Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 3.2 “Playing God: Part Two”


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 Daily Motion.

This week, the hospital is a depressing place.

Episode 3.2 “Playing God: Part Two”

(Dir by Bruce Paltrow, originally aired on September 26th, 1984)

There was a lot going on in this episode.

Sister Domenica demanded that Sister Theresa be taken off of life support and she threatened to sue the hospital if it didn’t happen.  This led to Dr. Westphall telling another long and depressing story about his dead wife.  I don’t mean to be flippant about anyone’s tragedies but it’s hard not to notice that almost everything seems to lead to Westphall telling a depressing story.  Westphall is one of the most saddest television characters that I’ve ever come across.

The nurses are closer to striking.  A labor negotiator named Richard Clarendon (Herb Edelman) is brought in by the nurses and it’s hard not to notice that he looks a lot like Helen Rosenthal’s ex-husband.  I think I can already guess where this is heading.

A sick child was brought in by a woman (Tammy Grimes) who claimed to be his fairy godmother.  This gave Fiscus an excuse to get a consultation from Kathy Martin, who has abandoned the morgue for psychiatry and who is no longer dressing exclusively in black.

At home, Dr. Craig struggled with impotence.  At the hospital, Dr. Ehrlich gave an awkward lecture about whether or not one can have sex after heart surgery.

The firefighters are still recovering from their burns.

Clancy got an abortion, despite Morrison’s objections.

And yet, all that drama was overshadowed by the fact that the Dr. Peter White — the drug-addicted rapist who nearly killed more than a few patients due to his own incompetence — is once again walking the halls of St. Eligius.  White won his lawsuit.  I’m not really sure that I understand what the basis of his lawsuit was.  St. Eligius could only ask a select number of residents to return and, even if you overlook the fact that White was accused of rape, it’s not as if Dr. White was ever an especially competent doctor.  It would seem that just his struggle with drug addiction would be enough to justify not asking him to return.  And yet, somehow, Dr. Peter White is once again a resident at St. Eligius.  (The ruling was probably handed down by a Carter judge.)

“You just can’t admit that you were wrong about me!” White snaps at Westphall.

Westphall replies that White is a terrible human being and not worthy of being a doctor and that he will not be allowed to work with any patients at the hospital.  And, for once, I wanted to cheer Dr. Westphall.  He may be depressing but he understands exactly who and what Peter White is.

Whatever the future may hold for the hospital, I have a feeling that it’s not going to be happy.  Two episodes in and the third season has already settled into a pit of melancholy.  That said, melancholy is perhaps the right mood for a medical show.  When it comes to hospitals, there aren’t many happy endings.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 4.23 “Heaven Nose, Mr. Smith”


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 …. oh, where to begin?

Episode 4.23 “Heaven Nose, Mr. Smith”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on March 30th, 1988)

This episode was bad.

How bad?

Let me count the ways.

