Tag Archives: TV

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 1.14 “The Election”

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 Saved By The Bell, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993.  The entire show is currently streaming on Prime and Tubi!

This week, Zack and Jessie fight over a pointless, ceremonial title.

Episode 1.14 “The Election”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on November 18th, 1989)

This is the episode where Jessie is running unopposed for student body president.  When Zack overhears Belding and Mr. Dewey (Patrick Thomas O’Brien) discussing how the new president will win a week-long trip to Washington, D.C., he decides to enter the race.  Because, seriously, what California kid doesn’t want to spend a week in one of the most humid cities in America?

Back when reruns of Saved By The Bell were running on every basic cable station, this episode seemed to show up a lot.  Rewatching it for this review, the first thing I noticed was that the cast all looked quite a bit younger than they did in last week’s episode.  Zack’s voice still hadn’t cracked and Mark-Paul Gosselaar was still overacting in much the same way as he did during Good Morning Miss Bliss.  I also noticed that none of the relationships between the characters felt correct.  Neither Zack nor Slater appeared to have a crush on Kelly.  When Lisa volunteers to be Jessie’s campaign manager, Jessie acts as if she barely knows Lisa.  Just as in the Dancing to the Max episode, a lot of emphasis is put on the idea of Zack and Jessie being lifelong friends.  I’ve always suspected that the showrunners originally meant for Zack and Jessie to become a couple and this episode seems to lean in that direction.  As for this episode, it feels like it was meant to be the first or second episode of the show but, for whatever reason, it didn’t air until halfway through the first season.

Episodes like this always amuse me because, seriously …. it’s just the Student Council!  The Student Council has no real power.  No one cares about the Student Council or, at least, they didn’t when I went to high school.  It’s a ceremonial position.  When Jessie talks about wanting to make real change, I was on Zack’s rather cynical side.  The Student Council President can’t change anything, Jessie!  When Kelly said that she needed time to think about her vote because the winner would “be in charge of the whole school,” I really wanted someone to explain to Kelly that no, the principal and the school board and the school superintendent are in charge of the whole school.

Despite trying to sabotage his own campaign after Belding tells him that the trip has been canceled, Zack is elected by one vote.  (Jessie gives Kelly the glare of death because Kelly earlier switched her vote from Jessie to Zack.  “I voted for Gilligan,” Kelly assures her.)  It turns out that Belding was lying about the trip being canceled but Zack now feels so guilty that he decides to resign as student council president so that Jessie can have the job.  Jessie would be student council president for the entirety of her time at Bayside but let’s never forget that she owed it all to Zack.

This episode was dumb but I have to admit that I enjoyed watching it.  I guess that’s the power of nostalgia.  As soon as I saw Jessie putting up her campaign poster, I felt like I was back in college, looking for an excuse not to study.

One final note: In later episodes, the show’s hairstylists and costuming supervisors sometimes seemed to have it out for Elizabeth Berkley.  I assume that was because it was eventually decided that Kelly would be the “pretty one.”  Jessie’s hair looks really good in this episode.  Good for her.

Retro Television Review: Baywatch 1.15 “Muddy Waters”

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 Baywatch, which ran on NBC and then in syndication from 1989 to 2001.  The entire show can be viewed on Tubi.

The drudgery of season 1 continues.

Episode 1.15 “Muddy Waters”

(Dir by Paul Schneider, originally aired on February 2nd, 1990)

It’s a busy couple of days in Malibu!

Hobie has been getting into fights at school.  Is it because the kids refuse to believe his amazing stories about his lifeguard father or is it because he has a crush on his teacher, Amanda Keller (Sherilyn Wolter)?  Amanda wears glasses but takes them off whenever Mitch comes into the room so we all know what that means.  Mitch is about to get a girlfriend.

Meanwhile, a picture of Shauni appears in a cheap calendar, posing in her official Baywatch bathing suit.  The Captain (Monte Markham) wants to fire her but Craig proves that Shauni isn’t lying about the picture being used without Shauni’s knowledge.  Not only does Craig print a calendar with the captain as “Miss March” but he also tricks the Captain into signing a release form.  Shauni is vindicated.  Craig’s wife complains about how sexist the calendar was.  This storyline felt a bit hypocritical for a show run people who reportedly spent hours obsessing on how everyone looked in their swimsuits.

