2018 in Review: 10 Good Things That I Saw On Television

Posted on January 19, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Moving right along with my look back at 2018, here are 10 good things that I saw on television.

Please note, I did not say that these were the ten “best” things on television in 2018. Instead, these are ten things that I enjoyed enough that, in January of 2019, they still pop to my mind whenever I ask myself, “What did I enjoy last year?” As always, this is just my opinion and you’re free to agree or disagree.

Got it? Okay, let’s go!

Showtime reran Twin Peaks: The Return

Okay, so maybe I’m cheating a little here. Twin Peaks: The Return originally aired in 2017. You may remember that, for about 6 months, the Shattered Lens essentially became a Twin Peaks fan site. Still, I can’t begin to describe how excited I was to discover that, over the course of a weekend, Showtime would be reairing the entire series. I binged every episode and I discovered that, even with the benefit of hindsight, it’s still one of the greatest shows of all time. Unfortunately, the Emmy voters did not agree. Bastards.

2. The Alienist

It took me a little while to really get into The Alienist but, once I did, I found myself growing obsessed with not only the sets and the costumes but the mystery as well! Daniel Bruhl, Luke Evans, and Dakota Fanning all did excellent work and I can’t wait for the sequel!

3. Jesus Christ Superstar Live

I was skeptical. I had my doubts. I thought I’d spend the entire two and a half hours rolling my eyes. Jesus Christ Superstar proved me wrong.

4. The Americans

One of the best shows on television went out on a high note.

5. Barry

Barry premiered on HBO and it quickly became a favorite of mine. While I agree that Bill Hader and Henry Winkler deserve all of the attention that they’ve received, I’d also say that Stephen Root continues to prove himself to be one of our greatest character actors.

6. Big Brother

The reality show that so many love to hate finally had another good season. Since I get paid to write about the show for another site, that made me happy. Seriously, some of the previous seasons were painful to watch so Big Brother 20 was a huge relief. (Plus, BB 20 inspired everyone’s favorite twitter game: “Will Julie Chen Moonves show up tonight?”)

7. Maniac

As much fun as it is to complain about Netflix, occasionally they justify the price of their existence by giving us something like Maniac.

8. You

Sometimes, I loved this show. Sometimes, I absolutely hated it. However, I was always intrigued and never bored. I can’t wait to see what happens during season 2.

9. Trust

For all the attention that was given to The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Trust was the best FX true crime series of 2018. Along with an intriguing story, it also featured great performances from Donald Sutherland, Hillary Swank, and Brendan Fraser. (Yes, Brendan Fraser.)

10. Westworld

I know a lot of people didn’t care much for the latest season of Westworld. I loved it and, in the end, isn’t that what really matters?

That’s it for television! Coming up next, it’s the entry in Lisa’s look back at 2018 that we’ve all been waiting for, my picks for the best 26 films of the year!

Lisa Looks Back At 2018

Here’s That Teaser for Season 8 of Game of Thrones!

Posted on January 13, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight, before the premier of the 3rd season of True Detective, HBO aired the teaser for eighth and final season of Game of Thrones.

Now, I’m not even going to try to pretend like I have some sort of special insight into what this teaser means. To be honest, I always struggle a bit when it comes to keeping up with who is plotting against who on Game of Thrones. Whenever I try to speculate about what’s happening on the show, I’m always proven wrong. Back during the first season, I even used to get Robb Stark confused with Jon Snow. Just try living that down….

Here’s what I will say. The trailer has a lot of atmosphere and it’s all appropriately ominous. If anyone’s still alive by the end of the show, I’ll be surprised. And, really, that’s the way it should be. The teaser takes place in a crypt and features a lot of death statues so even the teaser seems to be warning us that nobody’s going to get out of this season untouched.

Here’s the teaser:

In the past, HBO show have occasionally struggled during their final seasons. I’m never going to get over what happened to True Blood during its final season. Hopefully, Game of Thrones will be the exception to that rule.

As always, we’ll see what happens!

In Memoriam 2018: Film & Television – Behind the Cameras

Posted on December 26, 2018 by gary loggins

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Just a few hours after finishing the first part of this annual tribute, I learned Penny Marshall had passed away at age 75. Penny became a semi-regular on her producer-brother Garry’s sitcom THE ODD COUPLE, then shot to stardom in the HAPPY DAYS spinoff LAVERNE & SHIRLEY, costarring with Cindy Williams as a pair of working class Milwaukee girls who frequently found themselves in slapstick situations. After a successful seven year run, Penny turned to directing with the feature JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH, an action-comedy vehicle for Whoopi Goldberg. Her next film, 1988’s BIG, was a smash, with a 12-year-old kid wishing he was “big” – and, thanks to the fortune telling machine Zoltar, gets his wish, turning into Tom Hanks! BIG was the highest-grossing film directed by a woman at the time, and Penny went on to make AWAKENINGS with Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams, A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN…

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In Memoriam 2018: Film & Television – Performers

Posted on December 26, 2018 by gary loggins

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(The Grim Reaper was pretty busy this year, so busy this remembrance of film and television personalities will be broken into two parts)

At the end of every year, Cracked Rear Viewer salutes those both in front of and behind the cameras who are no longer with us. The biggest name was undoubtedly Burt Reynolds, who passed away at age 82. Burt was one of 70’s cinema’s hottest stars, from his breakthrough role in DELIVERANCE to rough’n’tumble films WHITE LIGHTNING and THE LONGEST YARD to his ‘yahoo’ classics SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT and THE CANNONBALL RUN. Reynolds hit a career slump during the 80’s, but came back strong as a character actor in such 90’s films as BOOGIE NIGHTS (receiving a Best Supporting Actor nomination) and MYSTERY, ALASKA. He was no stranger to the small screen, either; early in his career, he was a regular on RIVERBOAT, GUNSMOKE, and DAN…

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The Lost Ending Of It’s A Wonderful Life!

