Tag Archives: television

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 2.16 “Pressure Point”

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 Freevee!

This week’s episode is a change-of-pace as Ponch and Baker get off their motorcycles and go undercover!

Episode 2.16 “Pressure Point”

(Dir by Phil Bondelli, originally aired on January 20th, 1979)

The limousine of wealthy industrialist Arthur Forbinger (Rudy Vallee) is ambushed by three cars and a motorcycle.  The motorcyclist shatters both the back and the front driver’s side window and tosses an envelope into the backseat.  Forbinger orders his driver to chase the motorcycle.

Ponch and Baker, enjoying a leisurely patrol through Beverly Hills, spot the limo speeding down the street and they decide to pursue it.  When Forbinger finally tells his driver to pull over, Ponch and Baker demands to know why Forbinger was putting lives at risk.  Forbinger lies and says that he was late to a meeting.  In reality, Forbinger has just opened the envelope and discovered pictures of his granddaughter, Chris (Mary Crosby).  The implication is that whoever broke his window can also get to Chris.

Despite Forbinger’s attempts at deflection, Ponch, Baker, and Cahill soon figure out what actually happened.  Thinking that Forbinger is perhaps being targeted by a private security firm that scares rich people into hiring its guards, Getraer tells Ponch and Baker to get off their motorcycles because they’re going undercover.  Ponch will pretend to be a diplomat from Argentina and Baker will be his driver.

Ponch is overjoyed to at the chance to pretend to be rich.  He’s even happier when he meets Chris.  Oh, that Ponch!

This episode was weird.  It just doesn’t feel right for Ponch and Baker to not be on their motorcycles and the episode spent so much time with Forbinger and Chris that I found myself wondering if it was meant to be some sort of backdoor pilot for a primetime soap opera about the Forbinger family.  Despite featuring quite a few chase scenes and a few dramatic crashes, this didn’t feel like an episode of CHiPs at all.  Is there really a point to the show without the motorcycles?

The other problem with this episode was that the performance of Rudy Vallee …. well, it wasn’t good.  I know that Rudy was a show business veteran when he did this episode and that he had been around for a while but he still gives a rather flat and lifeless performance.  He delivers his lines as if reading them off of a cue card.  (For all I know, he was reading them off of a cue card.)  As for the rest of the guest cast, Mary Crosby is stuck with a nothing role while Guy Stockwell and Tom Troupe are a bit too obviously sinister as the duplicitous security men.

This episode went for a change of pace but it just didn’t work.  Sorry, Highway Patrol.

Horror On TV: One Step Beyond 2.14 “Make Me Not A Witch” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In tonight’s episode of One Step Beyond, Emmy (Patty McCormack) makes the mistake of telling her parents (Eileen Ryan and Leo Penn) that she can read minds.  Needless to say, the news does not go over as well as Emmy might have hoped.  Her parents have a farm to run!  The last thing they need is a witch in their midst!

Emmy runs to the church and prays, “Make me not a witch!”

But what if the world needs a witch?

As with every episode of One Step Beyond, this episode is supposedly based on fact.  Patty McCormack is best-remembered for her Oscar-nominated performance in The Bad Seed while Eileen Ryan and Leo Penn are best remembered as being the parents of Sean and Chris Penn.

This episode originally aired on December 22nd, 1959.

Enjoy!

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 3.3 “Killshot”

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 Miami Vice, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.  The entire show can be purchased on Prime!

This week, another friend of Crockett’s is in trouble!

Episode 3.3 “Killshot”

(Dir by Leon Ichaso, originally aired on October 10th, 1986)

Crockett and Tubbs are working undercover as Burnett and Cooper to take down drug lord Morales (Roger Pretto).  Morales is one of the most powerful drug lords in Miami but he’s still not connected enough to know that Burnett and Cooper are undercover cops.  I know that I bring this up nearly every time I write about this show but it just baffles me that Crockett and Tubbs are somehow still able to maintain their covers despite the fact that those covers have gotten blown in numerous episodes and Crockett makes no effort to act any differently when he’s pretending to be Burnett.  At least Tubbs uses his fake Jamaican accent whenever he’s pretending to be Cooper.  Crockett doesn’t even bother to change his suit before pretending to be Burnett.

