Tag Archives: television

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 6.13 “High Times”

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 Mondays, I will be reviewing CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983.  The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!

This week, Bruce goes to back to high school.

Episode 6.13 “High Times”

(Dir by Phil Bondelli, originally aired at January 16th, 1983)

The Highway Patrol is investigating a series of car thefts.  At the scene of the latest theft, they discover several video games token that can only be used at an arcade that sits near a private school.  The auto shop teacher at the school is John Casey (Jim Brown), a former car thief-gone-straight.  Ponch and Bobby decide to have Bruce go undercover as a new student.

Not surprisingly, this makes no sense.  First off, Bruce is just a cadet.  He hasn’t graduated from the Police Academy yet.  So, really, it’s debatable whether or not he would even be allowed to do undercover work.  Secondly, it was established during his first appearance that Bruce is something of celebrity.  He’s the national speedway champion.  When he won the championship, his picture was on the front page of the paper, along with an announcement that he planned on becoming a cop.  When Bruce shows up at the school, he’s riding his motorcycle and he does a bunch of tricks in the parking lot.  It’s as if he wants his cover to be blown!

This was a weird episode.  Danny Bonaduce shows up as a student but he doesn’t have anything to do with the car theft plot.  (Apparently, he’s not playing the gang leader that he twice played during the previous seasons.)  Instead, he just dances in the hallway and is elected king of the Grease Hop.  (That’s a school dance where everyone dresses like a character from Grease.)  The rest of the student body rolls around on roller skates.  As for the thieves, they’re pretty easy to identify.  Benny (Andrew J. Lederer) wears glasses and is in debt to some gamblers and is constantly dropping tokens all over the place.  Matt (Jon Caliri) is the tough guy who doesn’t see why the tokens are so important to Benny.  They’re working not for Mr. Casey but instead for Coach Hutton (Bruce Bauer).

This was a strangely insubstantial episode, even by the standards of CHiPs.  So much time was spent on Bonaduce and his friends acting silly in the halls that one got the feeling that the production team was fantasizing about doing any show other than another episode of CHiPs.

Probably the most surprising thing about this episode is that Bruce went undercover as a high school student instead of Ponch.

Horror on TV: FreakyLinks 1.13 “The Final Word” (dir by David Straiton)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this, the final episode of Freakylinks, Ethan Embry and the team try to prove that a murder was actually a supernatural occurrence.  Their efforts are recorded for a true crime television show.  The mockumentary approach is reminiscent of The Blair With Project, which was done by the same people who were behind FreakyLinks.  So, there you go!

It’s too bad that there was never a Baywatch Nights/FreakyLinks cross-over.

Oh well.  This episode aired on June 22nd, 2001 and it brought to an end the story of Derek Barnes.

Retro Television Review: Crime Story 2.3 “Always A Blonde”

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 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 member of the Taskforce has an issue.

Episode 2.3 “Always A Blonde”

(Dir by Robert Dalva, originally aired on October 20th, 1987)

Since they apparently have nothing better to do, Torello and the members of the Task Force are trying to bust the Vegas marijuana syndicate. This episode opened with Torello and the boys at a jazz club and, at first, I was worried that Abrams would show up with his saxophone and start playing like he used to do during the first season. (Those scenes were always a bit cringey.)

Instead, the attempted jazz-club sting falls apart because the youngest member of the Task Force, Joey (Billy Campbell), leaves his post when he spots his high-school girlfriend, Doreen (Britta Phillips), walking along the Vegas Strip. It turns out that Doreen is now a prostitute who is working for a notoriously sadistic pimp named Ray Keech (Tony Maggio).

Last week, the Task Force put their actual job on hold so that they could help out Torello’s ex-wife. This week, they do it to help out Joey. When Ray discovers that Doreen is planning on leaving him, he murders her. This leads to a chase through Vegas and a well-shot scene where Joey beats up Ray with the city’s neon glowing behind them.