Finally, Cort and Eddie are training the junior lifeguard at the water park.  An angry man who always wanted to be a lifeguard keeps loosening the bolts on the water slide.  Cort, Eddie, and Garner catch him but the trouble’s not over yet!  The ex-boyfriend of one of the lifeguards is making trouble and vandalizing park property.  He’s captured after a dramatic chase up a water slide.  Even though Cort is chasing the guy up the water slide, people keep sliding down.  It felt kind of dumb, to be honest.  Why not just climb the stairs to the top so that you can be there whenever the guy gets there?  Why not position one lifeguard at the top and one at the bottom so the guy will eventually be caught no matter which way he climbs or slides?  It seems like Eddie and Cort put a lot of people in danger for no good reason.

This episode was forgettable and dumb.  That’s kind of the standard when it comes to the first season of Baywatch.  Some people stand in the darkness for good reason.

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 2.4 “Photo Finish”

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 Fridays, I will be reviewing Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Tubi!

This week, it’s Halloween in Springwood!

Episode 2.4 “Photo Finish”

(Dir by Tom DeSimone, originally aired on October 29th, 1989)

This episode starts with Freddy welcoming us to a special Halloween episode of Freddy’s Nightmares.  Because it is the season, Freddy actually plays a role in both of this week’s stories and it must be said that they are both rather gruesome, even by the standards of this show.

In the first story, photographer Stoney Adler (Patty McCormack) is commissioned to take some photos for a Halloween spread that will appear in Kink Magazine.  Stoney is amazed at how good her models are at pretending to be scared.  That’s because they’re all actually terrified because they keep seeing Freddy.  Stoney isn’t aware of Freddy’s presence, at least not until Freddy drives a stake through the heart of one of her models.  Stoney tries to avoid doing any more horror shoots but she takes on one final assignment.  Freddy appears and asks Stoney, “Do you want me to make (the model) scream?”  Stoney says yes.  Freddy plucks out Stoney’s eyes.  That certainly does lead to some screaming.

The second story feature three FBI men trying to figure out why a suburban father shot his wife and daughter the night before Halloween and then apparently slit his own throat.  One of the agents — a profiler who owes more than a little to William Petersen’s performance in Manhunter — figures out that Freddy possessed the father.  Freddy, however, then possesses another one of the FBI agents and the tragedy plays out a second time.  The profiler ends up with his throat slashed, slowly dying while the camera lingers on him.  There’s no way this episode didn’t inspire a few nightmares.

This was a good episode.  It was scary, it was gory, and it was definitely designed to offend people who weren’t into horror.  This episode was exactly what you would want Halloween with Freddy Krueger to be.  The second season continues to be a hundred times better than the first.

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 3.11 “Homecoming”

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 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 heartbreak continues!

Episode 3.11 “Homecoming”

(Dir by David Anspaugh, originally aired on December 5th, 1984)

What a depressing episode!

Actually, it’s not totally depressing.  Dr. Elliot Axelrod (Stephen Furst) survives his first night as the attending-on-duty and he even convinces cranky old Mrs. Hufnagle (Florence Halop) to go back to her room.  He also handles things when a patient collapses in the hallway.  One can be sure that Elliot will be given absolutely no praise for his good work because he never is.  But at least, he was there and he proved himself to be more competent than anyone gives him credit for being.

Now, for the depressing stuff:

Nurse Rosenthal is continuing her affair with Richard Clarendon.  This wasn’t depressing because of anything that happened in this episode.  Instead, it’s just depressing that any time was devoted to these two boring characters.

After her apartment is broken into while she’s in the shower, Clancy (Helen Hunt) moves in with Jack.  Jack and Clancy make for a cute couple but, watching this episode, it’s easy to see that their relationship is doomed. Clancy is young and enthusiastic.  Jack is young but he moves like an old man and he’s already been through a lifetime’s worth of tragedy.  Sadly, Clancy living with Jack does not last longer than one night.  Clancy says that Jack acts like he’s offended by having her stuff in his apartment and she’s right.  Jack is still mourning his wife and not ready to live with anyone.

Lois Wegener (Mimi Kennedy) comes home from being out of town and discovers that her husband, Andrew (John Schuck) is becoming progressively weaker from the experimental bone marrow treatment that he’s going through in an attempt to save the life of their daughter (Brandy Gold).  Everyone at the hospital is impressed with Andrew’s courage but it’s obvious to me that this is not going to have a happy ending.