That said, they’ve somehow managed to keep Morales from discovering that they’re cops.  So, Morales instead focuses on manipulating a customs agent, Frank Ariolla (Carlos Cestero).  Frank’s brother, Tico (Fernando Allende) is an up-and-coming jai alai player.  (That’s the sport, prominently featured in Miami Vice‘s opening credits, in which the players use a wicker to both catch and launch a ball.)  However, Tico also has a raging cocaine problem.  In fact, the drug often leaves him impotent.  When a prostitute suggests that Tico might not be attracted tp women, Tico goes crazy and blacks out.  When he wakes up, the prostitute appears to be dead and madam Isabel Batista (Maria Duval) says she’ll protect Tico for a price.  Frank has to work as a double agent or Isabel and Morales will send a tape of Tico attacking the prostitute to the police.

(For the record, the prostitute was only pretending to be dead as a part of a plot to frame Tico.  But then Isabel had her killed for real.)

Trying to protect his brother, Frank agrees to work for Morales.  But when a guilt-stricken Tico makes a mistake during a match that leads to him getting killed when he’s stuck in the head by the ja alai ball, will Crockett and Tubbs be able to stop Frank from taking his own violent vengeance on both Morales and Isabel?  As you probably already guessed, this is yet another Miami Vice episode the ends with a freeze frame and an off-screen gunshot as Crockett yells, “No!”

If there’s one thing that has stayed consistent over the first three seasons of Miami Vice, it’s that it does not pay to be a friend of Sonny’s.  From Jimmy Smits getting blown up in the pilot to Ira Stone dying last week to Frank throwing his life away to avenge his brother in this week’s episode, anyone who has ever been close to Crockett seems to end up having terrible luck.  I’m stunned that Tubbs has managed to survive for as long as he has.

As for this episode, Crockett and Tubbs both seemed to be sidelined in favor of the story of Frank and Tico.  It’s always weird when Crockett and Tubbs become supporting characters on their own show.  Carlos Cestero and Maria Duval both gave good performances, which is good because it helps to distract from the fact that Morales is a fairly dull villain and Tico is not a particularly compelling character.  For the most part, this episode works best as a commercial for ja alai, which looks a hundred times more exciting than most sports.  Certainly, its fast action and the constant danger of sudden death makes it the ideal sport for Miami.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 3.12 “Taking Off: 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 Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

This week, Degrassi goes there again!

Episode 3.12 “Taking Off: Part Two”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on February 20th, 1989)

When last we checked in with the students at Degrassi Junior High, Shane was missing and Wheels, having been sexually assaulted by a man who picked him up while he was hitchhiking, was walking towards Port Hope in search of his biological father.

Shane is discovered underneath a bridge.  As the police tell his friend Luke, it appears that Shane either jumped or he fell.  Shane is alive, but he’s in a coma and there’s no guarantee that he’s going to survive.  When asked whether or not Shane had done any drugs at the Gourmet Scum concert, Luke finally admits that Shane did drop acid right before the show began.

As for Wheels, he manages to make it to Port Hope and he even finds the cheap hotel where his father, Mike (Dave James), is playing with his band.  Wheels imagines knocking on the hotel room door and his father happily greeting him and inviting him to join the band.  Instead, when Wheels knocks on the door, Mike is shocked and not particularly happy to see him.  Though Mike forces Wheels to call his grandmother and let her know that he’s okay, Mike does agree to let Wheels spend the day at the hotel.  Mike then promptly abandons Wheels.

When Mike eventually returns, a few things become obvious.

First off, Mike didn’t even know that Wheels’s adoptive parents had died.

Secondly, Mike doesn’t want anything to do with his biological son.

Third, Mike’s new girlfriend is pregnant and, as she explains it, they can’t afford to have Wheels around.