One thing that I’ve noticed about Crime Story is that, other than Torello and Abrams, the other members of the Task Force often come across as ciphers. We really don’t know much about them, beyond the fact that Joey is young, Danny is Torello’s best friend, Walter is old, and Nate once had a gambling problem. We don’t know much about their families, other than the fact that all of them were able to move from Chicago to Las Vegas without it being too much of an issue. We do know that they’re all loyal to Torello, sometimes to an almost cult-like degree. With this episode, we learn a little about Joey, but it’s still not really enough to make this rather predictable story compelling. If anything, this episode made Joey look totally unprofessional and erratic. Should he even be on the Task Force if he can’t even take part in a simple stakeout?

The absence of Luca and Pauli continues to be felt. Is it really Crime Story if half of the story is missing?

Brad watches Robert F. Lyons in FREDDY’S NIGHTMARES: S2, E17 “Interior Loft Later.”

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Robert F. Lyons is one of my favorite character actors, and he turned 87 years old on October 17, 2026. One of the best nights of my life was when I was able to interview him, along with host Eric Todd, on the THIS WEEK IN CHARLES BRONSON PODCAST episode “Everyone calls me Bobby.” I mostly appreciate him based on his work with Bronson (DEATH WISH II, TEN TO MIDNIGHT, MURPHY’S LAW), but he’s got over 100 credits, and he’s given a lot of memorable performances in films and on TV over the years. As far as the horror genre, I generally think of his role as Skeeter Norris in THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW (1981). When I was looking through his filmography this week, I noticed he had guest-starred in an episode of FREDDY’S NIGHTMARES that premiered on February 4th, 1990. Having never watched an episode before, this seemed like the perfect time to check it out.

I only watched the first part of the episode in order to see Lyons, but his story concerns an obnoxious sculptor (Lyons) who fakes his own death to avoid prosecution after the accidental death of one of his models. This also has the added benefit of increasing the value of his work. He instructs his wife, who knows he’s really alive, to sell his remaining sculptures for the premium before they head to France and live out their lives in luxury. The narcissist that he is, he goes stir crazy cooped up in his loft apartment, even accusing his wife of having an affair. Unsurprisingly, things don’t go well for him in the end.

As I said earlier, this was my first episode of FREDDY’S NIGHTMARES. I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I did enjoy the nostalgia of seeing Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) host the episode, even if his comments were a little corny. I don’t want to speak for the entire series, but based on this one episode alone, the story seemed designed to teach our protagonist a thing or two about the right way to treat people. Despite his artistic talent, our lead was selfish, jealous, bitter, and abusive to everyone around him, and he learned a valuable, but deadly lesson. I enjoyed Lyons’ performance, and I thought Fabiana Udenio was extremely sexy as his wife. I mean seriously, the guy should have been thanking God that he had her rather than treating her like crap. This being the early 90s, he had an earring in his left ear and a cute little ponytail, but he truly is a jerk and Lyons went all in as he always seemed to in his best performances.

I’m glad I watched this episode, even if I don’t necessarily have the desire to go back through the entire series. Lyons is good, and the story had a reasonable, if superficially manufactured, moral lesson for a guy who had treated the important people in his life kind of like property. If another episode catches my attention in the future, I’ll definitely give it a watch!

P.S. I’ve attached a link to our interview on TWICB just in case interviews with character actors like Lyons interest you. It was so much fun for me!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 3.15 “Accident Will Happen Part Two”

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 Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, we finish up the storyline that was started last week.  In other words, Degrassi goes there!

Episode 3.15 “Accidents Will Happen Part Two”

(Dir by Eleanore Lindo, originally aired on February 9th, 2004)

Manny is pregnant and frightened. Craig, however, is overjoyed and can’t wait to be a father at 15. During their lunch period, Craig shows up with a book of baby names. When Ashley sees and hears Craig and Manny debating what they should name the baby, she immediately figures out what has happened. She then proceeds to announce it to the entire cafeteria.

Craig is still enthusiastic about being a father, but Manny is having doubts. When Emma briefly leaves Manny and Craig alone with Baby Jack, Craig freaks out over having to change the baby’s diaper. Manny realizes that if Craig can’t handle that, he can’t handle being a father. She decides to get an abortion. Both Emma and Craig are upset by Manny’s decision. Emma, who knows that her mother considered getting an abortion when she was pregnant, feels that Manny should give the baby up for adoption. Craig still thinks that he and Manny can raise the child themselves. But Manny says that she can’t handle the idea of giving birth and that she’s too young to be a mom. In the end, Emma supports Manny’s right to make her own decision, even if she doesn’t agree with it.

