Tag Archives: TV Show

Song of the Day: I Dreamed I Saw Jack Nance Last Night by Dumb Numbers

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Eraserhead (1977, dir by David Lynch)

Today would have been the 80th birthday of Jack Nance, the talented but troubled actor who was a favorite of David Lynch’s and who died under mysterious circumstances in 1996.  Born in Massachusetts but raised in Texas, Nance first won acclaim as a star of the stage show, Tom Paine.  The director of Tom Paine later received a fellowship to the American Film Institute where he met a young director named David Lynch and recommended that Lynch cast Nance as the lead character in his film, Eraserhead.  Lynch and Nance were kindred spirits, two all-American eccentrics with their own unique view of the world.  Lynch went to use Nance in almost every film that he made up until Nance’s death.  Nance would also appear in small roles in films from other directors, usually cast as quirky and obsessive characters.  Outside of his role in Eraserhead, Nance is probably best known for playing Pete Martell on Twin Peaks.  Pete’s discovery of Laura Palmer’s body launched the entire saga.

Twin Peaks 1.1 — The Pilot (dir by David Lynch)

Now, sadly, I can’t share any clips from Eraserhead on this site.  I wanted to share the scene where Jack Nance, as Henry, first has dinner with his future in-laws but I couldn’t find any uploads of that scene that were not age-restricted.  So, I’m just going to recommend that you see Eraserhead if you haven’t yet.

In my search for an Eraserhead scene, I did come across this song about Jack Nance and, in honor of Jack’s talent and legacy, I am making it today’s song of the day!

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Monsters 1.12 “Fools’ Gold”

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 Monsters, which aired in syndication from 1988 to 1991. The entire show is streaming on Tubi.

This week, a brave troll defends its treasure!

Episode 1.12 “Fools’ Gold”

(Dir by Greg Cannom, originally aired on January 21st, 1989)

Two constructions workers, Phil (Jeff Conaway) and Joe (T.J. Castronova), and their boss, Sherrie (Mary Cadorette), climb down into an underground tunnel.  They’re expecting to find another construction worker who they believe is hiding in the tunnel.  Instead, they discover the worker’s dead body and a gold coin.

Phil is super-excited about the gold and insists on exploring more of the tunnel.  Joe and Sherrie stay behind while Phil explores.  Joe talks about how, “in the old country,” his parents would tell him stories about faeries and goblins and trolls.  Sherrie laughs and says that there’s no way Joe could actually believe in any of that.

Well, it’s actually a pretty good thing that Joe knows about trolls because there’s one in the tunnel!  The troll (played, under a lot of makeup, by Debbie Lee Carrington) has hoarded all of the gold that it can find.  According to Joe, trolls do this to trick people into entering their lair.  Because trolls have a boiling hot blood, they can burn people just by touching them.  Trolls are also vulnerable to sunlight and iron.  That’s all Phil has to hear to decide that they should defeat the troll and try to steal the treasure for themselves.

The troll, however, is a bit more clever than the three of them realize.  Not only is the troll a viscous attacker who can burn with one touch but the troll also has the ability to start an earthquake.  When the troll does just that, Sherrie, Phil, and Joe find themselves trapped and fighting for their lives.

This episode featured three distinct human characters.  Joe was good-hearted.  Phil was greedy.  Sherrie was somewhere in between.  While Jeff Conaway overacted, both Mary Cadorette and T.J. Castronova gave adequate performances as Sherrie and Joe.  That said, the definite star of this episode was the troll.  Wisely, director Greg Cannom largely kept the troll in the shadows, which made it even more creepy as it ran around the tunnel.  When the troll did attack, it was a genuinely frightening monster.  What I liked is that the troll always moved quickly and ruthlessly.  The troll wasn’t one of those slow monsters who show up in so many horror films.  Instead, this troll was a predator, one that attacked quickly and showed no mercy.  Seriously, no one watching this episode would want to run into that thing in a basement or anywhere else!

That said, this episode’s script was a bit underwhelming.  The 20-minute runtime really doesn’t do Monsters any favors.  This is an episode that would have benefitted from a longer run time and perhaps a somewhat darker ending.  The humans were so unlikable that it was hard not to feel that they hadn’t earned a happy ending.  I was Team Troll all the way.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 3.22 “Not So Fast, Gopher/Haven’t We Met Before?/Seoul Mates”

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!

