Tag Archives: The Office

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 8/2/26 — 8/8/26

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

America 2100 (YouTube)

I reviewed America 2100 here,

Baywatch (Tubi)

You can read my review here!

Big Brother (24/7, CBS, Paramount+, Pluto TV)

You can read my ongoing review of Big Brother here.

Cheaters (Tubi)

Cheaters is on Tubi!  I watched a few episodes on Saturday.  This show is a guilty pleasure for me because 1) it was filmed in Dallas and 2) Joey Greco is just so judgmental!

CHiPs (Prime)

You can read my review of CHiPs here.

Crime Story (Tubi)

You can read my review of Crime Story here.

Diff’rent Strokes (Tubi)

After buying their father a birthday present, Arnold and Kimberly decided to hitchhike home.  They were picked up by a man who locked Arnold in a room and then threatened to rape Kimberly.  This was pretty disturbing for a sitcom!  I watched this two-part episode on Thursday and I was relieved when the police finally showed up to rescue them.

Freddy’s Nightmares (Tubi)

I wrote about the series finale here!

Election Coverage (Tuesday Night)

I was pretty depressed going into this week’s primary elections but I have to admit that watching the results in Michigan cheered me up,  Even though the latest DSA flavor-of-the month, Abdul El-Sayed, won his primary, it was only by one percentage point as opposed to the election being the blow-out that so many predicted.  Not everyone is on board with extremism and I take some hope from that.

On Thursday, I watched as the election results rolled in from Tennessee.  Other than that one congressman that lost his primary, the Tennessee results weren’t quite as exciting as the Michigan results.  I did find myself amused as I remembered how, way back in 2018, some pundits were convinced that Taylor Swift coming out as a Democrat would somehow turn the state blue.

1st & Ten (Prime)

You can read my review here.

Flight of the Conchords (HBOMax)

I watched one episode from the first season (Todd joined the band and things quickly fell apart, despite his skill with the bongos) and one episode from the second season.  (Bret and Jermaine met Murray’s best friend, Jim.)  Both episodes made me laugh.  This is definitely a show that I miss, even if it does seem like Bret and Jermaine probably did everything they could with the concept during the first two seasons.

Hunter (Tubi)

You can read my review here.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

You can read my review here.

Mad TV (Tubi)

Mad TV’s on Tubi now!  I watched two episodes on Thursday and, unfortunately, they were even worse than I remembered.

The Office (Peacock TV)

“THIS WAS THE BEST DUNDIES EVER!  WHOOOOO!”  As much as I complain about the show’s final two seasons, the first three seasons are about as good as anything that has ever aired on television.  On Friday, I watched The Dundies.

Pacific Blue (Tubi)

You can read my review of Pacific Blue here.

Saved By The Bell (Prime)

My review will be dropping shortly.

Saved By The Bell: The New Class (Prime)

You can read my review here!

St. Elsewhere (YouTube)

You can read my review of St. Elsewhere here!

60 Minutes (CBS, Sunday Night)

I caught the last 30 minutes of 60 Minutes on Sunday night.  It’s funny that, for all the acclaim that this show has received and all the current controversy surrounding it, the only time that I have ever watched it has been when I’ve been waiting for something else to start.  It seems like I always end up turning on the show whenever Anderson Cooper is doing one of his “look at my exploring the wilderness!” type of stories.

Survivor 50 (CBS, Wednesday Night)

As I watched this week’s rerun of Survivor 50, it occurred to me that the all of the Survivor icons are starting to get really, really old.  A better name for Survivor 50 would have been Survivor: Seniors’ Retreat.

Lisa’s Week In Television: 6/28/26 — 7/4/26

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Election Coverage

Tuesday’s election coverage was boring.  Only Colorado voted this week and who cares?

Family Ties (Paramount Plus)

I watched an episode of this old 80s sitcom on Saturday morning.  Michael J. Fox dreamt that he had to help Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence.

Full House (Disney+)

I watched four episodes of this infamous 90s sitcom on Saturday.  In one episode, Jesse was fired from his band and replaced by Barry Williams.  (That was actually funny.)  In another episode, Stephanie was tempted to start smoking.  Then, I watched an episode in which Uncle Jesse was revealed to be a high school drop out.  (Loser!)  And finally, I watched a truly terrible episode in which Jesse dressed his baby sons up as Elvis so that they could win a Cutest Twins contest.  Seriously, this was a terrible show but I have a feeling I’m going to end up watching a few more episodes tomorrow.  It’s strangely addictive.