  1. Jonathan is driving the car, for once.  He and Mark are going to get some time off.  Suddenly, a very shrill alarm goes off.  Jonathan says that he has to go up to Heaven to meet with the never-before mentioned Sycopomp, who is in charge of handing out angel assignments.  Jonathan vanishes, leaving the car without a driver.  Mark nearly crashes before he gets control of the wheel.
  2. How have we gone for four seasons without the alarm going off earlier?
  3. Since when has Jonathan gotten assignments from anyone other than The Boss?
  4. Does Jonathan not realize Mark could have been killed as a result of him suddenly vanishing?
  5. The Sycopomp is played by Bob Hope.  Yes, the comedian Bob Hope.  Bob Hope was 85 when he appeared in this episode and, not surprisingly, he doesn’t do much.  In fact, he does so little that you have to wonder why it was necessary to have the character at all.
  6. The Sycopomp explains that the Boss has computerized Heaven — “Modern technology,” he says, with a shrug.  Why would the Boss do that since the Boss is God and God knows everything and can do anything?
  7. The computers have malfunctioned.  How could a computer built by God malfunction?
  8. As a result of the computer malfunction, an angel named Max (Bill Macy) has been assigned to help fix the marriage of Stanley (John Pleshette) and Constance (Murphy Cross).  The problem is that Max is Stanley’s deceased father and he’s always disliked Constance so, instead of helping Stanley and Constance, he’s instead trying to get Stanley to leave Constance for his childhood girlfriend, Nel (Anna Stuart).
  9. What?  Okay, Jonathan got mad and yelled at the Boss a few episodes ago and he was immediately stripped of his powers.  Yet somehow, Max is able to do a lot worse without any sort of punishment.
  10. Jonathan and Mark are sent to stop Max.  They meet Stanley and Constance.  While Constance’s main flaw is that she has a terrible hair style, Stanley is a total wimp who has never finished anything in his life.  Stanley is so unlikable that it’s hard not to feel that Constance would be better off without him.
  11. Jonathan and Max both reveal themselves to be angels to Stanley.  Yeah, Jonathan has revealed himself to be an angel in the past but it still feels like lazy writing.
  12. From out of nowhere, wimpy, middle-aged Stanley is revealed to be a fast runner.
  13. Jonathan and Max bully Stanley into entering a marathon.
  14. Stanley nearly dies during the marathon but makes it to the end.  He comes in last place but Constance doesn’t care.  What matters is that he finished something!  And it looks like the marriage has been saved but Stanley is so sweaty and out-of-breath that one still expects him to drop dead right there.
  15. Sara (Patti Karr), Max’s wife, is sent down as an angel as well.  She doesn’t accomplish anything but she’s sent down nonetheless.
  16. Why would someone as self-centered as Max be made an angel in the first place?
  17. With the assignment completed, everyone leaves.  Constance and Stanley are back together!  Except, earlier, we were told that Constance and Stanley’s marriage was in trouble because Constance wanted children and Stanley didn’t.  That storyline is never resolved.  In fact, it’s just kind of dropped.
  18. Other than Jonathan and Mark, there are no likable people in this episode.  This episode tires to mix comedy and drama and it just doesn’t work.

This just wasn’t a good episode.  The story just feels unfinished.

Next week, season 4 comes to a close!

Retro Television Review: Decoy 1.13 “My Brother’s Killer”


Welcome to 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 Decoy, which aired in Syndication in 1957 and 1958.  The show can be viewed on Tubi!

Episode 1.13 “My Brother’s Killer”

(Dir by Stuart Rosenberg, originally aired on January 6th, 1958)

Anne (Barbara Barrie) goes to the police because her boyfriend, Victor Bernard (Bernard Kates), has been acting strangely and refuses to let her into his apartment.  At first, the police point out that there’s nothing they can do about this but then Casey, in what can only be described as a miraculous feat of deductive reasoning, guesses that Victor Bernard’s last name might have originally been Bernardino and he might be the brother of wanted robber, Frank Bernardino.

A look at a picture of Victor reveals that he does look a lot like Frank.  However, as Casey discovers when she goes over to Victor’s apartment, Frank is dead.  But his partner, Hal Bishop (Sy Travers), is still alive.  Hal promptly takes Casey and Victor hostage and heads for the Canadian border.

Once you accept that Casey’s miracle hunch (and, seriously, it takes some effort), this is an intense episode.  I’m not really a fan of shows in which people are held hostage — the confined narrative tends to get tedious pretty quickly — but this episode featured a typically good performance from Beverly Garland and an absolutely terrifying one from Sy Travers.  It also features what seems like a surprising amount of violence for a 1950s television show.  Imagine gathering the family in front of the television in 1958 and being immediately confronted by Sy Travers as Hal Bishop pointing a gun at an innocent man’s head and pulling the trigger.  A lot of people get shot over the course of this episode, including Hal Bishop himself.  Casey survives but there are no smiles or celebrations.  There’s just the weary look of someone who has been confronted with the worst that humanity has to offer.