This week’s cruise is actually a pretty good one.

Episode 3.22 “Not So Fast, Gopher/Haven’t We Met Before?/Seoul Mates”

(Dir by Gordon Farr, originally aired on February 9th, 1980)

This week’s episode opens with Gopher in a panic.  His mother, Roz (Ethel Merman), is going to be on the cruise.  It’s her first big trip after the death of Gopher’s father and Gopher wants her to have fun because she’s been so depressed.  However, when Roz boards the ship, Gopher is stunned to see her laughing, singing, and hanging out with a male passenger named Lyle (Gene Rayburn).  Roz seems so happy that Gopher starts to worry that she didn’t love his father.

Of course, the opposite is true.  Roz is miserable but she doesn’t want Gopher to know how sad she’s feeling.  She doesn’t want Gopher to worry about her and she also doesn’t want to make Gopher feel any worse about losing his father.

This storyline handled loss and sadness with an intelligence and a maturity that I don’t think most people would ever expect to see on the show like The Love Boat, with both Fred Grandy and Ethel Merman giving sensitive performances as two people struggling to come to terms with their grief.  Gopher comes to realize that he’s been focusing on Roz’s grief so he’ll have an excuse to not think about his own and Roz comes to realize that she’s been doing the same thing to Gopher.

Now, of course, this is still The Love Boat so, of course, Roz ends up performing during the ship’s Passenger Talent Show.  And, yes, Gopher doe show up at the last minute and, in order to let her know that he now understands her feelings, sings a duet with her.  It’s a bit of goofy ending for an otherwise poignant story but, in its way, it definitely works.  It’s a sweet scene.

The Gopher/Roz storyline is so poignant and so well-handled that it pretty much overshadows everything else that happens on the boat.

Korean comic Jimmy Kim (Johnny Yune) finds romance with a reporter named Kendall Park (Momo Yashima) but Kendall is offended by Jimmy’s act (which is full of jokes about life in Korea).  However, after Roz talks about how much she enjoyed Jimmy’s humor, Kendall  changes her mind and she and Jimmy leave the ship as a couple.  This was an interesting story to watch and consider in the midst of our current, scolding, “That’s not funny” culture of 2023.  If anything, it showed that debates about what one can or should joke about are hardly new to this century.  But it just felt strange that it took a white woman appreciating Jimmy’s humor for Kendall to no longer be offended by jokes about Korea.  If anything it would seem that Roz saying that she enjoyed hearing jokes about Korea would leave Kendall feeling even more offended by Jimmy’s act.  I’m just glad that all of this didn’t lead to Captain Stubing doing his “I see you’ve been reading about your history” speech again.

Meanwhile, four blue collars friends board the ship.  Three of them (played by the Hudson Brothers) announce that they’re going to pretend to be wealthy professionals.  However, Paul Stockwood (Nicholas Hammond) announces that he is not going to pretend to be anything than the waiter that he is.  That’s before Paul realizes that the wealthy Leila Stanhope (Haley Mills) is on the boat.  Paul has waited on Leila several times at the Manhattan restaurant in which he works.  When Leila tells Paul that he seems familiar, Paul lies and says that he’s a wealthy writer.

It all seems to be working well, until Paul decides to bring Leila breakfast.  The sight of Paul carrying a tray of food is all it takes for Leila to remember who he is.  At first, Paul calls Leila a snob and Leila calls Paul a liar.  But then they fall in love anyway, which means that Paul will probably never have to work as a waiter again.  Yay!  Unfortunately, this storyline was hampered by the lack of chemistry between Nicholas Hammond and Hayley Mills.  They were both attractive but they were also difficult to buy as a couple.

Even though two of the storylines were somewhat flawed, the story about Gopher and his mother elevated this entire episode and it made it one of the best episodes of The Love Boat that I’ve watched so far.  This was a cruise to remember!

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Baywatch Nights 1.6 “976 Ways To Say I Love You”

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 Baywatch Nights, an detective show that ran in Syndication from 1995 to 1997.  The entire show is currently streaming on Youtube!

This week, Ryan goes undercover!

Episode 1.6 “976 Ways To Say I Love You”

(Dir by Charles Bail, originally aired on November 4th, 1995)

The sixth episode of Baywatch Nights opens with Mitch and Garner doing a surveillance job on someone.  They are sitting out in their car and watching their target and talking about how much they hate having to work surveillance.