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Hulu)

I watched four episodes on Saturday.  The Gang went on Family Fight.  The Gang went to the water park.  Wolf Cola turned into a marketing disaster.  And, Mac and Dennis battled the recession by giving out totally worthless Paddy Dollars.  I still crack up at the idea of Frank selling knives door-to-door.

King of the Hill (Hulu)

There aren’t many classic 4th of July episodes out there.  Back in the day of traditional network schedules, most TV shows were on hiatus during the summer and, as a result, Independence Day never got as much attention in TV Land as Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  That said, there are a few good episodes out there.  On Saturday, I watched the “Born Again On The 4th Of July” episode of King of the Hill.  From the show’s 13th season, it featured Bobby going through a religious phase and trying to stop the Independence Day rivalry between Hank and his neighbors.  It wasn’t the strongest episode of King of The Hill — for one thing, Bobby had already gone through a religious phase a few seasons earlier — but no matter.  Even the weaker episodes of King of the Hill are better than the best episodes of many sitcoms.

The Office (Peacock)

The Client, an episode from the second season, is not a 4th of July episode.  It’s the episode where Michael and Jan have a lunch meeting with a client that ends up going late into the night.  Meanwhile, at the office, Pam discover Michael’s screenplay for Threat Level Midnight and Jim organizes a dramatic reading.  Dwight announces that he has some left-over fireworks, which he and Kevin proceed to set off outside of the office.  That was enough for me to justify watching it on July 3rd.

Portlandia (Netflix)

This morning, I watched the 4th of July BBQs episode of Portlandia.  The Mayor had to find fireworks for the city’s celebration.  A couple tried to cycle through every barbecue in town.  A punk rock barbecue led to chaos.  I enjoyed it!  It was nice to see Kyle MacLachlan as the mayor.

Saved By The Bell (Tubi)

On Saturday morning, I watched the 4th of July “Miss Liberty” episode.  (There really aren’t that many good 4th of July episodes out there.)  The Malibu Sands episodes are always strange to me.  Why would Zack work a summer job?  Zack’s rich!

What I Like About You (Tubi)

Tubi has the first two seasons of What I Like About You!  The only problem is that they’ve replaced the cover of What I Like About You that originally played over the opening credits with his blandly generic, early aughts, girl group pop song.  Bleh.  The only reason I ever watched that show was because I liked that cover of What I Like About You.  Anyway, I watched an episode where Amanda Bynes wanted to have a party at the loft and Jennie Garth didn’t want her to.  All of the squeaky voices hurt my ears.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/14/25 — 12/20/25

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Flight of the Conchords (HBOMax)

Murray books Bret and Jermaine for a concert at “Central Park,” but he insists that they tour first to prepare for it.  Bret continually causes havoc that Murray blames on Jermaine.  In the end, it turns out that the concert is at a central park not The Central Park.  Jeff and I watched that classic episode on Wednesday.  It made me cry a little.

Frasier (Prime)

Jeff and I watched three episodes of the original 90s version of Frasier on Tuesday.  The first episode featured Frasier getting into a war of words with a columnist who wrote a column about why hated Frasier’s radio show.  It almost led to an actual physical fight before the police intervened on the behest of Martin Crane.  (John Mahoney was a treasure!)

The second episode was “The Candidate,” in which Frasier endorses Phil Patterson for Congress, just to discover that Phil Patterson is convinced that he was abducted by aliens and taken into outer space.  The scene where a stunned Frasier attempted to record a commercial for Patteson (“the sane choice”) made me laugh so much that I almost fell off the couch.

Finally, we ended with a Christmas episode!  Frasier wants to get his young son a Christmas gift that will make him think.  Martin argues that Frasier should get him a gift that he’ll have fun with.  Frasier and Niles have to go to a mall.  The closing scene, with Martin revealing that he had purchased the gift that Frasier’s son actually wanted, made me cry.

What a great cast this show had!  Watching these three episodes, I was reminded why the revival didn’t work.  As good as a job as Kelsey Grammer did in the revival, no one wants to think of Frasier moving back to Boston and no longer having anything to do with his family in Seattle.

The Office (Peacock)

On Tuesday, Jeff and I watched several classic episodes of The Office.  We started with season 2’s Christmas Party.  Then, we watched Season 4’s Did I Stutter, followed by Season 6’s Scott’s Tots, and we followed it all up with Season 3’s The Convict and A Benihana Christmas.  I know I’ve been pretty critical of the direction that The Office eventually ended up going.  But the first three seasons were about as good as any sitcom that has ever aired and seasons 4-6, while uneven overall, still produced some classic episodes.  I will always enjoy the Christmas episodes, no matter how much that annoying actress from A Benihana Christmas whines about it.

