Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing One World, which ran on NBC from 1998 to 2001. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
The Cast of One World
One world, one world …. but will those brothers and sisters uptown ever stop living on the streets….
One World 2.4 “The Tangled Web”
(Directed by Mary Lou Belli, originally aired on October 9th, 1999)
Every TNBC show featured at least one episode about waiting in line for concert tickets. (On Saved ByTheBell, it was all about getting U2 concerts at the mall.) Every TNBC show would also feature at least one or two episodes about sneaking out of the house late at night. Apparently, that was almost as big a problem in the 90s as teenage gambling. One World combined these two storylines by having Jane and Sui sneak out of the house to get concert tickets.
Meanwhile, at The Warehouse (a.k.a., Miami’s Hottest Under-21 Club), Ben wants to date the new waitress, Gina. Marci warns that Gina has just come out of a bad relationship and is very fragile. “She needs a certain type of man,” Marci says, “and that man is not you!”
“Awwwwww!’ the audience replies.
Anyway, Sui and Jane get busted by the cops for violating curfew. A social worker is sent to the house to determine whether or not the Blakes are adequate foster parents. For some reason, Sui and Jane decide that it’s a good idea to hire actors to pretend to be their parents. (You may remember Zach doing the same thing when Mr. Belding wanted to see his father.)
Meanwhile, Ben dates Gina but he tries to condition himself so that he won’t try to kiss her. He does this by having Neal and Cray administer electric shocks to him while he watches Baywatch….
Especially when compared to the first season’s episodes, it’s all a bit too cartoonish for its own good. Far too often, TNBC shows featured problems that could have easily been solved by the people on the show not acting like a bunch of idiots. This is one of those episodes. Let’s move on.
One World 2.5 “Playing the Field”
(Directed by Mary Lou Belli, originally aired on October 16th, 1999)
“No more rules for anyone!” Dave Blake announces, trying to teach his children why the house rules are important. Soon, the house descends into chaos.
Even more importantly, the coach of a rival school is sending Sui gifts in an effort to bribe her into switching schools! Isn’t that illegal? Sui also gets a new boyfriend but it turns out that it’s all a part of the plot to get her to transfer. Boooo! What an evil school.
Watching this episode, I found myself kind of wishing that I had played soccer in high school. Getting gifts from other coaches seems like it would be fun!
Anyway, this was a cool episode because it was a Sui episode but I do have to admit that I couldn’t stop cringing at the sight of that progressively messier house. We’re all living in one world. Keep it clean!
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 City Guys, which ran on NBC from 1997 to 2001. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
As season two of City Guys continues, Chris’s parents finally get a divorce and El-Train is tempted to return his old ways!
It’s all a part of rolling with the city guys….
Episode 2.5 “The Divorce”
(Directed by Frank Bonner, originally aired on October 10th, 1998)
After spending the first season constantly fighting, Chris’s parents are finally getting a divorce. Chris has a hard time dealing with the divorce, so much so that it starts to interfere with Chris’s ability to work at the radio station. “Show’s over, people!” Chris snaps at one point, “go play your own music!” You tell them, Chris!
Last week, I wrote about what a good job Wesley Jonathan did in the “Jamal Got His Gun” episode. This week, it’s time to praise Scott Whyte, who does a very good job capturing Chris’s emotional turmoil over his parents splitting up. Both Jonathan and Whyte obviously developed quite a bit as actors before the start of City Guys‘s second season because it’s hard to imagine either one of them giving as good a performance during the first season.
Anyway, this episode was well-done but the main storyline brought back a lot of memories of how I felt when my parents got divorced so let’s talk about the B-storyline, in which Dawn struggled to keep her electronic pet from dying ….. awwwww! That’s so sad. Okay, let’s think about the C-storyline, where Al and El-Train both got jobs. So far, Al has been a good deal less annoying during season 2 than he was during season 1.
Finally, I have to say that I really related to Cassidy in this episode. When she dropped in to see how Chris was doing, she immediately started cleaning his bedroom. I would have done the same because there’s no excuse for not picking up after yourself. While Cassidy is cleaning, Chris makes a joke about all the time that he’s spent watching Judge Judy. Seriously, Judge Judy has been around forever!
Episode 2.6 “Bully, Bully”
(Directed by Frank Bonner, originally aired on October 17th, 1998)
After the newest school bully steals Al’s basketball, El-Train takes care of the situation by punching out the bully. El-Train finds himself tempted to return to his old violent ways and that’s not surprising when you consider how the audience cheered when he threw that punch.
Fortunately, Ms. Noble has more sense than the audience and she tells El-Train not to return to his old ways. She also mentions that El-Train is the class president so at least that season one cliffhanger has finally been resolved. Anyway, it all leads to a slow motion fight scene and El-Train announcing that he was no longer into senseless violence.