Kathy Martin is still in the psych ward.  During this episode, she gives Fiscus the note that Shirley Daniels gave her after Shirley shot and killed Peter White.

And finally, it wouldn’t be a depressing episode without a Westphall storyline.  Westphall’s daughter, Lizzie (Dana Short), comes home from college for the weekend and, without asking Westphall ahead of time, she brings along her new boyfriend, Rick (Casey Seimaszko).  Lizzie assumes that Rick will be sleeping with her in her room.  Westphall is not thrilled to hear about that.  (It doesn’t help that Rick isn’t wearing a shirt when he and Westphall first meet.)  Lizzie gets angry.  Westphall points out that his dead wife would not have approved.  Lizzie argues that she is now an adult and can do whatever she wants.

And you know what?  I am totally on Westphall’s side here.  It’s his house!  Lizzie isn’t the one paying the bills.  If Westphall doesn’t want Rick sleeping in her room (and, I might add, there are other rooms in the house where Rick could sleep), then Rick doesn’t sleep in her room.  When I was younger, I probably would have been on Lizzie’s side but now that I’ve gotten older, I see Westphall’s point and Lizzie comes across as being a spoiled brat.  I mean, if she wants to stay in the same room as Rick, they can get a motel room.  How expensive could one be in 1984?  This episode ends with Lizzie telling her father that she’s leaving.  “Lizzie!” Westphall says but she’s already gone.

See what I mean?  This was a depressing episode, even by St. Elsewhere standards.  That said, it was also a good episode.  Ed Flanders, David Morse, Helen Hunt, Stephen Furst, Mimi Kennedy, they all gave wonderfully empathetic performances.  Your heart may hurt for them but you can’t wait to see what happens next.  Sometimes, life is depressing but, like the characters on this show, you have to moving forward.

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 5.9 “Choices”

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 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, Jonathan and Mark get into the detective business.

Episode 5.9 “Choices”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on June 30th, 1989)

Working as private investigators, Mark and Jonathan are approached by a Vietnamese couple who are looking for the two sons that they gave up for adoption many years ago.  They gave the boys up so that they could escape Vietnam and live in America, safe from communism.  Now, the father (Dr. Haing S. Ngor) wants to bring his sons back to Singapore, despite the fact that both of them have been adopted by good people and the oldest has been accepted to a prestigious college.

This was an above average episode of Highway to Heaven.  It was undoubtedly heavy-handed and there were more than a few minutes where the dialogue was a bit too spot-on for its own good.  But ultimately, the episode was so earnest and heartfelt that the viewer couldn’t help but forgive the show’s flaws.  This particular episode was very well-acted, especially by Dr. Haing S. Ngor.  A Cambodian who lost most of his family after the Khmer Rogue came to power and attempted to return the country to “Year Zero” by killing off anyone who was considered to be too educated or cosmopolitan, Dr. Ngor survived by disguising the fact that he was an educated doctor.  After the fall of the Khmer Rogue, Ngor made his way to Thailand and eventually to America.  He won an Oscar for playing a character who suffered much as he suffered in The Killing Fields (a film about communist atrocities that has the gall to unironically include John Lennon’s Imagine on the soundtrack).  In this episode, Ngor gives a strong performance as a stubborn man who struggles with the fact that his sons have grown up in his absence.  Tragically, seven years after this episode aired, Dr. Ngor was murdered in his driveway.  Though a group of gang members were arrested and convicted of his murder, it’s always been known that his murder was ordered by Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rogue.

The final season of Highway to Heaven has been uneven but this was a good episode.

Retro Television Review: Decoy 1.22 “Reasonable Doubts”

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 Thursdays, I will be reviewing Decoy, which aired in Syndication in 1957 and 1958.  The show can be viewed on Tubi!

This week, Casey deals with two brothers who may or may not be guilty of a crime.

Episode 1.22 “Reasonable Doubts”

(Dir by Teddy Sills, originally aired on March 10th, 1958)

An office is robbed and the manager is shot.  As Casey Jones tells us in her narration, the difference between this robbery and countless others is that someone got a good look at the robber.  Lawrence Osler (Joe Warren) is arrested for the crime.  However, Lawrence’s sister, Julia (Anna Minot), is convinced that Lawrence is innocent and she thinks that Lawrence’s younger brother, John (Thomas A. Carlin), can prove it.  Casey agrees to go undercover as a friend of Julia’s who has agreed to pay Lawrence’s bail.  Her assignment is to get John to talk.  Julia thinks that Casey is going to exonerate both the brothers but, in reality, Casey is trying to put John in jail with Lawrence.