MAN WITH A CAMERA (TV Series) – starring Charles Bronson – S1, E8: Blind Spot 


First, I want to say Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who read this review! I’m so thankful for The Shattered Lens and the opportunity to share my love of movies, TV and pop culture with all of you! Now on with the show…

Originally airing on December 5th, 1958, “Blind Spot” opens with free-lance photographer, Mike Kovac (Charles Bronson), receiving a phone call from his best friend Terry Ross (Norman Alden), who is in Lisbon, Portugal. A very nervous Terry tells Kovac that he will be airmailing him some very important negatives for something “dynamite” that he’s working on. While they’re on the phone, an imposing man with a wide-brimmed, boater hat steps into Terry’s room and shoots him dead. Hearing the shots, Kovac is on the next plane to Lisbon to talk to the police and try to find out what happened. Apparently this is big news as the Lisbon paper even reports that Kovac is on his way. The killer, who we soon learn is named Al Alviella (Mario Alcalde), is waiting on Kovac in front of the police station and through a variety of events, is able to convince him that he was Terry’s friend and can help him in his investigation. It seems the police believe that Terry was working for an underworld espionage organization and that he got killed for it. Kovac doesn’t believe there’s any possibility that his old wartime photographer buddy could be involved in anything dirty. But with the killer Al’s false stories and leads, as well as Kovac’s discovery of Terry’s wife Renee (Chana Eden), when he didn’t even know Terry was married, Kovac begins to question how well he really knew his old friend. When the truth finally all comes to light, will Kovac be able to get out of Lisbon alive?!

After the disappointing melodrama of the previous episode, MAN WITH A CAMERA gets back on track with “Blind Spot.” First, we get a somewhat intriguing crime storyline in this episode. While we know from the beginning that Kovac’s friend was murdered and who the killer is, the story still has a few surprises up its sleeve. The final reveal and fight scenes are very well handled, with Bronson continuing to prove that no one can throw a punch quite like him. Second, the episode has an appealing theme of “friendship forged by fire,” in this case by serving together in World War II. With the circumstantial evidence mounting, Kovac begins to doubt his old friend, and it’s here that the new wife steps in and says “Terry said you were his friend… his best friend!” Kovac knows in his heart that his friend just couldn’t have done these things, no matter how bad it looks, and he keeps pushing to find out the truth. I want to have friends like that! 

Finally, “Blind Spot” contains some solid performances and an interesting guest appearance. Bronson himself is quite emotional and demonstrative in this episode. He yells at the police when they tell him they believe his old buddy is dirty. He yells at the shadowy underworld “man” who tells him that his buddy was on his payroll, and then proceeds to start punching henchmen until they get the upper hand on him. And I’ve already mentioned the coolness of the final fight scenes where he clearly does his own stunts! I also found Mario Alcalde to be charismatic as the killer Al Alviella. There’s something about him, maybe it was his voice, that kind of reminds me of Andy Garcia, an actor I really like. Alcalde appeared on most of the good TV shows of the late 50’s and 60’s, but unfortunately died at the young age of 44 in 1971. One last thing about the casting that I found interesting involves character actor Frank DeKova, who has one scene here as a shadowy, Lisbon underworld figure credited only as “The Man.” DeKova would play one scene as a shadowy underworld figure known only as “The Man” 14 years later in Bronson’s action classic THE MECHANIC! 

“Blind Spot” isn’t a perfect episode, as it does have a fairly slow build up after its entertaining opening scene. However, the excitement of the ending scenes, the more interesting storyline, and the good performances from its main players are more than enough to get a recommendation from me. 

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 2.6 “The Unkindest Cut”


Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.

Yay!  Training camp is over!

Episode 2.6 “The Unkindest Cut”

(Dir by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on September 29th, 1986)

When arrogant quarterback Johnny Valentine refuses to enter drug rehab, Diana reacts by having him traded to Buffalo.  Johnny may be a superstar but he won’t be playing for the Bulls.  That means that Yinessa, the player who nearly kicked off the team twice, is now the starting quarterback.  Yinessa also makes up with his girlfriend (Katherine Kelly Lang) so I guess he’s having a good week.

