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Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 2.9 “Mirror In The Bathroom”

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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

Don’t watch this episode if you have a weak stomach.

Episode 2.9 “Mirror In The Bathroom”

(Dir by Paul Fox, originally aired on July 18th, 2003)

This is the one where Toby decides that the only way to get people to notice him in school is to join the wrestling team.  However, when he discovers that he and Sean are in the same weight class (and there’s no way that Toby could ever beat Sean), Toby decides to lose a lot of weight in a very short amount of time.

Yep, this is the episode were Toby starts taking laxatives and throwing up his lunch.

Ugh.  Yes, I know that eating disorders are serious.  It’s nice that Degrassi did an episode about a guy doing something stupid instead of a girl.  If there’s anything I get sick of, it’s the assumption that some people have that any woman who isn’t fat must have an eating disorder.  Seriously, you can’t win.  If you gain weight, you endanger your health.  If you don’t gain weight, everyone assumes you’re throwing up everything you eat.  This episode featured a guy struggling with body issues and I appreciated the change of pace.

That said …. ugh!  Toby using laxatives!  Ugh, ugh, ugh!

While Toby is losing weight, Terri is using her weight to get rich as a plus-sized model.  Good for her, I guess.  Terri’s kind of a boring character so, for now, it’s difficult to really care about her storylines.  In season 3, she’ll start dating Rick Murray and everything will change.  But we’ve still got a while to go.

Anyway, as always happens when someone gets an eating disorder, Toby ends up fainting in front of the entire school.  He’s off the wrestling team but at least he’ll never take another laxative.

Seriously, ugh!

 

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 5.3 “Prison Riot”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Sundays, I will be reviewing Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC!  It  can be viewed on Peacock.

This week, we have one of Homicide’s best episodes.

Episode 5.3 “Prison Riot”

(Dir by Kenneth Fink, originally aired on October 18th, 1996)

At the Maryland State Prison, convicted murderer Claude Vetter (Mark Rogers) accidentally bumps into another murderer, James Douglas (Tim McAdams), in the cafeteria.  James pulls a knife and stabs Vetter in the stomach.  As Vetter collapses, a riot breaks out.  By the time the guards have forcefully restored order, Vetter and James Douglas are dead.  Everyone knows who killed Vetter.  But who stabbed James in the back?

Lewis, Munch, Howard, Bayliss, Kellerman and Giardello head down to the scene.  (Pembleton, who is still struggling with his up-coming shooting test, is left behind.)  Munch and Lewis don’t care about solving Douglas’s murder.  As far as they’re concerned, both Claude Vetter and James Douglas got what they deserved.  Munch gets annoyed and returns to the station.  Lewis sticks around to help Bayliss with a few interrogations before he also leaves.  Bayliss, however, is determined to solve the murder of James Douglas and Kellerman, looking to make up all the ill will that has existed between him and Bayliss, does his best to help.

Bayliss is convinced that Elijah Sanborn (Charles S. Dutton) saw who killed James.  Sanborn is serving a life sentence for shooting a drug dealer who previously shot and killed Elijah’s wife in drive-by.  (Elijah’s wife was an innocent bystander.)  Elijah has been in prison for 14 years.  He’s never getting out and he sees no reason why he should help the police.  However, when Elijah’s 14 year-old son is arrested for a petty theft, Bayliss offers a deal.  If Elijah tells Bayliss who killed James Douglas, Elijah’s son will only do 6 months at a juvenile facility.  If Elijah refuses to talk, his son will be charged as an adult.

Elijah is outraged that Bayliss would “use my own son against me!”  It’s only after his estranged daughter (Heather Alicia Simms, giving a wonderful performance) visits that Elijah agrees to share what he knows.  He has one condition.  He wants to see his son.  When Elijah’s son turns out to be a sullen and uncommunicative wannabe gangster who tells his father that he doesn’t care about him, Elijah announces, “I killed James Douglas.”

Bayliss knows that Elijah is lying but he also knows that Elijah’s confession is enough to send him to the gas chamber.  With no prospects of ever walking free and having been rejected by both his daughter and his son, Elijah has decided to use the system to kill himself.

Fortunately — or unfortunately, depending on how you look at things, another prisoner, Tom Marans (Dean Winters), beats Trevor Douglas (John Epps) into a coma.  Trevor was James’s cousin and Marans reveals that Trevor is also the one who killed James because he thought James had stolen a carton of cigarettes from him.  Marans explains that he was James’s “wife” in prison.

As the episode ends, Giardello congratulates Bayliss before adding that it’ll only be a matter of time before Trevor’s people seek revenge and they all have to return to the prison to investigate the murder of Tom Marans.

This was a great episode.  After spending the past few seasons as Pembleton’s sidekick, Bayliss finally got a chance to step up and show off his own abilities as a homicide detective.  Kellerman assisting him turned out to be an inspired move, as it allowed Kellerman to finally be something more than just a kind of goofy frat boy detective.  Working together, Kyle Secor and Reed Diamond had great comedic timing, which kept this rather grim episode from getting too dark.  (Kellerman: “Do you want a hug?”  Bayliss: “Do you and Lewis often hug?”)