One thing that I’ve noticed about the first few episodes of Baywatch Nights is that Mitch and Garner both seem to spend a lot of time complaining about their job.  It’s a bit odd because it’s not like there’s any reason why they have to work as private detectives.  Garner could rejoin the police department if he wanted to.  Mitch actually has another full-time job as one of the top lifeguards in California.  There’s nothing that says they have to spend their nights doing surveillance.  (In fact, I’m not even sure how Mitch is balancing being a lifeguard with being a private eye.)  I mean, if it’s such a bother being a private eye, just don’t do it anymore!

The surveillance subplot doesn’t really have anything to do with the rest of the episode.  (It’s mostly just there so the episode can feature a joke about Garner and Mitch getting dusted by a crop duster that happens to fly over their convertible.)  Instead, the majority of this episode deals with Mitch, Garner, and Ryan helping Addy (Heather Campbell), a former phone sex operator who was scammed by her boss and who is now apparently being stalked by someone who is trying to murder everyone who was involved with Addy’s former career.  This is one of those cases that doesn’t really add up to much but it does provide Garner with a chance to do some real detective work and abandon his idea to abandon crime fighting and open a chicken franchise.

(Seriously, that’s what Garner was planning on doing.)

The investigation also leads to Ryan putting on a blonde wig and going undercover as a phone sex operator.  Watching this episode, I got the feeling that the entire pitch was, “Angie Harmon says sexy things on the phone,” and the plot was basically developed around that one idea.  It should be said that Angie Harmon actually does a pretty good job playing up Ryan’s irritation with having to go undercover.  The way she rolled her eyes whenever some mouth-breather started to talk to her told us everything we needed to know about the experience.  Unlike her whiny partner, Ryan did what she had to do to solve the case and good for her!  Really, this entire series should have just been Ryan kicking ass and solving crimes.  Garner and Mitch are just taking up space.

Along with Angie Harmon’s work as Ryan, this episode was also distinguished by the performance of Robert Ginty as the owner of the phone sex company.  Ginty was wonderfully sleazy as a businessman who made no apologies for how he made his money.  As well, Police Academy fans will probably be happy to see Michael Winslow, as a surveillance technician who imitates static.

The episode was not bad, even if it wasn’t particularly memorable.  Ryan did a good job and again proved herself to be the best private eye in California.  Seriously, though, Mitch and Garner need to stop crying so much.  If you don’t want to do detective stuff, don’t become a detective!

Retro Television Reviews: Fantasy Island 4.5 “The Love Doctor/The Pleasure Palace”

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 Tuesdays, I will be reviewing the original Fantasy Island, which ran on ABC from 1977 to 1986.  Almost the entire show is currently streaming is on Youtube, Daily Motion, and a few other sites.

This week, Roarke and Tattoo are still ignoring each other.

Episode 4.5 “The Love Doctor/The Pleasure Palace”

(Dir by Earl Bellamy and Cliff Bole, originally aired on November 22nd, 1980)

The plane has arrived and, once again, Mr. Roarke and Tattoo head down to the docks to meet their guests.  And, as with the previous season four episodes, it’s hard not to notice that neither Ricardo Montalban nor Herve Villechaize are willing to look at each other while delivering their lines.  I feel a little bit bad about having started almost every recent review by mentioning the obvious hostility between the two of them but it’s impossible not to notice.  Previously, one of the show’s greatest strengths was the playful banter between Roarke and Tattoo and, when it’s gone, it’s impossible not to notice the absence.

Speaking of hostility, Gordon Hughes (Gary Burghoff) seem to have a lot resentment against the world.  Thanks to the inheritance that he received from his grandmother, Gordon has graduated from law school and he is on the verge of joining a top law firm.  But, before he does so, he wants to go back in the past and discover how his grandmother made all of her money.  Mr. Roarke takes Gordon to a recreation of the saloon that his grandmother owned in turn-of-the-century San Francisco.  Gordon takes a sip of brandy and is transported into the past.  He quickly discovers that …. HIS GRANDMOTHER OWNED A BROTHEL!