I mean, goddamn!  Poor Wheels!  First, he gets sexually assaulted while hitchhiking.  Then, his father rejects him.  Wheels, after yelling at his father for abandoning him, is prepared to run away again but suddenly, his grandmother shows up.  She was finally able to convince Joey to tell her where Wheels had run of to and she shows up to take him home.  Wheels is adamant that he’s going to run away again but when his grandmother starts to cry and calls him out for being a “selfish, selfish boy,” Wheels reconsiders.

At the end of the episode, Shane is still in his coma and it’s still up in the air whether he accidentally fell or if he was trying to commit suicide when he plunged from that bridge.  Wheels, however, returns to school and is greeted by Joey and Snake.  Joey apologizes for telling Wheels’s grandmother about Port Hope but Wheels says it’s okay.  He’s ready to give school another try.  Everyone smiles as the end credits roll on a well-acted and classic episode of Degrassi Junior High.

YAY!  It’s a happy ending, as long as you haven’t seen Degrassi: The Next Generation.  If you have seen The Next Generation, you know that Wheels has alcoholism and prison in his future.  And, for that matter, Shane is going to end up spending the rest of his life in an institution.  So, it’s not really that happy of an ending.

But it’s very much a Degrassi ending.

Horror on TV: One Step Beyond 2.7 “The Open Window” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

If tonight’s episode of One Step Beyond seems familiar, that’s because it’s a remake of a story that was originally filmed as an episode of The Veil. 

This time, instead of witnessing a murder occurring in another apartment, it’s a suicide that is witnessed by artist Anthony March (Michael Higgins).  Of course, when he investigates, he discovers that the apartment in empty.  Is Anthony hallucinating or has he gone one step beyond and is he seeing the future?  Watch to find out!

By the way, that’s future Oscar winner Louise Fletcher playing Anthony’s model.

This originally aired on November 3rd, 1959.

Enjoy!

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life on the Street 1.2 “Ghost of a Chance”

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.

This week, the search for Adeena Watson’s murderer begins.

Episode 1.2 “Ghost of a Chance”

(Dir by Martin Campbell, originally aired on February 3rd, 1993)

There’s been a murder in Baltimore.  That, in itself, is not news.  The pilot firmly established that murder is a fact of life in Baltimore.  But, the victim of this crime is an 11 year-old girl named Adeena Watson, who left her home to go to the library and who never returned.  The press is covering every detail.  The police brass want an arrest and they want an arrest quickly.  And the primary detective on the case is rookie Tim Bayliss, who has never even worked a murder case on his own before.  Giardello refuses to replace Bayliss but he also makes it clear that he needs Bayliss to bring him something.

As for Bayliss, he spends most of this episode struggling.  Not only does he not have the respect of his fellow detective but he also, as a rookie, doesn’t even have a desk until Giardello, in a fit of anger, knocks everything off an unoccupied desk and awards it to Bayliss.  (So, was that desk just sitting there the whole time?  I thought they didn’t have any available desks.)  Because this crime is what is known as a “red ball,” (i.e., a murder that has attracted the attention of the media and the public), every detective is looking for Adeena’s murderer.  While Bayliss obsesses on who Adeena was before she was killed, the rest of the squad does the practical things, like talking to neighbors and bringing in all of the city’s sex offenders for interrogation.

My heart broke for Bayliss while watching this episode.  Kyle Secor did a good job of capturing both Bayliss’s outrage over the crime and his fear of failing to solve his first case as a primary.  While Bayliss stared at Adeena’s body in the alley, Munch, Lewis, and Crosetti debated sports.  And while their attitude may have seemed callous, this episode established that disconnecting is the only way to handle working Homicide.  Bayliss, having not learned how to disconnect, grows more and more obsessed with Adeena.  I cheered a little when Bayliss finally stood up for himself and even won the grudging respect of Frank Pembleton.  That said, the change in Bayliss happened almost too quickly to be credible.  Apparently, all it took was for Giardello to give him a desk for Bayliss to go from being meek and overwhelmed to being a confident and take-charge detective.