It’s all a bit heavy-handed but Steven Daniel’s performance as El-Train remains as strong as ever. And how can you not enjoy an episode with this much slow motion? Slow motion makes everything better!
In this episode of HBO’s horror anthology, Tales From The Crypt, Joe Pesci plays a con artist who tries to swindle twin sisters, just to discover that the sisters have a secret of their own. Pesci is at his best here, poking fun at his own screen persona while playing a character who discovers that he’s not quite as clever as he thought he was.
The episode originally aired on August 26th, 1992.
The old west could be a dangerous and haunted place, as was revealed in this episode of HBO’s Tales From The Crypt! Outlaw Billy Quintaine (Neil Guintoli) enters a saloon and discovers that the spirits of his victims have been waiting for him!
This episode originally aired on August 1st, 1992. Along with being directed by The Omen‘s Richard Donner, it was written by Frank Darabont.
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 Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
Welcome to Season 2 of Hang Time! Because NBC wasn’t happy with the first season, the 2nd season served as a bit of a reboot for the season. Half the cast left and the show became a bit more broad in its comedy. That’s a polite way of saying that things got a little bit more cartoonish.
The show also got a brand new theme song!
Episode 2.1 “Winning Isn’t Everything”
(Directed by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on September 7th, 1996)
The first episode of the 2nd season starts in the school hallway. “They’re coming!” one kid yells before leading all of his classmates in a chant of “Tornadoes! Tornadoes!”
Yes, the students at Deering High love their basketball team. But where is everyone? We see Julie, Danny, and Mary Beth walking down the hallway. Where’s Chris? Where’s Earl? Where are Michael Maxell and Sam!? Danny orders the students to chase down the one kid wasn’t cheering and then, as if he can hear our thoughts, he says, “I’m really going to miss Earl, Michael, and Chris.”
It turns out that things have changed! Julie broke up with Chris over the summer and then he went off to college. Earl is also at college. And so is Sam. All those people were seniors last year? Why were they so worried about dating a bunch of underclassmen? Mary Beth mentions that she’s no longer a cheerleader and now she’s equipment manager because her Dad thinks it will teach her responsibility. Amy (Paige Peterson) is the new head cheerleader. Everyone acts as if Amy was around last year even though she wasn’t in any of the episodes.
At practice, we meet the new players. Vince D’Amata (Michael Sullivan) is cocky and determined to be a star. Everyone makes fun of Vince for being short but he’s still taller than Danny so I’m not really sure that joke is as effective as the rest of the team thinks it is. Fuller announces that the team has gotten lazy so it’s a good thing that his godson, Teddy Brodis, has transferred to the school. Fuller used to play with Teddy’s father so Teddy is “probably great.” On cue, Teddy enters the gym and …. OH MY GOD, IT’S ANTHONY ANDERSON! Proving that everyone had to start somewhere, future Departed, Law & Order, and Black-Ish star Anthony Anderson did a two season tour as a part of the Hang Time cast. Anderson was in his mid-20s at the time, making him considerably older than the rest of the cast. Coach Fuller is upset to see that Teddy is not particularly tall and a little heavy-set. Hey, Coach, that’s a future Emmy winner you’re talking to! (And, even though he doesn’t got to do much in his first few episodes, it is obvious from the start that Anderson instinctively knew how to play to the camera.)
“Could we possibly be off to a rockier start?” Fuller says and in comes Mary Beth with a box of new uniforms, all of which are the wrong color. Mary Beth explains that they may be wrong but at least they’re “pretty.”
Anyway, the team is looking weak. Can the team recruit Josh Sanders (Kevin Bell) to play for them!? Josh is athletic but he refuses to play team sports because he doesn’t like the competitive aspect of the game. We know that Josh is good and cute because the audience goes, “Woooooo!” whenever he shows up onscreen. The team tries to recruit him by showing him that they don’t believe that winning is everything. Honestly, though, if Josh isn’t into competing, why would you want him on your team? Team sports are about winning!
Josh agrees to try out for the team but then walks out of a practice because of the team arguing with each other. But then he comes to a game and see Fuller bench Vince because Vince wasn’t playing as a part of the team. Josh immediately joins the Tornadoes. I’m getting the feeling that Josh might have issues with impulse control.
Finally, Mary Beth accidentally washes all of the autographs off of one of Fuller’s basketball. Fuller nearly fires her but then Mary Beth brings in some tall guy to re-sign the ball. Judging by the way the audience went crazy and the fact that the guy was like 7’3, I’m going to guess he was a basketball player.