Saved By The Bell: The Next Class (Prime)

Saved By The Bell: The Next Class continues to be my preferred background noise for when I’m struggling to get some sleep.

Seinfeld (Netflix)

On Tuesday, Jeff and I watched two Christmas episodes of this classic 90s sitcom.  We started with the episode where Elain was dating a communist and Kramer got fired from his department store Santa job because he was spreading propaganda.  Meanwhile, Jerry’s high school rival resurfaced and demanded a rematch on a race that Jerry won after getting a head start.  I loved this episode!  Everything from Jerry and George pretending to randomly run into each other at the coffee shop to the race at the end to the little kid yelling, “Hey, this guy’s a commie!”

We followed that episode with the Festivus episode.  I love the scene where Jerry Stiller (as George’s father) casually talks about seeing someone else grab the doll that he was planning to buy for his dolls.  “As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be a better way!”  Also, I totally would have wanted to be Submarine Captain too.  Free sub?  Give me my ticket!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 8/11/24 — 8/17/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I didn’t watch much this week but here’s a few thoughts on what I did watch!

American Murder: Laci Peterson (Netflix)

This three-part docuseries is the perfect antidote for that horribly biased The Murder of Laci Peterson show that still occasionally shows up on A&E.  Watching this series (as I did on Thursdasy), you are really left with no doubt that Scott Peterson murdered his wife and child.  As opposed to the one-sided approach taken by The Murder of Laci Peterson (which was essentially bankrolled by the Peterson family), American Murder gave both sides equal time.  As a result, the viewer sees how strong the case  against Scott actually was and they also see just how much in denial the Peterson family is actually in as far as Scott’s crimes are concerned.

Diff’Rent Strokes (YouTube)

Gary Coleman and the kid who played Reggie in Friday the 13th Part V found themselves being groomed by the creepy owner of a bicycle shop.  This was the episode that I watched, for some reason (boredom, perhaps), on Wednesday.  The owner of the bicycle shop was played by a familiar actor named Gordon Jump.  He seemed like a really nice guy but then he started giving the boys wine and inviting them to watch pornographic cartoons.  The episode ended with a detective explaining how the perverted mind works to a stunned Todd Bridges.

This episode is apparently an infamous one.  I thought it was fairly well-done, though the laugh track definitely felt out of place.  The episode opened with the star of the show, the very erudite Conrad Bain, encouraging families to watch and discuss the episode together.  He sounded very sincere.

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

The episode that I watched on Friday featured clips from and videos inspired by Woodstock.  The music was great!

The Office (Comedy Central)

I watched the classic “Did I Stutter” episode on Sunday.  That episode was The Office at its best, especially when Stanley and Michael talked about their differences.  Michael was so desperate for Stanley to like him and Stanley, to be honest, seemed like he wished he could bring himself to like Michael as well.  But, as Stanley put it, “I’ve known you for a very long time.”  Great episode.

Sally Jessy Raphael (Nosey)

On Sunday, I watched an episode from the early 90s.  Sally interviewed Corey Feldman about his career and his struggle to get off drugs.  Feldman said that he couldn’t wait to get his film career back on track.  Character actor Brion James also talked about his own struggle to get and stay clean.  It was kind of a depressing episode, to be honest.  James came across like a kind and plain-spoken man but Feldman seemed like he was desperately trying to convince everyone (including himself) that he was okay.

The Steve Wilkos Show (Nosey)

“Get off my stage!” Steve yelled, throwing a chair at a bigamist.  That’s what happened during the episode that I watched on Friday.  I wonder how much money this show spends on chairs.  It can’t be good for them, the way Steve is constantly throwing them at people.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/24/23 — 12/30/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy holidays!  I’ve been visiting my sister Megan this week.  Unfortunately, I’ve also been dealing with a cold this week.  As a result, I’ve spent a lot of time in my sister’s guest room, getting caught up on all the daytime dramas!

Here’s some thoughts on what I watched:

All You Need Is Love (Night Flight Plus)

On Friday night, I watched an episode of this documentary series about the history of American music.  The episode dealt with the birth and popularity of jazz.  It featured a lot of very good music.  It also featured an interview with Hoagy Carmichael, who Ian Fleming often claimed James Bond was meant to physically resemble.

The Bold and the Beautiful (Weekday afternoons, NBC)

This week, I got caught up with this wonderfully over-the-top daytime drama.  I think it had been over a year since I last watched an episode of The Bold and the Beautiful so it was nice to see that everyone was still bold and still beautiful.

California Dreams (DVD)

Megan and I watched a few episodes of California Dreams throughout the week.  Megan agreed that I basically am like the red-headed version of Lorena Costa.