At first, Gordon is upset about this discovery.  But then he falls in love with one of his grandmother’s employees, a waitress named Molly (Barbie Benton).  And then he stands up to a crooked cop (Dane Clark).  And then he meets his grandmother (Ruta Lee) and discovers that she was tough and refused to let anyone push her around.  Gordon realizes that he should be proud of his grandmother and his heritage and that he wants to be with Molly.  But then the San Francisco earthquake hits and Gordon is abruptly transported to the present.  Not to worry, though!  It turns out Molly was also a guest having a fantasy and she and Gordon board the airplane home together.

This fantasy — which featured a lot of nice clothes and period detail — would have been effective if not for Gary Burghoff’s rather off-putting performance as Gordon.  Seriously, Gordon came across as being such an uptight and self-righteous prig that it was difficult to have much sympathy for him.  Of course, that was kind of the point.  Gordon was supposed to be a snob but Burghoff made him such a convincing and such a committed snob that it was hard to believe that he could have changed his ways just over the course of a few days.

The second guest is actress Kim Holland (Loni Anderson), who is the biggest star in the world after appearing in only three movies.  She wants a break from being a star so Mr. Roarke arranges for her to serve as a nurse in a remote clinic that is run by the gruff Dr. Greg Miller (Christopher George).  Kim finds a purpose in life helping Dr. Miller but, when they’re kidnapped by a native tribe, Dr. Miller reveals that he has always known who Kim is.  Dr. Miller plays one of her movies for the tribe, convincing them that Kim is a goddess.  Miller goes on to explain that he’s been in love with Kim ever since he first saw her on screen.  Seeing as Kim’s fantasy was to not be recognized for a few days, it would seem that Roarke failed to keep up his end of the bargain.  But it doesn’t matter because Kim and Greg are in love.  This fantasy could have worked with perhaps a different actress in the role of Kim.  Loni Anderson gave such a blank performance as Kim that it was hard to really believe her either as a movie star or a nurse.

(Interestingly enough, the character of Kim Holland also appeared on the episode of The Love Boat that aired right before this episode.  So, if nothing else, this is the first Love Boat/Fantasy Island cross-over.  Incidentally, I’ll be reviewing that episode of The Love Boat in a few more months.)

This was a fairly forgettable episode.  The island was lovely to look at and I’m glad that everyone found love but I just wish Mr. Roarke and Tattoo could be friends again.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: CHiPs 1.6 “Baby Food”

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, Ponch continues to screw up even the simplest of tasks!

Episode 1.6 “Baby Food”

(Dir by Paul Krasny, originally aired on October 27th, 1977)

This week’s episode of CHiPs is yet another story about how Frank “Ponch” Poncharello is terrible at his job.

While riding down the highway, Ponch and Baker find themselves stuck behind a truck that is transporting several boxes of baby food.  Suddenly, the truck’s backdoor slides open and the boxes start to fall onto the highway.  Baker is able to easily dodge the boxes, pull up to the side of the truck, and motion for the driver to pull over.  Ponch, on the other hand, is nearly killed because he comes close to hitting every box that falls out in front of him.  I mean, the boxes are not that big.  I’ve never even driven a motorcycle and I could probably do a better job of avoiding them than Ponch did.

Once the driver of the truck has stopped and the boxes are being reloaded, Ponch and Baker head on their way.  They are heading to headquarters, where they are supposed to be waiting for a call from the courthouse to let them know if they need to come down and testify in a case.  Still, Baker finds the time to pull over and ask two hippies if they need any help changing a flat tire on their school bus.  Baker is perfect and Ponch …. well, Ponch is not.

At headquarters, Ponch hits on the dispatchers, commandeers a meeting room so he can watch his favorite soap opera, and is basically so obnoxious that Getraer kicks both Ponch and Baker out.  After taking some time to rescue a man and his dog from a car that’s caught on fire, Ponch and Baker head over to the trailer park that Ponch calls home.  Ponch wants to change his uniform (which got covered in soot as a result of the fire) and Baker wants to see Ponch’s beautiful new neighbor.  Despite being under orders to remain easily contactable, Ponch accidentally knocks his phone off the hook.