Bubba has to lose five pounds to retain his starting position.  When he goes in to be weighed, it appears that he’s only lost four pounds.  Bubba quickly takes off his gold watch and he makes weight!  Good for Bubba, I guess.

Finally, Rick Lampert (Marcus Allen) shows up at training camp is given a number 32 jersey by T.D. Parker (O.J. Simpson).  Lampert’s like, This is your number.  Parker replies that the number now belongs to Lampert.  Awwww!  In the role of T.D. Parker, O.J. Simpson has a way of slashing his way to the heart of the matter,

Training camp finally ended with this episode and I’m glad about that because those training camp episodes were getting really dull.  I have to be honest, though.  We’re halfway through the second season and I still don’t feel like I know any of these characters.  Donald Gibb occasionally makes me laugh as Dr. Death.  And, as T.D. Parker, OJ Simpson seems like a really nice guy.  Otherwise, though, this show feels oddly hollow.  Of course, that may be because I’m watching the syndicated version, which apparently edited out a lot of nudity and bad behavior on the part of the players.

Oh well.  Let’s see how the team does!  This episode ends with Diana saying she wants to win a championship.  Does Yinessa have it in him to lead the team with victory?  With OJ Simpson as his coach, he better!

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 6.27 and 28 “Country Music Jamboree”


Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986!  The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!

This week, the Love Boat goes a little bit country.

Episodes 6.27 and 6.28 “Country Music Jamboree”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on April 30th, 1983)

It’s the special, two-hour country music cruise!

I have to admit that I lost interest in this episode as soon as I saw the banner in the Love Boat lobby that read “County Music Jamboree.”  Country music’s not my thing.  I lost even more interest when Florence Henderson showed up as country singer Annabelle Folker.  Florence Henderson was a frequent guest on both Fantasy Island and The Love Boat and I can’t think of a single time that I was ever happy to see her name in the credits.  Whenever she appeared, she almost always seemed like she was trying too hard.  Her performances always brought to mind dinner theater and holiday special guest spots.

Annabelle was traveling with her boyfriend (Bert Convy) and the three orphans (Michael Evans, Angela Lee Sloan, and Neil Billingsley) that she was planning on adopting.  The problem was that her boyfriend didn’t want to adopt the kids.  But then, he changed his mind because the show was nearly over and the storyline needed a happy ending.  Seriously, the kids were obnoxious as Hell.

While that went on, singer Holly Hartmann (Jessica Walter) was upset to discover that her husband (Mel Tillis) was secretly writing songs for an up-and-coming singer named C.G. Thomas (Tanya Tucker).  Holly was not happy when she found out but then she sang Stand By Your Man and that solved everything.

The Love Boat chef (Pat Buttram) was upset that his kitchen implements kept disappearing.  That’s because Isaac, Doc, Gopher, and Julie were stealing them so that they could form a country-western band.  Meanwhile, two fat people (Kenny Price and Lulu Roman)  boarded the boat and never stopped eating.

(Don’t give me that look, I didn’t write the script.)

Effie Skaggs (Minnie Pearl) sold homemade elixirs from her cabin while Doc attempted to romance her granddaughter (Misty Rowe).  When Effie got sick, she refused to accept any of Doc’s strange modern medicine.  No antibiotics for Effie Skaggs!

Jeannie Davis (Beth Howland) feared that her husband (Steve Kanaly) would learn that her latest piece of jewelry was given to her by a man with whom she had an affair.  A jewelry appraiser (Sherman Hemsley) insisted on finding out how much the jewelry was worth.  Jeannie feared that her husband would suspect something was amiss when he discovered how expensive it really was.  She begged the appraiser to lie about how much it was worth.  The appraiser said that he could not risk damaging his reputation but then he decided to lie anyway.