“It wasn’t very nice,” Casey ruefully tells us.  But, Casey goes on to note, neither is robbing an office and putting a man in the hospital.

Casey discovers that Lawrence is innocent.  It was John and his shady buddy Oscar (Edward Walsh) who robbed the place.  John was willing to let Lawrence take the fall because he thought Lawrence would be acquitted in court.  But now, Oscar is trying to frame Lawrence.  Will John take responsibility for his own actions?

This episode probably sounds more interesting than it is.  With only a 30 minute running time, there’s not much room to generate any sort of suspense as to which brother is guilty.  Lawrence is obviously innocent from the start and John is obviously guilty.  It doesn’t take Casey long to figure this out but she can’t really do anything about it until Oscar shows up unexpectedly and casually reveals that truth about what happened.  This is one of those episodes where the viewer feels like Casey just got lucky.  As well, most of the action too place indoors so there weren’t any of the 1950s New York location shots that so often added life to this series.

That said, Beverly Garland was great as always.  Her regret over manipulating Julia added an extra dimension to the story.  As Casey said, “It wasn’t nice.”  In the end, Julia saves one brother but loses another.

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 3.5 “Illegal Use Of Love”

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 Wednesdays, I will be reviewing 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.

With their best player now dead, the Bull begin their new season.

Episode 3.5 “Illegal Use Of Love”

(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on September 2nd, 1987)

Uh-oh, TD Parker is cheating on his wife with assistant, Kay (Alexa Hamilton).  TD explains that his wife is upset about the amount of time that he’s putting in with the team.  She feels that he’s neglecting his family.  She doesn’t even like football anymore!

Yep, TD has a lot of excuses for cheating on his wife but don’t think that he’s a bad guy or anything.  As he tells his mistress, everything is fine except for….

As I’ve said before, probably the most interesting thing about 1st & Ten is the way that everything that OJ Simpson says now has a double meaning.  At the time this was filmed, OJ was just a former football player who had become a likable if not particularly versatile actor.  Watching it today in 2026 …. well, words land differently.

As the Bulls, the team is in trouble.  Their season opener against Baltimore is a disaster.  Yinessa is still out and demanding a new contract before he’ll play so, instead, he sits in the stands and watch as the backup quarterback throws interception after interception.  Later, he tells Teddy’s daughter, Jill Schrader (Leah Ayres), that all he wants to do is play football.  If that’s the case, why not sign your stupid contract and play football?  Seriously, when did Yinessa get so whiny?

There’s a brief sign of hope during the Baltimore game.  Dr. Death intercept a pass.  But then Dr. Death runs the wrong way and gets tackled behind the other team’s goal line.  A local sports commentator says that Dr. Death and Mad Dog (who blocked while Death was running the wrong way) are idiots.  He’s correct but he retracts his statement after Death and Dog threaten to destroy his car.

The Bulls need a quarterback.  Teddy goes behind Diane’s back and arranges a trade for arrogant Johnny Valentine, the coke-addled quarterback who Diane kicked off the team the previous season.  Diane gets angry but what can she do?  Teddy owns half of the team….

For now!

TD’s mistress shows TD some financial reports that show that Teddy has been making his money through insider trading.  TD is shocked.

If anyone knows about illegal….

It looks like Teddy might be in some trouble.  It also looks like Diane might be in some trouble as well because the other owners think that she’s failed to control the drug use on her team.  (They’re not incorrect.)  We’ll see what happens next week but I have a feeling that a change is coming.

And really, that change can’t come a minute too soon.  Even with the steroid storyline, this season has been a snoozefest so far.  Here’s hoping things perk up next week!

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 7.10 “Julie and the Bachelor/Set-up for Romance/Intensive Care”

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 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!

Love, exciting and new.  Come aboard, they’re expecting you …. welcome aboard, it’s looooooooove!  Yes, it’s time to take another cruise on the Pacific Princess.

Episode 7.10 “Julie and the Bachelor/Set-up for Romance/Intensive Care”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on November 19th, 1983)

As always, we start with one very important question.