That’s not good because Gatraer actually needs to talk to Ponch.  It turns out that the baby food that fell off the truck is infected with botulism and two of the boxes are missing!  Gatraer has to leave his office and ride his bike all the way to Ponch’s trailer park to let Ponch — who is now wearing a “Keep on Trucking” t-shirt — know about the contaminated baby food.  Gatraer asks Ponch and Baker if they saw anyone scavenging at the scene.  It takes Baker a while to remember the school bus but at least he did remember!  Ponch apparently only has a five-minute attention span.

The hippies are eventually tracked down and their baby is rushed to the hospital, where he recovers.  While Gatraer congratulates Ponch and Baker on finding the contaminated food, he does tell them that they need to stop getting personal calls at the office.  It turns out that Melinda, the trailer park girl that Ponch likes, has been calling HQ and asking to speak to Baker.  Obviously, Melinda knows who has career potential and who is one mistake away from getting evicted from his mobile home.

This episode was enjoyable because it’s always fun to watch people get mad at Ponch.  Larry Wilcox reveals some unexpected comedic abilities in this episode.  (Just look at his face when he realizes Ponch is using a conference room to watch his favorite soap opera.)  I also liked how clean and friendly the trailer park was.  CHiPs originally aired quite a bit before my time but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the show led to be people moving to California.  I mean, even the trailer parks are nice to look at!

Retro Television Reviews: Miami Vice 1.15 “Golden Triangle: Part Two”

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 is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week’s episode is all about Castillo!

Episode 1.15 “Golden Triangle: Part Two”

(Dir by David Anspaugh, originally aired on January 18th, 1985)

Last week’s episode revealed a little bit about Castillo’s past and what actually goes on underneath his stoic facade.  This week’s episode exposed even more of Castillo …. literally!

Part two of Golden Triangle opens with Castillo very much out of uniform as he strips down to a black speedo and swims in the ocean.  To be honest, it was a bit strange to see because …. well, he’s Castillo.  Castillo shows no emotion.  Castillo never smiles.  Castillo, up until last week, had no life outside of his work.  Now, suddenly, the viewer learns that Castillo has kept himself in pretty good shape.  It’s weird to see someone with that good of a body and that strange of a mustache.

After his swim, Castillo meets with Crockett and Tubbs.  They tell him that they are searching Miami for both Lao Li and May Ying.  Castillo tells them not to, saying that “This department is not my private detective agency,” but Crockett and Tubbs insist on being allowed to help.  As they explain it, Lao Li is a heroin dealer so they’re actually doing their job by searching for him.

It turns out to be much easier to track down Dale Menton (John Santucci), a former CIA agent who knew Castillo in Thailand and who was Lao Li’s handler.  Menton reveals that Lao Li and his entire family is in Miami and they’re all hiding in plain sight.  He even gives Lao Li’s phone number to Castillo.  Menton also mentions that he was the one who, years ago, informed Lao Li that Castillo was planning on raiding one of his drug shipments.  As a result, most of Castillo’s men were killed and, after his house was blown up, Castillo wrongly believed that May Ying had been killed.

Castillo meets with Lao Li (Keye Luke), who explains that he is only in Miami because he is retired and that he’s no longer in the drug business.  (Needless to say, Castillo sees right through him.)  Castillo also meets May Ying (Joan Chen) and discovers that she is now remarried and has a son.  Somewhat touchingly, Castillo is happy for her.  However, Castillio also knows that May Ying and her husband have been brought to Miami to serve as hostages.  If he goes after Lao Li (or Menton), May Ying will be killed.

Lao Li is very clever but his dumbass grandsons (played by Peter Kwong and Kevin Gray) are not.  They ignore Lao Li’s order to lay low and instead, they start dressing like Sonny Crockett and driving around town in a White Lamborghini.  When they’re arrested while in the middle of a drug deal, Castillo realizes that he finally has the leverage to take Lao Li down.

This episode was pretty much a showcase for Edward James Olmos, who played Castillo has being the one man in Miami who was not willing to compromise his values.  At the end of the show, Lao Li suggested that there might be a mutual respect between him and Castillo just for Castillo to inform him that no, Castillo had absolutely no respect for Lao Li.  The episode ended with Castillo watching as May Ying and her husband returned to Thailand, happy to know that she was alive and doing well but also resigned to the fact that she could no longer be with him.  It was an emotionally powerful moment.

Next week, Crockett and Tubbs head to Colombia!

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Degrassi Junior High 2.1 “Eggbert”

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!

It’s time to start the second term!