As much as I complain about Emma as a character, Degrassi deserves a lot of credit for how this episode portrays her reaction to Manny’s decision to get an abortion. Emma’s opposition to abortion is treated respectfully, and the episode allows the viewers to make up their own minds about the issue while also making it clear that neither Manny nor Craig was mature enough to raise a child. It’s the type of thing that Degrassi did so well in its early seasons. (Unfortunately, later seasons would be a bit more heavy-handed when it came to dealing with issues like abortion.)

Unfortunately, this episode’s nuanced and intelligent take on abortion is matched with one of the worst B-plots in Degrassi history. After JT tells Liberty that he will never like her and that it’s time for her to get over her crush, Liberty shifts her attention over to Sean. When Sean and Liberty are assigned to work together on a class assignment, Liberty starts trying to act “tough” to win Sean’s interest. Of course, for Liberty, this means dressing up and talking like a minor character in Grease. Eventually, Sean says, “You’re as edgy as a butter knife,” and Liberty is crushed once again. However, it turns out that Sean’s friend, Towerz (Travis Donegan), likes smart girls. So, Liberty finally gets a boyfriend!

Oh, this was just embarrassing to watch. I felt bad for everyone involved. Not only was Liberty made to look like a crazed stalker, but the idea of her dating Towerz—who is a part of the crew that’s been stealing supplies from the school—made no sense at all. It didn’t help that all of this played out in between scenes of Cassie Steele and Miriam McDonald doing some of the best work that they ever did on Degrassi.

This episode was considered to be so controversial that it didn’t even air in the States until 2006, two years after it originally aired in Canada.

Horror on TV: FreakyLinks 1.11 “Live Fast Die You” (dir by David Barrett)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On tonight’s episode of FreakyLinks, Ethan Embry and the crew investigate real-life adrenaline vampires!  Agck!

This episode features appearances from Jeffrey Combs, Dennis Christopher, Paige Moss, and Eric Baflour!

This episode originally aired on June 1st, 2001.

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 6.8 “All is Bright”

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 Sundays, I will be reviewing Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC!  It  can be viewed on Peacock.

It’s Christmas in Baltimore.

Episode 6.8 “All Is Bright”

(Dir by Matt Reeves, originally aired on December 12th, 1997)

It’s the holidays!  Falsone (ugh) is still talking about suing to get custody of his kids.  (Seriously, Falsone — either do it or shut up about it.  We already had to go through this crap with Felton a few seasons ago.)  Lewis and Kellerman are worrying about whether or not Georgia Rae has footage of Kellerman executing Luther Mahoney.  Bayliss is suddenly making out with Cox at the Christmas party.  Well, why shouldn’t he?  It’s impossible to go in a bar or even a shop in Baltimore without running into Dr. Cox.

Meanwhile, Gharty and Ballard are investigating the murder of man in a laundromat.  Someone beat him to death and poured bleach down his throat.  It turns out that the man was HIV+ and he infected a woman named Rita (the great Kathryne Erbe).  Rita is now visibly sick and dying while the man who infected her wasn’t showing any signs of being sick at all.  Rita’s guilt is never really in question.  The issue is that Ballard feels sorry for Rita and understands her anger while the older and more-traditionally minded Gharty sees her as just being another murderer.  It’s a pretty simple story but Callie Thorne and Peter Gerety sold it.  The fact that Gharty is obviously in love with Ballard adds a whole other level of meaning to their scenes together.

Speaking of love, Munch’s ex-wife Gwen (Carol Kane) showed up at the bar and recruited Munch to help with her mother’s funeral.  Only real-life author Peter Maas showed up for the ceremony.  Munch, of course, asked Gwen about Lennie Briscoe.  Belzer and Kane were a great team.  I’m a bit disappointed that there was apparently never a Munch/Gwen spin-off.