Days of Our Lives (Weekdays, Peacock)

Days of our Lives is on Peacock now.  Just as with The Bold and the Beautiful, it had been a while since I watched this show.  I watched several episodes this week but I’d be lying if I said I paid too much attention.  That said, the show was a nice distraction for when I was feeling ill.

Dr. Death (Peacock)

My sister Megan and I binged the second season of this show on Monday and Tuesday.  It was an interesting story, even if it wasn’t quite as strong as the first season.  I love Mandy Moore but she was a bit miscast as a tough New York journalist.

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

I watched a few episodes of Dr. Phil this week but I mostly just used them for background noise. I did make sure to pay attention to the episodes about the girl who was convinced that she was pregnant with Jesus.

The Garden: Commune or Cult?  (Max)

Megan and I binged this show on Wednesday night.  Personally, I think The Garden is more of a commune than a cult but mostly it’s just a place full of really annoying people.  Living off the grid has some appeal when it comes to not paying taxes but I’m just not a fan of living off the land.  I guess my ideal living situation would be to live in the city but not have to pay for anything.

 General Hospital (Weekday Afternoons, ABC)

It kind of bothers me that this show has scenes that take place outside of the hospital.

Jennifer Slept Here (YouTube)

I wrote about the final episode of Jennifer Slept Here …. here!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Monsters (Tubi)

I wrote about Monsters here!

Murder In Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning (Max)

Megan and I watched this last night.  This three-part docudrama dealt with a murder that occurred in Boston in the 80s.  The same story served as the basis for a movie that I reviewed back in October.  It’s an interesting story, though the docuseries was more interested in the cultural context of the crime than the crime itself.

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

I watched an episode on Friday about 80s cover tunes.

The Office (Sunday Morning, Comedy Central)

I watched two Christmas episodes on Sunday.  One was the Benihana Christmas episode from the Steve Carell years.  The other episode was from the post-Carell era.  The differences in quality were dramatic.  That show really went downhill after Steve Carell left.

Saved By The Bell (DVD)

Megan and I watched a few episodes of Saved By The Bell over the week.  We hit all the classics, No Hope With Dope, the episodes where Kelly dumped Zach for Jeff, the episode where Jessie got hooked on caffeine pills, and the rockumentary.

The Simpsons (Monday Morning, TBS)

I watched two Christmas episodes on Monday.  Fortunately, they both featured Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob because both of them would have been pretty dire without his ability to turn even the lamest of lines into comedic gold.  One episode featured Bart getting lost in an underground missile silo.  The other featured Bob taking a job as a Santa’s Village Santa and helping to expose Mr. Burns as the person who stealing the town’s Christmas presents.  Both episodes were oddly mean-spirited at times, as if the show’s writers were trying to impress the Family Guy crowd.

T and T (Tubi)

Next week, I’ll be reviewing the episode that I watched this week.

Twilight Zone (SyFy)

Today, I’ve enjoyed several episodes of SyFy’s annual New Year’s Twilight Zone marathon.  This is one of those traditions that I hope never goes away.

The Young and the Restless (Weekday afternoons, NBC)

I’m happy to say that everyone is still restless, even if they’re not quite young.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 5/21/23 — 5/27/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I didn’t watch much this week.  For whatever reason, I really wasn’t in a television mood.  Still, I did catch a few shows and here are my thoughts on them!

Barry (Sunday Night, HBO)

Monroe “The Raven” Fuches has his own compound.  NoHo Hank is discovering that being a legitimate businessman still means doing a lot of illegal stuff.  The FBI is now convinced that Cusineau was Barry’s accomplice.  And Sally and John have been kidnapped.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous about how all of this going to wrap up on Sunday night.  I’m hoping for a happy ending but I don’t know if there is such a thing in the world of Barry.

Beavis and Butt-Head (Paramount Plus)

Oh no!  Beavis and Butt-Head are dead!  Well, actually, I’m sure they’ll find a way to survive being in that car that just got tossed into the car smasher thing.  I mean, Old Beavis survived having one of his kidneys explode so it might just be that the boys are immortal and incapable of dying.  That’s kind of a scary thought.

Black Bird (Apple TV+)

I finished up this excellent miniseries on Sunday.  Paul Walter Hauser chilled me to the bone.  Ray Liotta broke my heart.

Bubblegum Crisis (Night Flight Plus)

I watched the fourth episode of this anime on Saturday morning.  It features a black car shoving a bunch of motorcyclists out of the way.  That was actually kind of neat because everyone knows the frustration of getting stuck behind a motorcyclist (or, even worse, a freaking bicyclist) in heavy traffic.

