when it turns out that the girl’s uncle was a degenerate gambler and that he was thrown off the roof of a building by the mob, Hunter and McCall get involved. It turns out that the Mexican cartels want to use the pigeons to carry drugs into America. Because the little girl is the only one who knows how to train the pigeons, they want to kidnap her as well….

Yeah, this was a pretty dumb episode. I don’t doubt that pigeons could be used to smuggle drugs but I do doubt that any successful criminal organization would go through all the trouble that they go to in this episode. There are far simpler ways to smuggle drugs. I’m also sure they could have found someone to train the pigeons without abducting a child. Hunter and McCall are able to rescue the girl and the episode ends with her smiling cheerfully as she’s sent into foster care.

“Hunter,” McCall asks, “have you ever wanted kids?”

“Nope,” Hunter replies.

“Me neither,” McCall says, not sounding particularly convincing.

What a sad ending! Seriously, if Hunter and McCall aren’t married by the end of this series, I will throw a fit. They’re totally meant for each other. Even in a kind of dumb episode like this one, their chemistry saves the day.

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 1.16 “The Count”

Posted on March 21, 2025 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 Hulu and, for purchase, on Prime!

It’s time to go under the knife in Boston.

Episode 1.16 “The Count”

(Dir by Kevin Hooks, originally aired March 8th, 1983)

Harold Beaumont (Michael Halsey), an adult film actor better known as The Count, has checked into St. Eligius. Of course, Dr. Samuels immediately recognizes him because Samuels is obsessed with porn. Dr. Annie Cavanero does not recognize him but, once she learns what he does for a living, she has to tell him that she finds his work to be offensive because Dr. Cavanero’s entire personality pretty much revolves around getting offended by stuff.

It’s not much of a plot. There’s a process server (William G. Schilling) who wants to serve the Count with a courts summons so Samuels and Cavanero help the Count hide and disguise his identity. It’s silly and dumb story that involves the two of the least likable members of the show’s regular cast.

Meanwhile, Dr. Wendy Armstrong (Kim Miyori) comes to suspect that one of the hospital’s heart surgeons, Dr. Larry Andrews (Peter Michael Goetz), is giving pacemakers to people who don’t actually need them. She takes her concerns to Dr. Craig. Craig, an old friend of Dr. Andrews, is initially dismissive but he later confronts Dr. Andrews and finds out that Armstrong was correct. Dr. Andrews explains that it takes a lot of money to fund his lifestyle. This story was an improvement over the Count but it perhaps would have had more power if it had been someone like Dr. Ehrlich who suspected that Dr. Andrews was giving people pacemakers that they don’t need. Ehrlich actually has a complicated relationship with Dr. Craig and his own less-than-stellar record as a resident would have added some ambiguity to storyline. Dr. Armstrong, on the other hand, has been portrayed as being hypercompetent and a bit self-righteous and, if we’re going to be honest, she’s kind of a boring character.

Speaking of Dr. Ehrlich, he is getting fed up with living with Fiscus. Howie Mandel is driving someone crazy? Who could have seen that coming?

This week’s episode was pretty forgettable. The story involving Dr. Andrews had potential but choosing to make the show’s least interesting characters the center of an entire episode was a decision that really didn’t pay off.