While Bayliss searched for Adeena’s killer, Much and Bolander dealt with a murder that happened in a wealthy neighborhood.  The killer (Gwen Verdon) was a wife who snapped after 60 years of marriage.  As she explained to Bolander and Munch, she and her husband had earlier promised each other that they wouldn’t get a divorce until the children died.  Bolander has a crush on the coroner, Dr. Blythe (Wendy Hughes), but he’s worried about getting back in the dating game after his own divorce.  When Munch asks Bolander how old he is, Bolander replies, “48.”  Ned Beatty was a great actor and I’ve never seen a bad Ned Beatty performance.  That said, it’s also hard for me to think of any film where he looked a day under 50.

Meanwhile, Kay tries to get a confession from a guy who is about to go on trial for murder.  Felton laughs when Kay says that she was visited by the ghost of the guy’s victim.  However, Felton makes up for being a jerk by helping Kay find the murder weapon.  This whole subplot was odd to me, largely because Kay really doesn’t come across as the type to believe in ghosts.  But whatever works, I guess!  Melissa Leo and Daniel Baldwin did a good job in this episode, selling a storyline that had the potential to be a little bit too cute for its own good.

As the episode ended, the killer of Adeena Watson had yet to be captured.  While the other detective drank at a wharf bar, Bayliss went to Adeena’s memorial service and stared at her coffin, haunted.  It was a powerful moment but one that left the viewer worried about Bayliss’s sanity.  Earlier in this episode, Pembleton said that a murder that goes 72 hours without being solved will never be solved.  Bayliss is running out of time.

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 2.15 “Tots ‘R’ Us”

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 Saturdays, I will be reviewing the Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, Edna has a good idea.

Episode 2.15 “Tots ‘R’ Us”

(DIr by J. Sumner, originally aired on February 1st, 1987)

I have no idea who J. Sumner was.

J. Sumner is credited as being the director of this episode.  (Up until this episode, Alan Erlich was the show’s regular director.)  I’ve never seen the name before and it struck me as being such an odd name to use that I actually looked the director up on the IMDb.  According to the IMDb, this episode of Check It Out! is the only thing that J. Sumner has ever been credited as having been involved with.  That’s quite an accomplishment, making your entertainment career debut as a director   Most people have to work up to it.

I kind of suspect that J. Sumner is a pseudonym of some sort.  Maybe the real director didn’t want to be credited for this episode, though there’s nothing about it that’s really all that different from any other episode of Check It Out.  It’s not a terrible episode but it’s also not a particularly interesting one, which is why I’m wasting so much time speculating about the identity of J. Sumner.

The episode takes place on Canadian Mother’s Day.  Edna decides to turn the back offices into a daycare so mothers can leave their children while they shop.  That actually does sound like a good idea to me.  Whenever I go grocery shopping, I always seem to get stuck in line behind people who have multiple hyperactive children.  Just last week, this little brat stepped on my foot while running around the store and his mother didn’t even apologize to me.  Seriously, I was limping for hours afterwards!  I should have called the cops and pressed charges….

Anyway, all of the moms and their kids eventually leave.  Except there’s one child (played by Benjamin Barrett) left behind.  He wears a nametag that reads “Orphan” but a call to the local orphanage reveals that no one is missing.  Edna calls the police but tells them that the store will take care of the kid and hold onto him until his parents arrive.  The police apparently say, “Okay, thanks for letting us know,” and then never bother to come out to the store.  That doesn’t sound like typical police procedure when it comes to an abandoned child but who knows?  This is a Canadian show so maybe that’s the way they do it in Manitoba.

Edna pressures Howard into using a sock puppet to talk to the kid.  The previously silent kid is happy to talk to Goober The Sock.  The kid’s name is Freddy.  He stays overnight at the store with Edna and, in a really sad scene, Edna asks Freddy if he knows anything about adoption.  Edna’s dreams of taking Feddy into her home are ruined when Freddy’s father (Walker Boone) shows up.  Howard gives Freddy and his father tickets to a baseball game.  Awww, that was nice!