Posted on December 25, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Has it ever bothered you that, at the end of It’s A Wonderful Life, Mr. Potter basically gets away with nearly destroying George’s life? It’s certainly bothers me!

Well, fortunately, the lost ending of It’s A Wonderful Life has been uploaded to YouTube! Broadcast on a 1986 episode of Saturday Night Live and introduced by William Shatner (who, it must be said, really gets into introducing the clip), this clip gives George the revenge that he deserves!

As George Bailey put it: “You double-crossed me and left me alive!”

(Incidentally, I love the fact that Uncle Billy says that he talked to “Clarence at the bank.” Obviously, Clarence put those wings to good use!)

Enjoy!

Enjoy The Miracle on 34th Street!

Posted on December 25, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Now, before anyone asks, this is not the Oscar-nominated original with Edmund Gwenn and Natalie Wood. Nor is it the 90s remake with Richard Attenborough and that girl who gives a hundred interviews a year about how she doesn’t care about being famous.

Instead, this is a 46-minute made-for-TV production from 1955! It stars the one and only Thomas Mitchell (you’ll remember him as Uncle Billy from It’s A Wonderful Life) as the man who might be Santa Claus!

Even though this version may not be quite the holiday masterpiece that the original is, I still like it. You really can’t go wrong with Thomas Mitchell as Santa.

Enjoy!

And remember….

THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS!

Confessions of a TV Addict #11: The Small Screen Adventures of Larry Cohen!

Posted on November 30, 2018 by gary loggins

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I was a Larry Cohen fan before I even knew there was a Larry Cohen! Before IT’S ALIVE! , before BLACK CAESAR , I was watching the following Cohen Creations on my parents big, bulky TV console:

BRANDED (ABC 1965) – Cohen’s first series as creator debuted as a midseason replacement for Bill Dana’s failed sitcom. THE RIFLEMAN’s Chuck Connors returned to TV as Jason McCord, a disgraced Cavalry officer court martialed and drummed out of the service after being falsely accused of cowardice. McCord then wanders the West getting involved in a new adventure every week while trying to clear his name. Viewers welcomed Connors back to the small screen, and the half-hour black and white Western was renewed for a full season – this time “in living color”! The show featured a memorable opening theme song by Dominic Frontiere and Alan Arch…

… unfortunately, Jason McCord never did…

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Horror on TV: The Curse of Degrassi (dir by Stefan Brogren)

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Can you believe that Halloween and Horrorthon are both nearly over!? I’ve got tears in my mismatched eyes.

Originally, I was planning on posting the final episode of Kolchak tonight but I miscounted and, to make a long story short, I ran out of episodes of Kolchak before I ran out of days in October!

So, for our final Horror on TV of the 2018 Horrorthon, I’m going to share an old favorite of mine, The Curse of Degrassi!

Originally airing on October 28th, 2008, The Curse of Degrassi features Degrassi’s main mean girl, Holy J Sinclair (Charlotte Arnold), getting possessed by the vengeful spirit of deceased school shooter, Rick Murray (Ephraim Ellis). Chaos follows! Fortunately, Spinner (Shane Kippel) is around to save the day. As any true Degrassi fan can tell you, only Spinner has a chance against the forces of the undead.

Enjoy!

A Blast From The Past: Peter Cushing — A One Way Ticket To Hollywood

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’m not sure if you can be a true fan of horror (especially British horror) without loving Peter Cushing.

The actor played many roles over the course of his long career. In fact, the first film in which he and Christopher Lee both appeared was not a horror film but instead Laurence Olivier’s 1948 production of Hamlet. (They both also appeared in 1952’s Moulin Rouge.) However, Cushing will probably always be best known for his Hammer roles and, of course, his villainous performance in Star Wars. Peter Cushing was not only the virtuous Prof. Van Helsing but also the far less virtuous Baron Frankenstein.

According to almost every interview that I’ve read, Peter Cushing was a genuinely nice and professional person, one who didn’t personally care for horror films but who never took it personally when he was recognized for appearing in them. Though they regularly played rivals on screen, he was close friends with Christopher Lee. I once read an interview with Lee where he said that, decades later, he still hadn’t recovered from Cushing’s death in 1994.

Below, you’ll find a documentary from 1989. It was called Peter Cushing — A One-Way Ticket To Hollywood. It’s basically just Peter Cushing talking about his life and career for 49 minutes but it’s a charming little documentary. Peter Cushing comes across as being very nice and very British. He discusses not only his horror films but also his work in Star Wars and his performance as Winston Smith in a 1954 production of 1984.

It’s a nice documentary and I offer it up on Halloween as a tribute to one of horror’s gentlemen.

(Thank you to VintageTreats for uploading this!)

Horror On TV: Kolchak: The Night Stalker 1.20 “The Sentry” (dir by Seymour Robbie)

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight on Kolchak….

There’s something on the loose underneath Chicago! Could it be a …. killer lizard!? Kolchak’s on the story!

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and this was the final episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Darren McGavin, of course, would later go on to epitomize the ideal middle American father when he played The Old Man in A Christmas Story.

This finale originally aired on March 28th, 1975.

I hope you have enjoyed this October’s trip down Kolchak Lane!