Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 2.10 “Do You Know Where Your Kids Are?”


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, we get a sequel to a previous episode.

Episode 2.10 “Do You Know Where Your Kids Are?”

(Dir by Bill Froehlich, originally aired on December 10th, 1989)

In this sequel to Bloodlines, an episode that I didn’t particularly care for, Patty Burton (Courtney Gebhart) is still locked up in the basement of the Burton home.  When college student Lisa Wax (Suzanne Tara) comes over to babysit little Will Burton (Christopher Finefrok), she is not happy to learn that there is apparently a crazy woman in the basement. Lisa keeps falling asleep and having nightmares about being dragged into the basement.  Then, she actually is dragged into the basement and Patty, who now looks like Lisa, escapes. By an amazing coincidence, Patty ends up at Lisa’s house, where Lisa’s mom (Sharon Farrell) assumes that Patty is Lisa.  When the real Lisa manages to escape from the basement, she shows up at home and is shot and killed by her own mother.  Patty then returns to her home and exiles her parents (Chris Nash and Jeannine Lewis) to the basement.  The episode ends with Patty approaching Will.

Yikes!

This was a dark episode.  I wouldn’t necessarily say it was scary.  The scenes where Lisa (hey, that’s my name!) hears Patty in the basement are so overdone that they inspired more laughter than chills.  But the idea of someone stealing your identity and then getting your own mother to shoot you because she doesn’t recognize you?  That’s definitely creepy!

As for the ending …. I never liked the Burtons.  I didn’t like them in Bloodlines and I didn’t like them here.  I feel bad for Will but the parents?  They got what they deserved.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Good Morning Miss Bliss 1.11 “Stevie”


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 Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which ran on the Disney Channel from 1988 to 1989 before then moving to NBC and being renamed Saved By The Bell.  The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!

This is perhaps the dumbest episode of this show yet.

Episode 1.11 “Stevie”

(Dir by Burt Brinckerhoff, originally aired March 4th, 1989)

The world’s most popular pop singer (Suzanna Tara) is performing at her old middle school, JFK Junior High!  The world knows her as Stevie but Miss Bliss still calls her “Colleen Morton.”  Since Colleen/Stevie’s parents are no longer living in Indiana, Miss Bliss suggests that Stevie should stay with her.  Stevie agrees because, when you’re a millionaire who can literally stay anywhere, why wouldn’t you want to stay with a condescending middle school teacher?

During her concert, Stevie will be singing to one student who will join her on stage.  Zach wants to be that student, especially since he’s made a bet that he’ll kiss Stevie before the week ends.  Zach sends Stevie a letter, claiming to be terminally ill.  Stevie is touched.  Mr. Belding is touched.  Miss Bliss sees right through Zach and exposes him for being a liar.

When Zach goes to Miss Bliss’s house to apologize, he meets Colleen.  Like Zach, Colleen is also a damn liar and claims to be Miss Bliss’s niece.  Zach and Colleen talk about how Stevie is retiring to go to college.  Zach thinks that is crazy and I agree.  Colleen kisses Zach on the cheek.

Later, watching Stevie sing to Screech, Zach realizes who she is.  “I kissed Stevie!” he shouts.  Nikki tells him to get bent.

This was an annoying episode.  I could buy the idea of Stevie wanting to perform at her old high school but seriously, who would ever want to return to middle school?  Who remembers their middle school teachers?  Who would want to stay with Miss Bliss?  Add to that, this was yet another episode of Good Morning Miss Bliss that was so poorly lit that I almost went blind from the glare of Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s hair.

This whole thing was just dumb.