Episode 2.2 “Just One Of The Guys”
(Directed by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on September 14th, 1996)
Julie doesn’t understand why Josh doesn’t seem to be attracted to her. Mary Beth and Amy tells her that she should try to be more feminine. Later, during practice, Julie gets upset when Vince gives her a high five and says, “Way to go, man!” “I’m a girl,” Julie replies. Josh, her crush, says, “Don’t take it personally, you’re just like one of the guys.”
OH MY GOD! If I was Julie, I would move to a different state at this point.
Anyway, Mary Beth and Amy give Julie a makeover, which basically amounts to Julie wearing high heels, not wearing a bra, and tossing her hair back while talking to Josh.
However, Josh just wants to talk about basketball practice.
Pictures alone cannot communicate how awkward this scene was.
After spending all of last season determined to prove that she can play with the guys, Julie quits the team in order to prove that she’s not one of the guys. Mary Beth is shocked. “When I’m upset,” Mary Beth says, “I don’t get a new life. I get new shoes!” “Shoes aren’t a substitute,” Julie says and the only person more horrified by that statement than Mary Beth is me. Mary Beth suggests that Julie try a new look. “How about Janet Jackson?” Mary Beth says. Uhmmm …. this is going somewhere dangerous….
Fortunately, Fuller is friends with an Olympic gold medalist, who just happens to drop by the office and gives Julie a pep talk. Julie rejoins the team and decides to be confident in herself. Is there nothing that an Olympic gold medalist can’t do?
In the B-plot, Vince, Teddy, and Danny make fun of the cheerleaders so the cheerleaders stop talking to them. So, Vince, Teddy, and Danny dress up as cheerleaders.
Anyway, the important thing about this episode is that Daniella Deutscher had more chemistry with Kevin Bell than she with David Hanson and, as such, the Julie/Josh relationship is a lot more entertaining than the Julie/Chris relationship. Here’s hoping everything works out for them!
Tonight, on Circle of Fear, Sheila Larken plays Holly Brown, a young artist who meets and falls madly in love with James Barlow (David Soul). Unfortunately, this leads to her being harassed by a frightening old man (Victor Jory) and it turns out that James has got a terrible secret of his own.
This melancholy story was the final episode of Circle of Fear, which was cancelled after its first and only season. This episode makes for a good note for the show to go out on. It originally aired on March 30th, 1973.
Circle of Fear may be over but Horrorthon continues! We’ll be back with more televised horror tomorrow!
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 California Dreams, which ran on NBC from 1992 to 1996. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
This week, one member of the Dreams escapes and a new one shows up!
Do surf dudes still have attitude and feel mellow in Italy? Let’s find out.
California Dreams 2.2 “Ciao, Jenny”
(Directed by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 18th, 1993)
This episode opens with Tiffani announcing that she is now working as a candy striper at the hospital! Hey, wait a minute. Didn’t Lisa do the same thing on Saved By The Bell? Wasn’t there later an entire episode of One World about this? Did Peter Engel just have an entire closet full of candy striper uniforms that he handed out to the casts of his various show?
Of course, the whole candy striper thing is only the B-plot. The A-plot features Jenny auditioning for a place at a music school in Europe. Jake, who is now everyone’s best friend, has decided that he’s in love with Jenny and he doesn’t want her going to California. He even writes a song about how much he loves Jenny. Matt helps him out with the song, which seems kind of weird since Jenny is his younger sister. “It’s in the key of A, off-tempo,” Matt announces, “follow me for the changes!” I love musician talk.
Anyway, the song leads to some kissing but it doesn’t make Jenny stay so Sly suggests that maybe they should hypnotize Jenny so that she blows her final audition. Jake thinks that is a super idea. Perhaps he remembers the time that Zach brainwashed the entire school with subliminal messages on Saved By The Bell. (“Zach, Zach, Zach….”) Somehow, Sly learns how to hypnotize people and, just as improbably, Jenny gets hypnotized. Eventually, though, Jake realizes this was a stupid idea and confesses what he did. Jenny is so touched that she decides to turn down the chance to go to Italy. Realizing that he can’t be responsible for her missing out on this opportunity, Jake breaks up with Jenny. Jenny eventually forgives Jake for being a jerk and then leaves for Italy.
Uh-oh, the Dreams just lost one of their three lead singers! What are they going to do now?
California Dreams 2.3 “Wooing Woo”
(Directed by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 25th, 1993)
Jenny’s gone and the Garrisons promptly offer up her old room to a Samantha Woo (Jennie Kwan), an exchange student from Hong Kong. Mr. Garrison says that everyone should keep in mind that Sam will probably be quiet and shy. Instead, Sam turns out to be talkative and fashionable. Meanwhile, the Dreams are searching for a new singer and …. oh my God! Sam can sing! In fact, when she auditions for the Dreams, she sounds like she’s lip-synching to something that was actually recorded in a studio as opposed to being performed in a musty garage.