City Guys (YouTube)

I have finally started in on the 5th and final season of City Guys.  You can read my thoughts on the 4th season finale right here.

Forgive or Forget (YouTube)

Robin Givens talked to teenagers who felt that they had been let down by their mothers.  Wait …. where’s Mother Love!?

Great Performances (Monday Morning, PBS)

Danai Gurira played the title role in a Shakespeare in the Pak production of Richard III.  Gurira was certainly able to capture the character’s ruthless determination but there still wasn’t much depth to either her performance or the overall production.

Hang Time (YouTube)

I’m nearly done with this show.  Yay!  Read my thoughts on this week’s episode here!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about this week’s episode of The Love Boat here!

The Master (Tubi)

Max Keller, union activist!  The third episode of The Master was pretty silly and I wrote about it here!

The Office (Peacock)

“Hey there, Mr. Scott, what you gonna do?  What you gonna do?  Make our dreams come true!”  Can you guess which episode of The Office I watched on Friday afternoon?

Red Dwarf (Monday Morning, PBS)

The long-running British science fiction comedy is now airing on my PBS station so I watched an episode on Monday.  Apparently, the last Earthling in existence gave some false memories to his companion, a hologram.  The hologram was disappointed to learn that his memories weren’t real.  It was funny but it was also kind of sad, to be honest.  It made me wonder what I would so if I woke up one day to discover that I was the last remaining person on Earth (or in space, as the case may be).

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

Another season of Survivor has come to a close and I am off the reality show beat until Big Brother returns in August.  Yam Yam, to be honest, got on my last nerve because he was so whiny and petulant.  He played a good enough game that he deserved the victory but still, I would have preferred to have seen either Carolyn or Carson take home the money.  What was up with Carolyn getting zero votes?  That sucked!  You can read my thoughts on Survivor here!

Yes, Minister (Monday Morning, PBS)

This week, Jim Hacker caused a panic when he threatened to withhold honours from civil servants who did not reduce their budgets.  Of course, no civil servant would ever willingly reduce their budget but what’s the point of being a civil servant without the honours?  It was all very British but it was also universal.  Bureaucrats love to be rewarded for not doing anything.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/18/22 — 12/24/18

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Merry Christmas!  I spent the first part of this week shopping and I’m spending the second half of the week with my family.  It’s literally freezing outside!  Wheeee!

Anyway, here’s a few thoughts on what I watched this week:

The Brady Bunch (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

Oh no!  It’s Christmas and Carol is supposed to sing!  But she’s losing her voice!  Don’t worry, she gets it back.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (Apple TV+)

I watched this with my sisters on Friday night.  It’s still a classic and it’s really not the Christmas season without it.  Erin wrote about what this special means to her a few years ago.  Read her thoughts!

Community (Netflix)

Poor Shirley.  Her efforts to have a great Christmas were ruined by Jeff Winger’s need to fight a bully.

Degrassi (Tubi)

My sisters and I watched the season 3 “Holiday” episode on Friday.  Actually, I kind of forced my sisters to watch it with me and, as we watched, I made sure they knew all about how Craig cheated on Ashley with Manny and how, long before that, Joey cheated on Caitlin with Tessa.  I don’t know if they really cared but I had fun telling the story!

Full House (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

Uncle Jesse went on tour in Japan, where he was inexplicably popular.  But he realized that he missed his family so he went home.  Michelle gave Jesse a hard time for trying to find success out of the house.  This was followed by Jesse trying to become a radio DJ but losing the job to Joey.  Things aren’t looking good for Uncle Jesse.

King of the Hill (Tubi)

After walking in on his mother and her new boyfriend, Hank is struck blind!  Still, it’s Christmas and Hank is determined to hand out the gifts like he always does.  Bobby gets a nightgown.  “A nightgown,” he says, “I’ll wear this when I’m older.”  That line always makes me laugh.

Leave It To Beaver (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

Beaver loses the money that his father gave him to get a haircut so he gives himself a haircut.  Then he asks his brother, Wally, to help him fix his new haircut.  Beaver ends with a mohawk but his parents realize that they’re partially to blame for being too hard on him.  It was a sweet episode.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Tubi)

Friday night, I watched the MST version of Santa Claus Conquers The Martians with Jeff and our friend Pat.  Hooray for Santy Claus!