Episode 2.1 “Eggbert”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on January 4th, 1988)

It’s time to start the second term at Degrassi Junior High and a few things have changed.

For instance, both Voula and Rick are no longer enrolled at the school, though they still appear in the opening credits.  Two new students have enrolled at the school.  Scooter Webster (Christopher Charlesworth) is a young genius who has skipped ahead a few grades.  Meanwhile, the enigmatic Simon Dexter (Michael Carry) is blonde, handsome, and apparently is already working as a male model.  Stephanie and the Farrell twins are excited when Simon joins their class.  Yick and Arthur, meanwhile, are excited that Scooter’s presence means that they are no longer the nerdiest kids at school.

Lucy is still on probation as a result of getting arrested for shoplifting and she has decided to tone things down until she’s finished her sentence.  She still wants to throw a party at her house but she now has very firm rules about what her classmates can do — i.e., no drinking and no breaking the furniture.

Stephanie has given up her trampy look and is now determined to be the best school president that she can be.  She gives all of her old school clothes to Alexa (Irene Courakos), just to then watch as Simon starts flirting with Alexa because, as he tells Snake, “I love the way she dresses.”  When Stephanie later asks Alexa to return her clothes, Alexa refuses.

One thing that hasn’t changed is that Spike is pregnant and still trying to decide whether she wants to keep her baby or not.  The counselor at her support group suggests that Spike carry around and take care of an egg for two weeks so that she can experience what it would be like to have to spend all of her time taking care of a baby.  Spike agrees.  At school, Alexa takes the egg, draws a face on it, and names it Eggbert.

Shane, who has still not even told his parents that Spike is pregnant, begs Spike to forgive him and to let him be a part of her life again.  Spike tells Shane that if he really wants to be a part of her life, he needs to spend a week taking care of Eggbert.  Shane is hesitant but agrees.  And while all the girls thought it was cute when Spike had the egg, all of the boys are quick to make fun of Shane when they see him carrying around Eggbert.

Lucy throws the first party of the term and everyone’s miserable because she won’t allow them to have any fun.  To Spike’s surprise, Shane shows up at the party and he brings Eggbert with him.  Soon, Eggbert is getting tossed from person to person.  Even Shane tosses Eggbert to Joey.  Somehow, Eggbert survives.  However, when Spike and Shane have an argument outside about Shane not being responsible, the egg falls to the ground and breaks.

YIKES!

I swear, I nearly cried when that egg hit the sidewalk.  It was a powerful symbol of the fact that neither Spike nor Shane was ready to be a parent.  While it was irresponsible for Shane to bring Eggbert to the party, it was also irresponsible for Spike to leave the egg with someone who she knew would not be able to properly take care of it.  At the end of the episode, Shane finally tells his parents about Spike but it really does feel like a case of too little too late.  Shane had his chance to step up and he failed.

What a sad episode!  Still, this episode is an example of what set the Degrassi franchise apart from other teen shows.  Whereas other teen shows would have resolved this storyline as quickly and as patly as possible, Degrassi Junior High portrays the subject matter with realism and sensitivity.  There are no easy solutions in Toronto and it doesn’t matter how well-intentioned or optimistic everyone tries to be.  Sometimes, you just end up with a broke egg on a frozen sidewalk.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Check It Out 1.11 “Love on Sale”

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!

Attention shoppers, tonight’s episode is weird.

Episode 1.11 “Love on Sale”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on December 11th, 1985)

Weird episode.

Mrs. Cobb (Barbara Hamilton) wants to open up a store in Saudi Arabia so she assigns Howard to give a speech to a group of “Arab investors,” while she spends the night seducing a sheik.  Howard agrees and is told that, if everything works out, he could end up as the President of Cobb’s International.  Going from being the manager of grocery store to an international business tycoon would be quite an accomplishment.  Of course, Mrs. Cobb also expects Howard to dress up like Peter O’Toole in Lawrence of Arabia.  This leads to both Edna and Murray punching him out because they initially don’t recognize him in his costume.

Meanwhile, Murray is trying to raise $150 so that he can buy Howard’s old car, which is apparently sitting on a bunch of milk crates somewhere.  Murray is a teenager who doesn’t even know how to drive but he really wants that car.  How can Murray earn $150?