Gopher and Isaac tried to get a picture with Dottie West (a singer who played herself) but Dottie just wanted to rest.

Is that it?  Is that all of the storylines or is that just all my exhausted mind can remember?  Seriously, this was a busy two-hour episode.  It was an annoying episode too.  Maybe I’d feel differently if I was into country music.  Of the guest stars, Mel Tillis and Jessica Walter gave the best performances.  Of the Love Boat crew, no one came out of this episode with their dignity intact.

This was a cruise to miss.

This cruise?  This cruise was a perfect 10 out of 10 on the How Coked Up Was Julie Scale.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 3.7 “Repeat Offenders”


Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Pacific Blue, a cop show that aired from 1996 to 2000 on the USA Network!  It’s currently streaming everywhere, though I’m watching it on Tubi.

It’s a Chris epiosde. *Yawn*

Episode 3.7 “Repeat Offenders”

(Dir by Charles Siebert, originally aired on September 28th, 1997)

When this show first started, Chris Kelly was introduced as being a hotshot Navy pilot who was forced into reserve status due to her eyesight.  In this episode, it’s revealed that she actually left active duty because she was involved in an accident that was the fault of her commanding officer.  Rather than testify against him and run the risk of being crucified on the stand and then run out of the Navy, she instead took the blame.

Five years later, she discovers that another Navy pilot, Rebecca Santori (Liza Snyder), is facing the same dilemma.  Her commanding officer — who was also Chris’s commanding officer — screwed up and Santori is being pressured to take the blame.  Chris encourages Santori to fight for her right to fly.  Cory suggests that Chris is pressuring Snantori because Chris feels guilty about giving up when she was in the same position.  Cory suggests that Chris is putting Santori’s career at risk just to deal with her own anger and resentment.  Chris says that’s not true and the show seems to expect us to take her word for it.  Fortunately, things do work for Santori.  She is cleared in the accident and Chris is vindicated when its determined that their commanding officer has a long history of incompetence.

This storyline had potential but Chris is just such a one-note character that it’s hard to get excited about anything involving her.  Every week, it seems like Chris finds something new to get upset about and every week, anyone who suggests that Chris isn’t being totally honest about her motivations has to deal with the Chris Kelly glare of death.  In order to remain sympathetic while glaring at people and telling them that they’re idiots, you have to have some shred of charisma.  Chris does not and whenever she’s at the center of an episode, even when she’s in the right as with this one, I just find myself thinking about how much I would dread to have to work with her on a daily basis.

As for the other storyline, thieves are targeting foreign tourists on the boardwalk.  Palermo and TC put on Hawaiian shirts and pretend to be foreign tourists.  The thieves get arrested.  Yay.  How exciting.  Bike patrol does it again.

Retro Television Review: Fantasy Island 7.19 “Lost and Found/Dick Turpin’s Last Ride”


Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing the original Fantasy Island, which ran on ABC from 1977 to 1984.  The show is once again on Tubi!

This week, I really missed Tattoo.

Episode 7.19 “”Lost and Found/Dick Turpin’s Last Ride”

(Dir by Bob Sweeney, originally aired on April 7th,1984)

Stung by the discovery that her husband has cheated on her, Sheila McKenna (Carol Lynley) comes to Fantasy Island, looking for revenge.  Her husband, Frank (Adam West), follows her and tries to save his marriage.  Sheila is tempted to cheat with Frank’s business partner.  Fortunately, Mr. Roarke is there to show Frank the error of his ways and, for some reason, Sheila ends up forgiving him and they leave the Island with their marriage stronger than ever.

This storyline is one that I perhaps would have been more invested in if Sheila McKenna had not been played by Carol Lynley.  Lynley was the most frequent guest star on Fantasy Island.  She was never particularly memorable but, in this episode, she gives a performance that can only be described as bad.  Delivering her lines without a hint of emotion (and forget about having any chemistry with West), Lynley comes across as if she under the influence of serious narcotics.  I was genuinely worried about her health.  I didn’t really care much about her marriage.