The Office (Peacock)

On Saturday morning, I watched my two favorite Christmas episodes of The Office.  First, I watched as Michael destroyed Secret Santa by turning it into Yankee Swap.  (“How is this better than an iPod!?”)  Secondly, I watched the 3rd season episode in which Michael, Andy, and Dwight went to Benihana.  I always enjoy the episodes where Andy’s evil more than the episodes where Andy is so needy for approval that it’s difficult to take.  I know that one of the actresses who played a Benihana waitress has subsequently spent a lot of time condemning the episode and trying to get the outrage machine going.  There’s really nothing more Twitter than signaling that you appeared in a classic TV show while, at the same time, trying to cancel it.  Anyway, for the first four or five seasons, every Office Christmas episode was a classic.  Secret Santa, especially, is brilliant.

Saved By The Bell (DVD)

On Saturday morning, Megan and I watched an episode in which Zack and the gang met a homeless girl and her father at the mall.  Because it was Christmas, the girl and her father moved in with Zack and his mom.  The girl and her father were never mentioned again.

 

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 10/30/22 — 11/5/22

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’ve spent this week in a state of exhaustion as I’ve tried to physically and mentally recover from this year’s Horrorthon.  Here’s a few thoughts on what I watched over the past seven days.

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

The commercial was amusing and I enjoyed the scene where everyone realized that the reason they had allowed the commercials to be filmed was because they had gotten used to being followed around by cameras.  I enjoyed hearing about the shows that the characters happened to be watching when they saw the commercial.  I’m not really sure that Abbott needs a supervillain, though.

The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of The Amazing Race here!

Atlanta (Thursday Night, FX)

Al moved out to a farm and nearly got killed by a feral hog.  Brian Tyree Henry’s reactions were priceless.

California Dreams (YouTube)

Surf dudes without attitude …. kinda groovy …. I watched a few episodes and wrote a few reviews that will be dropping over the course of the next few weeks.  I’ll be glad to be done with season 2 because, as everyone knows, season 3 is when this show gets good.

City Guys (Tubi)

98 Degrees played Manny High and Chris dated a goth!  You can read about it here.

Family Feud (Weekday afternoons, Buzzr)

On Monday, I watched two episodes of this deathless game show.  They were both Halloween episodes from the 80s so everyone was wearing a costume.  I have no idea who won.  Survey says, “Didn’t much attention!”

Fantasy Island (Tubi)

I wrote about Fantasy Island and Leslie Nielsen here!

Ghost Whisperer (Hulu)

I watched an episode of my favorite guilty pleasure on Monday.  Jennifer Love Hewitt helped Hillary Duff deal with a ghost.  Meanwhile, Melinda’s dead husband continued to hang out in someone else’s body.  That was a weird season.

Hang Time (YouTube)

I watched a few episodes of Hang Time yesterday and today and I wrote and scheduled reviews for all of them.  Keep an eye out on Monday.

Highway to Heaven (YouTube)

I shared this episode on Monday.  Jonathan battled the devil for Mark’s soul.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Hulu)

I watched the episode in Sunday in which Mac and Dennis tried to create an economy based on Paddy Bucks.  Meanwhile, Frank chopped off a finger while trying to sale knives.  I fell off the couch laughing.

It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (Apple TV+)

Erin and I watched this classic on Sunday.  It’s a part of our Halloween tradition.  A few years ago, Erin wrote about this special and why it continues to appeal to us.

King of the Hill (Hulu)

I watched two episodes on Monday.  The first was the episode where Hank fights for the right to trick or treat.  The second was one of my favorites, in which Bobby buys a pack of Tarot cards and accidentally joins a coven.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

A fashion designer is murdered while crime spirals out of control in New York.  This was actually a pretty good episode, even if the mystery itself was rather routine.  It was an episode that acknowledged just how powerless people feel in the face of America’s current crime wave and it put the blame squarely on our elected officials.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about my latest voyage here.

Night Flight (NightFlight+)

I watched an episode of this entertainment news show from 1992.  The show contained a profile of Bruce Springsteen, some footage of Duke Ellington performing, and then a few comedic shorts featuring Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, and others.

The Office (Peacock)

On Halloween, I watched the first Halloween episode.  Imagine how different the series would have been if Michael had fired Creed instead of Devin.

One World (Tubi)

I binged the entirety of this show on Thursday and Friday.  Here are my thoughts on two episodes.

Saved By The Bell (Hulu)

Zach and the gang went on a mystery weekend!  It’s about as close as this show ever got to a Halloween episode so I watched it on Halloween.  Even when Zach thought people were actually being murdered, he seemed oddly unconcerned.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor here!

Toy Story of Terror (Sunday Night, ABC)

I watch this special every year.  I have to admit that it’s never quite as good as I seem to remember it being but, that said, how can you not love the toys?