Engelbert Humperdinck is on this cruise so the answer is 11 on a scale of 10.

Engelbert plays Colin Crawford, who is Julie’s favorite film star and singer.  Julie is superexcited to meet him and even more thrilled when Colin appears to be romantically interested in her.  What Julie doesn’t know is that Colin’s loyal secretary is actually his wife, Gina (Penny Fuller).  To maintain Colin’s romantic image, they’ve kept their marriage under wraps.  However, Gina is sick of the deception and Colin eventually realizes that major film stars actually can be married.  By the end of the cruise, Colin has announced to the world that he’s married and Julie is surprisingly okay with having been manipulated.  The cocaine probably helped.

Meanwhile, Herbert Chandler (Tom Bosley) is a grump old man who has been in a wheelchair ever since he was in an accident 8 months ago.  Herbert boards the boat with his nurse, Donna (Patricia Carr).  “I’m the purser and you’re the nurser,” a smitten Gopher says.  Doc. meanwhile, figure out that, after 8 months, Herbert’s legs should be healed and able to walk.  It turns out that Herbert is faking his condition because he’s in love with Donna.  It turns out that Donna is in love with Herbert and is remarkably forgiving.  What better way to start a relationship than with eight months of lies?

Finally, Rick Tucker (Mark Harmon) boards the boat with his boss, Mr. Chandler (Bradford Dillman).  Rick also meets Christine Barton (Cristina Raines), who happens to be Chandler’s mistress.  Rick is devastated because he likes Christine too.  Once Rick discovers that Mr. Chandler is lying about leaving his wife for Christine, he’s able to not only end his boss’s relationship but also to get one of his own.  Strangely, it doesn’t occur to Rick to tell Christine that Chandler’s lying about leaving his wife until Rick has a conversation with Isaac.  Isaac apparently has the ability to help people realize things that they should have been able to figure out for themselves.  As Rick runs off to tell Christine, Isaac mentions that everyone he helps always runs off without leaving a tip.  That made me laugh because it’s true.

The Tom Bosley storyline did not work for me.  My Dad spent the last three months of his life in wheelchair and watching Herbert pretend that he needed a wheelchair when he didn’t did not sit well with me.  Otherwise, this was a pleasant episode.  It was one of the episodes that was shot during an actual cruise so it was nice to see the ocean in the background and the wind ruffling everyone’s hair.  None of the stories were particularly complicated but Mark Harmon’s easy going charm kept me watching and even Engelbert Humperdinck was tolerable.  It’s too bad that Julie once again missed out on love but I’m sure the cocaine helped.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 3.16 “Double Lives”

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 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.

This week, Chris screws up again.

Episode 3.16 “Double Lives”

(Dir by Scott Lautanen, originally aired on January 18th, 1998)

Sean McGovern (Rob Youngblood) shows up on the beach, looking for Chris.  It turns out that he’s a former lover who is now in the witness protection agency.  We jump forward several months and Sean has not only vanished by Chris has been accused of helping him flee.  Chris is being investigated and, as is typical with this show, the reaction of the bicycle cops is to get offended that they’re being held to any sort of professional standard.

Seriously, Chris’s former boyfriend escapes custody?  Heck yeah, Chris should be investigated!  (I gave up cursing for Lent, everyone.)  Instead, Chris pouts about having to answer the most basic of questions and Palermo wanders around in the background, talking about how he needs to get Chris back on a bicycle and doing her job.  It’s hard to take any of this seriously when everyone’s wearing bicycle shorts.

Meanwhile, a gang of teenagers is mugging closeted gay men because they know the men won’t go to the police.  Victor is told to go undercover as a gay man to catch the muggers.  “No one’s going to believe me as a gay man!” Victor says.  Fortunately, Victor is wrong and he’s able to capture the muggers.

This episode was well-intentioned.  As far as the mugging storyline was concerned, it treated the victims with sensitivity.  Judge Annadale (Gil Gerard) refuses to make a police report because coming out of the closet would end his career and, at the time this show aired, he had every reason to believe that.  That said, the actors playing the muggers were not exactly the most intimidating teenagers around.  As far as Chris’s storyline is concerned …. who cares?  Seriously, why does Chris never have to face any consequences for being awful at her job?

Watching this show is becoming a real trial.