As for the other storyline, singer Tom Jones stars as mild-mannered accountant Jack Palmer.  Palmer idolizes the legendary Welsh highwayman, Dick Turpin.  Roarke sends him into the past so that he can actually be Dick Turpin.  Tom Jones as Turpin sings almost all of his dialogue.  Jack’s wife (Dianne Kay) is also sent into the past and is kidnapped by Sid Haig.

The Dick Turpin storyline was the sort of thing that Fantasy Island did well in the past.  However, despite some surprisingly strong production values, it just kind of fell flat in this episode.  A big problem is that this was the type of story that would have been perfect for Tattoo but, unfortunately, the show replaced Herve Villechaize with Christopher Hewett.  I have nothing against Christopher Hewett.  From what I’ve read, he was apparently a very devout Catholic who was loved by all.  But the switch-over from Villechaize to Hewett was definitely the moment that Fantasy Island stopped being a fantasy to watch.

It’s hard to believe that I’m nearly done with this series.  I’ve been reviewing it since 2022!  It’s brought me a lot of joy but, as I make my way through the final episodes of season 7, I’m ready to finally move on.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Mark Frost Edition


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the co-creator of Twin Peaks, Mark Frost!  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Episodes Of Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks 1.3 “Zen or the Skill To Catch a Killer” (1990, dir by David Lynch, DP: Frank Byers)

Twin Peaks 2.7 “Lonely Souls” (1990, dir by David Lynch, DP: Frank Byers)

Twin Peaks: The Return Part 5 (2017, dir by David Lynch, DP: Peter Deming)

Twin Peaks: The Return Part 18 (2017, dir by David Lynch, DP: Peter Deming)

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.1 “Suicide Stunt”


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, the fifth season begins.

Episode 5.1 “Suicide Stunt”

(Dir by Michael Caffey, originally aired on October 4th, 1981)

The fifth season opens with the Highway Patrol pursuing a gang of thieves and also keeping an eye on Janos Szabo (Les Lannom), a motorcycle daredevil from Hungary who has come to Los Angeles to take part in charity show for “Highway Patrol Widows and Orphans.”

Since Hungary was controlled by the evil communists (hisssss!) when this episode originally aired, I assumed the episode would be about Janos trying to defect so that he could start a new life in the greatest country on Earth, the USA (yay!).  Instead, it turned out that Janos was more concerned with spending time with an ex-girlfriend named Maria (Anita Jodelsohn) who had defected (Good for you, Maria!) and was now working for the Highway Patrol.  The entire episode was pretty much scene after scene of Janos sneaking away from his handlers, stealing a vehicle, and then trying to kidnap Maria.  Maria found it to be amusing.  The members of the Highway Patrol were amused.  Even Janos’s handlers seemed to be secretly amused.  Still, when Janos set a fire outside of the CHP headquarters to distract everyone so that he could steal another car (this one with Maria in it), Ponch had no choice other than to arrest him.

“I am glad it is you who arrest me,” Janos says to Ponch, smiling like an idiot.

With Janos arrested, it falls on Jon Baker to perfect the stunts while riding Janos’s motorcycle.  And Baker is able to do it easily, even the one that involves bursting through a ring of fire.  So, I guess they didn’t need Janos to begin with.  They should have just had Baker do it and they could have saved a lot of money.  Way to waste the taxpayer’s cash, Jerry Brown!

(He was governor at the time.  Then, like 30 years later, he was governor again.)

Odd episode, this one.  Most season premieres try to go big but this was pretty much just another episode of CHiPs.  The California scenery was nice.  I always appreciate that this show was largely shot on location and, as a result, even the worst episodes have some value as a time capsule.  That said, Janos was an incredibly annoying character.  The fact that the show meant for us to laugh at his antics made him even more annoying.  There’s only so many times you can watch one jackass try to abduct one woman before you say, “Enough already!”