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 8/21/22 — 8/27/22

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Again, this week was mostly about getting ready for October.  Here’s a few thoughts on what I did watch:

Allo Allo (Sunday Night, PBS)

Once again, Rene was mistaken for dead.  He even attended his own funeral, while disguised as Officer Crabtree.  Crabtree, of course, retired to Madame Fanny’s old bedroom, which led to all sorts of chaos when Fanny showed up.  It was, needless to say, a crazy time in Nouvion.

The Bachelorette (Monday Night, ABC)

Hometown dates!  Who cares?  Meatball’s not on the show anymore.  Gabby appears to be heading for another heartbreak while Rachel just can’t catch a break.  First, hardly any of the men wanted to date her.  Then, Tino’s family decided that they all hated her.  This is a messy season and it’s hard not to feel that it’s not going to end well for either one of the Bachelorettes.  Next week’s Men Tell All should be interesting and hopefully, Meatball will make a case for why he should be be the next Bachelor.

Big Brother (Everyday, CBS and Paramount+)

I’ve been writing about this season over at the Big Brother Blog! This season was going well until production came up with one of the worst twists in the history of the show.  Jasmine and Joseph are both gone.  Jasmine lost her fake limp and her fake accent when she was evicted.  For all the excitement over the Leftovers building a strong and positive alliance, it now appears that the show could very well be won by yet another unlikable showmance.  Do these words make sense to anyone who doesn’t watch Big Brother?

The Challenge (Wednesday Night, CBS)

Bye, Leo.  I’m still predicting a Tyson victory.

Full House (Sunday Evening, MeTV)

The first of Sunday’s episodes found DJ requesting that she finally be given a room of her own, which was a totally justifiable request considering how much older she was than her sisters and that Michelle, for some reason, had an entire room to herself while DJ was expected to share with Stephanie.  While DJ prepared to move and Stephanie dealt with feeling rejected, Becky and Jesse went to childbirth class, which was being held in the living room for some reason.  Becky got mad at Jesse because Jesse was being insensitive and talking about Elvis.  I assume they resolved the issue.  The second episode featured Danny freaking out because DJ was growing up and getting interested in boys and asking him to respect her privacy.  They worked it out.

Inspector Lewis (YouTube)

On the episode that I watched on Tuesday, David Soul played the murder victim.  Hathaway solved the mystery while Lewis dealt with a toothache.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Hulu)

On Wednesday, I watched “Conscience,” an episode from season 6 of NBC’s long-running legal show.  Kyle MacLachlan gave an intense performance as a man on trial for shooting and killing the 13 year-old who had previously murdered his son.  It was a good episode, thought-provoking and well-written.  It was an example of what the Law & Order franchise used to be like.

On Saturday, I watched a second episode from season 6.  In “Doubt,” Benson and Stabler found themselves dealing with a case in which a woman accused her teacher of raping her.  The teacher insisted it was consensual rough sex.  The episode ended before the verdict was read, leaving it to the audience to try to decide who was telling the truth.

Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head (Paramount+)

This week’s episode started with Butt-Head getting prescribed a new, grape-flavored medication that caused him to become so nice that Beavis freaked out.  Perhaps the funniest part of this segment was Butt-Head asking Mr. Van Driessen to lunch and then listening attentively while Van Driessen talk about the teacher’s union.  The second part of the episode featured the return of Smart Beavis and Smart Butt-Head, who provided us with a look at a universe where Beavis and Butt-Head were middle-aged.  Butt-Head was obese and could barely walk.  Beavis was an alcoholic with broken teeth.  It was realistic and kind of depressing.  However, it’s always nice to Smart Beavis and Smart Butt-Head.  “Very droll, yes.”

Night Flight (NightFlight+)

This was apparently an old 80s TV show that used to run on the USA network and which took a look at entertainment news.  I watched two episodes on Friday, largely as historical research.  The first episode dealt with the 1986 Academy Awards and featured a lot clips from the nominees.  The second episode was from 1984 and it dealt with music videos that had been deemed too violent to be aired on MTV.  The second episode was fun because it claimed to be a serious look at music video violence but instead, that was just an excuse to show the videos.  Cecil B. DeMille would be proud.

The Office (Weekday Nights, FaveTV)

I discovered two things this week.  Number one, I discovered that there’s a station called FaveTV.  Number two, I discovered that they air The Office late at night and early in the morning.  I watched two episodes on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.  The first featured Michael and Dwight hanging out with Ryan in New York City.  Ryan attempted to talk to them about his drug use.  Michael started talking about how he couldn’t understand The Wire.  Dwight sang an Amish lullaby.  The second was the classic episode in which Stanley demanded to know, “Did I stutter!?”  This is one of my favorite episodes, both because of the final conversation between Stanley and Michael and for the B-plot of Pam forgetting her contacts.  I could relate.  Even though I can watch these episodes anytime I want on Peacock and I own the entire series on DVD, it was still kind of fun to watch it on an ordinary channel.  It made me feel nostalgic for the day before instant gratification.