One thing that made this episode interesting was that the victims, the suspects, and most of the witnesses were all murderers who were previously arrested on this show.  It was interesting to see how prison had changed or, in some cases, not changed them.  The once preppy Tom Marans now had bright yellow hair, scarred knuckles, and some really nasty facial sores.  Meanwhile, James and Trevor Douglas were still the same punks that they were on the outside, when they used to film themselves committing murder.

Finally, what made this episode truly powerful was the performance of Charles S. Dutton.  A Baltimore native who served time in prison before becoming an acclaimed stage actor, Dutton has not always been served well by television and the movies.  He’s very much a theatrical actor and, when cast in the wrong role, he can come across as being a bit over-the-top.  In this episode, though, Dutton is perfectly cast and he gives a truly moving performance of as an inherently decent man who does what he has to do in order to survive as a prisoner in a system that has been constructed specifically to break and destroy him.  Elijah’s fury feels earned and deserved but, in the end, he’s ultimately just a father who wants things to be better for his son and his daughter.  When Elijah’s son rejected him, it was one of Homicide’s most heart-breaking moments.

Prison Riot has a reputation for being one of Homicide’s best episodes.  The reputation is very much deserved.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 1.16 “King of the Hill”

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!

It’s time to start the school year!  Zack gets ready for his first day …. wait a minute, hasn’t school already started?

Episode 1.16 “King of the Hill”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on December 9th, 1989)

I’ll never forget the day Slater showed up….

For the longest time, I believed that this was the first episode of Saved By The Bell.  I mean, the episode features Zack meeting Slater for the first time, Slater meeting Kelly for the first time, and it introduces all of the regulars.  We discover that Zack, somehow, has a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Kelly in his bedroom.  That’s weird and kind of disturbing.

However, I have since learned that, while this was indeed the pilot for Saved By The Bell, it wasn’t actually aired until halfway through the first season.  That’s why we hear an older sounding Zack say, “I’ll never forget the day Slater showed up….”  We’re watching a flashback.  But if it’s a flashback, why is Zack talking directly to the audience?  I mean, if the audience was there when it happened the first time, why would Zack be telling them about it a second time?  For that matter, why — if this is Zack’s first day as a high school freshman — is he already a legendary troublemaker at the school?  Mr. Belding remembers him from Good Morning Ms. Bliss but that show was set in Junior High and in Indiana! And before anyone says that they’re two different shows, allow me to point out that the Ms. Bliss episode were later reshown in syndication as Saved By The Bell episodes, complete with Zack introducing them by saying, “Here’s a story that happened in junior high….”

My personal theory about all this?  Saved By The Bell was a Peter Engel show and, like most Peter Engel shows, no one cared much about continuity.  Ironically, that sloppiness is a huge part of the show’s continuing popularity.  People like me are still trying to make some sort of logical sense out of how Ms. Bliss and Saved By The Bell could both exist in the same universe.

As for this pilot …. well, for the most part, it’s not very good.  Of the young actors, only Mario Lopez really seems to have any idea as to who his character should be.  Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who would develop into a very good actor, overacts a bit in the pilot.   He, Dustin Diamond, and Lark Voorhees were all still giving the same performances that they gave in Ms. Bliss and they didn’t quite feel right for what would become Saved By The Bell.  Really, the only scene that truly works is when Mr. Belding puts on a sweater and attempts to “understand” why Zack is acting out before finally snapping as Zack makes a mess of his office.  From the start, Dennis Haskins and Mark-Paul Gosselaar made for a good comedy team.

One final note: This episode aired nearly 37 years ago.  Mario Lopez has aged, at most, ten years since then.  He has got to have a haunted painting in his attic.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 3/22/26 — 3/28/26

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

1st & Ten (Tubi)

I reviewed 1st & Ten here!

The Addams Family (YouTube)

Cousin Itt came to visit!  I watched an episode of this classic sitcom on Wednesday with my friend Dani.  She was celebrating John Astin’s birthday.

Baywatch (Tubi)

I reviewed Baywatch here!

CHiPs (Prime)

I reviewed CHiPs here!

Dance International Magazine (NightFlight+)

Everyone on the program was dancing and I danced while watching.

Decoy (Tubi)

I reviewed Decoy here!

Degrassi: The Next Generation (Tubi)

Look for my Degrassi review tomorrow!

Diff’rent Strokes (Tubi)

Tubi showed me a random episode on Thursday.  Arnold and his stupid friend Dudley took up smoking.  Dudley’s father went to the hospital to have a lung removed.  I think there was a message in there somewhere.

Freddy’s Nightmare (Tubi)

I reviewed Freddy’s Nightmares here!

Highway to Heaven (Tubi)

I reviewed Highway to Heaven here!

Homicide: Life On The Street (Peacock)

Look for my Homicide review tomorrow!

Lonesome Dove (Tubi)

I binged Lonesome Dove on Wednesday, as a tribute to both Texas and the late Robert Duvall.  It was a great adaptation of a great book.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I reviewed The Love Boat here!

Miami Vice (Prime)

I reviewed Miami Vice here.