This was a pretty simple episode and, to be honest, it was kind of boring.  Howard and Edna are more fun when they’re weird than when they’re nice.  As always, Gordon Clapp (as Viker, the electrician) got a few funny lines and made the most of his limited screentime.  Otherwise, this was a sweet-natured but not particularly enthralling episode.

And if J. Sumner is reading this, say hi in the comments!  We’d love to hear from you!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 10/6/24 — 10/12/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here’s my thoughts on what I watched this week.

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

Abbott‘s back.  Jeanine and Gregory are dating and they’re a cute couple.  That said, I can’t help but remember how The Office kind of started to become less interesting once Pam and Jim officially became a couple.  Single, neurotic people are always funnier than stable people in love.

It’ll be interesting to see how this season goes.  Last season, I got annoyed with Jeanine working for the district and the show itself occasionally got a bit heavy-handed in a way that it hadn’t during the previous seasons.  At the time, I choose to believe that season’s weaker moments were due to the season being shortened by all the strikes that were going on.  I’m hoping this new season will prove me correct.

Ava continues to be the best character on the show.

Accused (Tuesday Night, FOX)

After an incredibly uneven first season, Fox’s crime anthology show is back for a second season.  The first episode featured a psychic accused and on trial.  Felicity Huffman (who hasn’t really been seen much ever since she was implicated in the so-called Varsity Blues scandal) and William H. Macy provided some star power but the overall results were still pretty dull. I’m not a huge fan of anthology shows in general.  They always seem to be trying a bit too hard.

American Sports Story: Aaron Herndanez (Tuesday, FX)

This week, Aaron started to find fame as a pro football player with the New England Patriots, while continuing to deal with stress by hanging out with lowlifes and criminals.  While struggling to maintain the squeaky clean image that the NFL demanded from its players, Hernandez also beat up his abusive stepfather.  Much as with last week, this episode was well-done but it still feels as if the show is dragging out the story a bit too much.  This episode was about 20 minutes worth of story stretched out over 50 minutes.  Needless to say, it did start to feel a bit repetitive after a bit.  The attempt to use Aaron Hernandez’s stupidity as a way to comment on American society continues to feel a bit half-baked.

Dr. Phil (Pluto TV)

“Shut up!” Kaye yelled, when confronted about her Nigerian boyfriend, who she has never actually met despite selling her house and sending him the money.  I know Kaye was embarrassed but yelling shut up isn’t going to get her money back.

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, FOX)

One chef left the show to go to the hospital.  Another hurt his back and voluntarily withdrew from the competition.  The Blue Team had a terrible dinner service and a Chef Ramsay sent another chef home.  The Red Team is getting pretty cocky, which I’m going to assume means that they’re going to fall apart next episode.  Getting cocky is always the worst thing that any chef can do on Hell’s Kitchen.  Hell’s Kitchen remains one of the few reality shows to remain as entertaining today as when it first aired.  The show has been smart enough to stick to its formula and not change things up just to satisfy whatever the current cultural trend may be.

Homicide: Life On The Streets (Peacock)

I wrote about Homicide here!

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

This week’s episode saw SVU‘s Mariska Hargitay making a guest appearance on Law & Order and it really does show just how much things have changed as far as this franchise is concerned.  At one time, SVU was kind of like Law & Order‘s sordid and little-acknowledged bastard cousin and it was a big deal if anyone from L&O lowered themselves to make an appearance on SVU.  Now, things are reversed.  Law & Order is still struggling to find its voice in  the 2020s and it’s SVU that’s providing some star power to its struggling cousin.

On another note, I’m surprised that there’s any tech gurus left in New York as they seem to be the number one victim of choice on Law & Order.  If they’re not getting murdered, they’re going to jail.

I continue to miss Jack McCoy.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Miami Vice (Amazon Prime)

I wrote about Miami Vice here!

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

On Friday, I watched an episode from 1988.  The first half of the episode featured music videos, including X’s Devil Doll.  The second half took a look at “upcoming” films, including one in which Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Belushi teamed up to fight crime.  No, it wasn’t The Principal.