Watching Gharty and Ballard provided a needed relief from all of the Falsone-centered episodes that I’ve had to sit through recently.  This was a simple episode but a good one.

Brad reviews John Carpenter’s SOMEONE’S WATCHING ME! (1978)

Posted on by Bradley Crain

In my latest quest for a scary movie that looks interesting and that I haven’t seen, I came across the title SOMEONE’S WATCHING ME! from 1978. I did what I always do and did a quick search on IMDb to find out a little more about the film. I was definitely surprised when I saw that it was directed by John Carpenter, and that it premiered on television in November of 1978 a couple of weeks after his classic HALLOWEEN hit theaters. The film had been referred to as the “lost Carpenter film,” because for several decades it was not available on home video. For many years in the 80s and early 90s, I’d scour the shelves at my local video stores looking for that special find that I’d call a diamond in the rough. As I got older and married, whenever we’d go to Dallas, I’d head to the Movie Trading Company and scour their shelves searching for the same. Being a big fan of Carpenter, especially ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, and VAMPIRES, it was like I had found that lost jewel, and I couldn’t wait to fire it up.

Lauren Hutton stars as Leigh Michaels, a television director who moves into a high-rise apartment building in Los Angeles. She’s starting a new job and a new life, but things take on a creepy and scary turn when she begins receiving mysterious phone calls and unwanted gifts and letters. Before long, Leigh realizes that someone is watching her every move. Even worse, the police don’t seem very interested in helping her, leaving her to figure out who’s stalking her and what she can do to stop him.

First off, I really enjoyed Lauren Hutton as the lead in the film, which was a bit of a revelation for me. I remember her as the Countess in the 80s vampire comedy ONCE BITTEN, but I mainly remember that one because it was an early leading role for Jim Carrey. I’ve seen her in a lot of movies, but her characters had not stood out much to me. Here, as the focus of the movie, she’s likable, sexy and has this cute running dialogue with herself as she goes about her days. When bad things start happening, she’s not some helpless victim waiting for somebody else to rescue her, either. She’s smart, independent, and even tough enough to take matters into her own hands when she has to.

I also appreciate what John Carpenter is doing here as the writer and the director. A couple of years earlier, he had effectively played off of Howard Hawks with ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13. This time he’s riffing on Alfred Hitchcock, especially movies like REAR WINDOW and VERTIGO. He accomplishes this through his settings, some of his shots, character traits, and especially, the building of tension. His premise is simple, but the idea that someone could be invading our privacy with bad intentions is a scary thought to all of us, and this movie takes it to the extreme. The screenplay builds on this natural fear with enough info that we realize our likable star is in true danger, and that was enough to draw me in. It also helps that I’m a sucker for these types of stories and characters. The made-for-TV limitations on the project are here, but Carpenter’s talent is also very evident. From the first moment I saw a shadowy character dash behind our heroine while she’s on the phone in her apartment, I knew he was going to have some fun with me. He would make me jump and my heart skip a beat several times over the course of the film’s 97 minutes.

It was also fun seeing some of the important actors and actresses that Carpenter has worked with over the years pop up in the movie. Adrienne Barbeau is especially likable and beautiful as Leigh’s friend and coworker, Sophie. She has this big smile and way about her that I found very appealing. She’s also a lesbian, which was probably a fairly unusual TV movie character trait at the time. Barbeau and Carpenter met on the set of this film and would get married less than a year later, on January 1st, 1979. Charles Cyphers, who’s so good as Sheriff Leigh Brackett in the HALLOWEEN series, shows up in the last half hour as the somewhat sympathetic Detective Gary Hunt. Cyphers also had a small, but pivotal role with Charles Bronson in DEATH WISH II, so I always enjoy seeing him on screen.

I’m not going to sit here and say that SOMEONE’S WATCHING ME! is as good as Carpenter’s classic theatrical features, but for me it was a fun discovery, and I really had a good time with it. The Hitchcock flourishes and Hutton’s excellent performance as our heroine, combined with Carpenter’s obvious talents as a writer and director, provided me with the kind of rare cinematic jewel that I had not found in a long time.