Of course, no sooner has Sam joined the band than Jake, Tony, Sly, and even Matt start competing to see who can be the first kiss her. It turns out that Sam is too clever for all of them but then again, who wasn’t? When Sam finds out what they were planning, she threatens to leave America unless the boys agree to do something that will help them understand what it feels like to be “treated like a piece of meat.” It all leads to Jake, Tony, Sly, and Matt putting on dresses and getting hit on by football players. “Woooooo!” the audience says. And so, Sam joins the California Dreams. She would remain a member longer than the siblings who started the band and she and Tony would eventually become the longest-running couple on the show.
As for those two episodes, they both represent the extent to which California Dreams rebranded itself as a musical version of Saved By The Bell. That said, both Jennie Kwan and Jay Anthony Franke brought some needed energy to the show.
Next week, Matt destroys Jake’s bike and Sly moves in with the Garrisons!
While doing research for a story at Potter’s Field, a reporter (Tab Hunter) sees a stranger who looks much like him. At first, the reporter thinks that it’s a coincidence but then the reporter starts to run into the stranger everywhere. His friends think that he’s getting upset over nothing. His girlfriend thinks that he’s in danger. The reporter knows that he has to figure out who the stranger is and why he’s haunting him.
The second-to-last episode of Circle of Fear aired on March 23rd, 1973. Tab Hunter is a bit of a bland hero but the episode still had creepy moments.
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing One World, which ran on NBC from 1998 to 2001. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
The Cast of One World
One world, we’re living in one world….
Episode 2.2 “Flushed With Love”
(Directed by Mary Lou Belli, originally aired on September 18th, 1999)
“I love men who work with their hands,” Marci says, “Plumbers, sculptors, hitchhikers….”
Yes, hitchhikers are notoriously sexy and cool.
Marci is saying this because she and Sui are competing to see who can get a date with the totally hot plumber who has shown up to fix the house’s pipes. There’s no water coming through the pipes. Earlier, that interrupted Ben’s shower and he was forced to come down to the kitchen while wearing a towel. “Whoooooo!” the audience responded.
While Marci and Sui compete for the plumber’s attention, Cray, Neal, and Ben try to fix the van that their father has just given them. The van is …. well, it’s frightening. It has shag carpeting. “Chick Mobile” is painted on the back of it. It features a beaded hippie curtain between the driver’s seat and the back of the van. Does it have a strobe light? It really looks like it should have a strobe light. Is that van a’rocking?
Marci ends up getting the date with the plumber, who says that he likes the way that Marci’s eyes light up whenever “you talk about your childhood trauma.” My eyes do the same thing! Woo hoo! Sui freaks out over her “younger” sister dating an old guy (there’s only a year difference between them) and the plumber does turn out to be a bit too aggressive. Marci says that she hates her sister but, fortunately, things work out in the end.
Anyway, the van stuff was kind of silly and a little creepy but the Marci/Sui storyline reminded me of my relationship with my sisters and Alisa Reyes and Michelle Krusiec did a good job of portraying Marci and Sui’s complicated feelings towards each other. So, this episode gets a solid B.
Episode 2.3 “How Neal Got His Groove Back”
(Directed by Mary Lou Belli, originally aired on October 2nd, 1999)
This episode is all about having a job.
Neal, the smartest kid in the house, quits high school so he can work with a tech millionaire who is obviously based on Bill Gates but who is, for some reason, headquartered in Miami instead of Silicon Valley. Unfortunately, Neal discovers that he doesn’t like working 24 hours a day and he misses school so he quits his job. The audience applauds, little knowing that, in just a few years, Silicon Valley would start to make millionaires and billionaires out of all sorts of dropouts.
Meanwhile, Sui gets a job playing with Ben’s band but it turns out that they just want her to stand on stage and look cute. Sui is initially annoyed that she won’t be allowed to sing but eventually, she realizes that it’s just as much fun to make money for doing nothing. It’s a good lesson.
At the start of this episode, it’s revealed that Mr. and Mrs. Blake use report cards to determine which one of their kids will get good food and which one will have to settle for whatever’s left. That’s kind of messed up. Some people are just better test-takers than others.
This episode gets a C for failing to predict the tech boom.
On tonight’s episode of Circle of Fear, Susan Oliver plays the widow of a doctor who allows his hands, eyes, and vocal chords to be used in transplants. Unfortunately for her, the spirit of her dead husband is still inside of his donated body parts. Because he’s convinced that she murdered him, the dead doctor seeks an elaborate revenge on his wife.
This episode originally aired on February 23rd, 1973. It was written by Jimmy Sangster, who is best known for his work with Hammer Films.
Through the Shattered Lens 