One Step Beyond (YouTube)

This week, I have continued to watch and share episodes of this old anthology show.  I’ve been having a lot of fun watching this show.

Horror On TV: One Step Beyond 2.6 “The Inheritance” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight’s episode of One Step Beyond features host John Newland listening as a drunk (Sean McClory) at a bar tells the story of his former life as a gigolo and how a cursed necklace drove him mad.  This episode is interesting if just because it takes the show’s “Did this story really happen?” premise to its logical conclusion.  Apparently, John Newland couldn’t leave his house without someone telling him a story about the paranormal!

This episode originally aired on October 27th, 1959.

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 4.3 “Don’t Come Up And See Me Sometime”

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 Saturdays, I will be reviewing Welcome Back Kotter, which ran on ABC  from 1975 to 1979.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, Vinnie tries to move on with his life.  The Sweathogs say, “No!”

Episode 4.3 “Don’t Come Up And See Me Sometime”

(Dir by Norman Abbott, originally aired on September 25th, 1978)

Vinnie Barbarino has his own apartment!

And it’s a dump!

Seriously, if you watch enough 70s sitcoms, you know that no one is going to live in a nice apartment.  For whatever reason, characters on 70s tv shows always lived in the ugliest apartments imaginable.  But, even with that in mind, Barbarino’s apartment is terrible.  The walls are stained.  The couch is worn and has visible stuffing.  Every time the train goes by, the entire apartment shakes and Vinnie’s bed falls out of its closet.  It’s an awful apartment in an awful part of Brooklyn but then again, Barbarino is a janitor who hasn’t even graduated from high school so really, the crappy apartment is probably the most realistic part of this episode.

Vinnie is happy to have his own place because he has a serious girlfriend, Sally (Linda McCullough).  Sally works as a nurse at the hospital.  Vinnie can’t wait to spend time with her, though she has to break their first date when she’s assigned to work overnight.

Julie Kotter makes her first appearance of the season when she drops by to give VInnie a house-warming present and to show off her terrible new haircut.  The present turns out to be towels.  Vinnie is happy with the gift because he was feeling bad about stealing towels from the hospital.

Then the Sweathogs show up, including a new blonde guy with a Southern accent.  Washington says that the guy’s name is Beau (Stephen Shortridge) and he’s a new student at Buchanan High and in Mr. Kotter’s class.  What’s odd is that the previous episode ended with Vinnie once again enrolled in high school and a student in Kotter’s class.  So, why hasn’t he met Beau yet?  Did Vinnie drop out after dropping back in?

After Vinnie and Beau debate which one of them is uglier, Vinnie gives everyone a tour of the apartment.  He’s especially proud of his dining table.

Things are going fine until the Sweathogs start to talk about how they’re going to be spending all of their time at Barbarino’s new apartment.  Vinnie, realizing the he just wants some privacy, asks all of the Sweathogs to leave.  The Sweathogs get offended and say that Vinnie has let his new apartment go to his head.

The next day, at school, Gabe is shocked to see the Sweathogs shunning Vinnie.  Woodman, however, tells Vinnie that he’s lucky.  “I haven’t had a friend in 20 years,” Woodman says, “and look how happy I am!”  Fortunately, Gabe is not quite so cynical and he’s able to help the Sweathogs realize that they need to give Barbarino room to live his own life.  This episode ends with Barbarino, having nearly been driven mad by loneliness, happily allowing the Sweathogs, the Kotters, and Mr. Woodman into his apartment.  But then Sally arrives and he kicks them all out.

This episode feels like a metaphor of sorts.  Just as Barbarino was escaping the Sweathogs and starting his own life, John Travolta was escaping television for the movies.  One has to imagine that, just as the Sweathogs were offended to be kicked out of the apartment, there were some Kotter people who weren’t necessarily happy about not being included in Travolta’s new Hollywood career.

This episode works surprisingly well.  That’s largely because it’s a showcase for John Travolta.  The scenes of Barbarino talking to himself come close to going on for too long but Travolta’s charisma carries the day.  At the end of the episode, even Gabe and Julie look happy for a minute or two.