Open All Hours (Sunday Night, PBS)

Arkwright continued to cheat his customers while Granville wondered if there was anything more to life beyond being an indentured servant.

Two Looks at the Office: The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s: An Oral History by Andy Greene and Welcome to Dunder Mifflin: The Ultimate Oral History of The Office by Brian Baumgartner and Ben Silverman

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The American version of The Office was so good that it has led to not one but two oral histories!  And I’m such a fan that I’ve got both of them.

The first oral history that I read was Andy Greene’s The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s.  First published in 2020, Greene’s book was full of interesting facts and anecdotes, though a careful reading revealed that a lot of the “oral” part of the oral history was lifted from old interviews, DVD commentaries, and an article that Greene had previously written.  The book was notable for 1) establishing that Steve Carell is one of the nicest guys in show business, 2) putting the blame squarely on Jeff Zuker for Carell not returning after Season 7, and 3) getting some of the behind-the-scenes people to talk about why seasons 8 and, to a lesser extent, season 9 were so uneven.

The other oral history, which was published earlier this year, was Welcome to Dunder Mifflin.  It was written by Brian Baumgartner (who played Kevin Malone on the show) and Ben Silverman, one of the show’s producers.  Probably because Baumgartner and Silverman were both involved in the show, they apparently were able to get a lot more people to talk to them personally.  Unlike Greene’s book, which relied heavily on previously published interviews, Welcome to Dunder Mifflin features recent interviews with people like Steve Carell, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, Angela Kinsey, Craig Robinson, Ed Helms, Amy Ryan and many others.  In fact, nearly the entire cast seems to have been interviewed for Welcome to Dunder Mifflin.  Presumably because their schedules wouldn’t allow it, neither BJ Novak or Mindy Kaling are interviewed and their absence is definitely felt.  Also not interviewed is James Spader but that’s not really a surprise.  (Spader played Robert California during the season of The Office that everyone seems to agree was the worst, Season 8.)  While everyone in both of the oral histories is quick to compliment Spader as an actor and a person, there’s a general agreement that the show never figured out what to do with the Robert California character and that Spader’s vibe didn’t quite meld with the show.  One gets the feeling that his time on The Office is something that Spader is more than happy to put behind him.

(Personally, of all the celebrities who were brought in to “interview” for the management position after Steve Carell left the show, I thought Ray Romano was the one who seemed like he would best fit in with the show’s ensemble.  Then again, I always felt that the best solution would have been to cast some total unknown for as Michael’s replacement and then keep him off-screen as much as possible.  But I’m getting distracted.  Someday, I’ll post my big ‘What the Office Should Have Done’ screed.  Of course, it’ll be like 20 years too late but whatever….)

The books are both full of love for The Office but they each take a somewhat different approach.  The Untold Story takes a very structured and very chronological look at the show and focuses a lot on what went on behind the scenes, both on set and with the network.  (If you didn’t already dislike Jeff Zucker, you will after reading Greene’s book.)  Welcome to Dunder Mifflin takes a far looser approach to the material and focuses more on what it was like to be a part of television’s funniest ensemble.  Welcome to Dunder Mifflin is full of interviews of people gushing about how much they loved working together and how proud they were to work on The Office and what’s interesting is that, even though you’re just reading their words on the printed page, you never doubt that they’re totally telling the truth.  Perhaps because it was Baumgartner who was doing the interview, the cast seems to let down their guard in a way that you really don’t see very often when it comes to performers talking about their time on a classic show.

Welcome to Dunder Mifflin focuses on the positive aspects of being on the show.  Whereas The Untold Story spends a lot of times on Seasons 8 and 9 and on the difficulty of integrating James Spader and Catherine Tate into the main cast, Welcome to Dunder Mifflin devotes only a few pages to those seasons and instead focuses on the Carell years.  One thing that both of these oral histories have in common is that Steve Carell comes across as being the nicest guy who ever lived.  How nice is Steve Carell?  I’d rather live next door to him than Tom Hanks.  Actually, I take that back.  I would want Carell next door and Tom Hanks living across the street.  It’s a big neighborhood.

Both of these oral histories nicely compliment each other.  If you want a chronological history of the show, Greene’s book is for you.  If you want a book that focuses on what it felt like to be a member of The Office crew, Welcome to Dunder Mifflin has you covered.  I would recommend buying both and getting the full Office experience.

And remember, there’s no party like a Scranton party.