(Just consider that apparently, Murray doesn’t even make $150 a week from his job at Cobb’s.)

After a customer gives Murray a five dollar tip after Murray introduces him to a female shopper, Murray decides that he’ll start hooking up the single shoppers in return for a ten dollar payment.  Howard thinks that this is a fine idea, as long as Murray doesn’t try to hook up anyone who is married.  (Personally, I can’t think of anything that would make grocery shopping more awkward than having a 15 year-old bagboy trying to convince me to date someone while I’m looking over the produce but whatever.)  Soon, Murray is making all sorts of money but then a Vice detective shows up and arrests Howard for running an escort service.

While dressed like Lawrence of Arabia, Howard is thrown in jail.  In his cell, there are two burly men who continually threaten to beat him up, a skinny guy who talks about how he ate someone’s face, and a male lawyer who is wearing hot pink high heels.  Murray, Christian, and Alf show up at the station and explain that they were all involved in getting people dates at Cobbs and, as a result, they’re all tossed in the cell as well.

Somehow, Howard and his employees do get released because, the next day, Howard comes to work and discovers that every swinger in the city is eager to shop at his store and Mrs. Cobb is not upset about Howard missing the meeting with the investors because Mrs. Cobb was able to seduce the sheik.  Howard says that he can’t wait to be in charge of Cobb’s International because then he’ll be able to get a harem, which leads to Edna punching him.

Weird, weird episode.  It’s hard to even review this episode because it really does take place in its own rather surreal reality.  That said, I kind of appreciated the episode’s nonstop jokiness.  There wasn’t a serious moment to be found here and, while some of the jokes fell flat, some of them worked surprisingly well.  It’s an extremely silly episode that doesn’t add up to much but it’s just weird enough to be entertaining.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/10/23 — 12/16/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s the holidays and, as a result, I haven’t had much time to watch television this week.  In fact, outside of the stuff that I watch for my Retro Television Reviews, I only watched three shows this week.

All In The Family (YouTube)

On Friday night, my friend Pat suggested checking out the 1976 Christmas episode of All In the Family, in which a draft-dodging friend of Mike’s visits from Canada.  He shows up at the Bunker household, right on Christmas day!  At the same time, a friend of the Archie Bunker’s is visiting.  Pinky lost his son in Vietnam.

Now, really, the whole conflict in this episode could have been avoided if the draft dodger had just kept his mouth shut when Archie started asking him what was so great about living in Canada.  But the dodger felt that he had to reveal the truth about why he went up north.  Archie wanted to kick him out but Pinky was understanding and forgiving.

This was a well-acted episode with a powerful message but I do have to admit that I could kind of see Archie’s point.  It’s his house!  He’s the one who paid for the Christmas dinner that they’re all eating.  If he doesn’t want to have a draft dodger sitting at the table in his house and eating the food that he paid for, that’s actually Archie’s right.  Still, I’m glad that Archie didn’t kick the draft dodger out because the guy actually was reasonably polite and everyone should have some place to go on Christmas.

Baywatch Nights (YouTube)

I wrote about Baywatch Nights here!

Check It Out (Tubi)

My review of Check It Out should be dropping in about 30 minutes.

CHiPs (Freevee)

I wrote about CHiPs here!

Degrassi Junior High (YouTube)

I wrote about Degrassi Junior High here!

Fantasy Island (Daily Motion)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Friday the 13th (YouTube)

I wrote about Friday the 13th here!

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, Fox)

Why would anyone agree to hold a charity event at Hell’s Kitchen?  That’s what I found myself wondering as I watched the latest episode of Hell’s Kitchen on Thursday.  Surely, they’ve seen enough episodes of this show to know that they’re going to be running the risk of getting raw chicken and rubbery scallops.

Anyway, I was sad to see Donya go.  I think the only reason Ramsay is keeping Jason around is for the drama.  Go Ryan!

Highway to Heaven (Tubi)

I wrote about Highway to Heaven here!

Jennifer Slept Here (YouTube)

I wrote about Jennifer Slept Here …. here!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Monsters (Tubi)

I wrote about Monsters here!

Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (Tuesday Night, ABC)

It’s the holidays so, naturally, I had to watch this classic.  The old Christmas specials have never really been topped, despite Disney’s best efforts.

T and T (Tubi)

I wrote about T and T here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back Kotter here!