Nero Wolfe (YouTube)

I watched two episodes of Nero Wolfe on Tuesday.  These episodes featured Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin.  Seymour Cassel was in one of the episodes.  I enjoyed the episodes, even if I did have a hard time following the twists and turns of the mysteries.

Night Flight (NightFlight+)

On Saturday, I watched an episode of this old music video program.  It was a countdown of the top music videos of 1983.  I like the music of the 80s.  It was very energetic.

Pacific Blue (Tubi)

I reviewed Pacific Blue here!

Saved By The Bell (Tubi)

This week’s review will drop in 90 minutes.

Saved By The Bell: The New Class (Prime)

I reviewed this week’s episode here!

St. Elsewhere (Daily Motion)

I reviewed St. Elsewhere here!

Retro Television Review: Baywatch 1.17 “Eclipse”

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.

This week, Eddie’s incompetence continues.

Episode 1.17 “Eclipse”

(Dir by Paul Schneider, originally aired on February 23rd, 1990)

After Kirby (Lance Wilson-White), the lifeguard that Eddie was supposed to be training, mysteriously drowns, Eddie loses his job and is shunned by every lifeguard in California.

Well, that’s what should have happened.  Instead, everyone tells Eddie that it wasn’t his fault and goes out of their way to make sure that Eddie isn’t beating himself up over one unfortunate death.  We don’t actually see Mitch or Captain Thorpe calling up Kirby’s family to offer condolences.  We don’t see Kirby’s funeral or Kirby getting the traditional fallen lifeguard salute.  Kirby?  Who’s Kirby?

Instead, Eddie meets with a psychiatrist (Dr. Joyce Brothers) and later admits that his sister drowned when he was a child and that’s why he feels so guilty about what happened to Kirby.  Everyone is more upset about Eddie’s sister than they are Kirby.

Meanwhile, Eddie searches the beach for a ghostly woman in a white nightgown.  Eddie and Craig’s wife, Gina (Holly Gagnier), speculate that the woman is the ghost of someone who burned down the lighthouse decades ago.  Mitch theorizes that the woman is an escaped mental patient.  The woman later turns up on the beach, dead from drowning.  Again, nobody seems to be too upset.  Aren’t these people supposed to be lifeguards?

While this is going on, Hobie discovers that his friend Katie (Hayley Carr) is going to have to euthanize her dog because it bit her family’s landlord.  Katie runs away and Hobie hides both her and the dog at his house.  Mitch is not happy about this but he does agree to adopt the dog so it won’t be killed.  Yay!

This episode was dumb.  Apparently, as long as Eddie’s feeling better, it doesn’t matter that two people drowned.  Stay away from Malibu, folks.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 2.6 “Lucky Stiff”

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, a lottery ticket leads to misery.

Episode 2.6 “Lucky Stiff”

(Dir by William Malone, originally aired on November 12th, 1989)

After the lottery-obsessed Lenny Nordhoff (David L. Lander) has a heart attack and dies, his widow, Greta (Mary Crosby), marries her brutish boyfriend, Hank (Richard Eden). Haunted by nightmares of Lenny holding out his bloody heart and accusing her of having broken it, Greta is not happy with her new marriage. When she and Hank realize that Lenny was buried with a winning lottery ticket, they break into the mausoleum, open his coffin, and retrieve the ticket. Then, Greta pushes Hank into the coffin and seals him up.

Months later, Greta is wealthy but now she’s haunted by visions of Hank and threatening phone calls. Eventually, she is confronted by a gravedigger (Tracey Walter), who blackmails her into marrying him.

This episode’s only memorable moment was an outdoor scene that was apparently filmed on a windy day, resulting in Mary Crosby having to awkwardly reach down to keep her dress from blowing up. (I supposed it says something about the show’s budget and production schedule that, rather than reshoot this scene, they just went with it.) Crosby didn’t do a bad job in this episode. She had the right neurotic femme fatale look.

Otherwise, this episode was pretty forgettable. The first story featured Greta having nightmares about a dead man and marrying a loser. The second story featured Great having nightmares about a dead man and marrying a loser. Even Freddy, in his reduced host role, looked pretty bored with the whole thing.

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 5.11 “The Inner Limits”

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 are speech therapists.

Episode 5.11 “The Inner Limits”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on July 21st, 1989)

George (Tim Choate) has spent years speechless and paralyzed.  However, after George’s brother, Paul (Joseph Culp), has a chance meeting with speech therapist Jonathan Smith, it is discovered that George is actually a genius who can communicate through blinking and who hopes to write a book.  Paul goes from wanting to move out of his childhood home and into an apartment with his girlfriend, Jessica (Lorie Griffin) to feeling like he has a duty to spend the rest of his life helping his mother (Julianna McCarthy) take care of George.

I’ve been crying a lot this year.  I lost my Dad in 2024.  Exactly one year later, I lost the aunt who helped to raise me when I was a child.  I didn’t really get a chance to mourn my Dad because I immediately became one of my aunt’s caregivers.  I thought that if I couldn’t save my Dad from Parkinson’s, I could at least save my aunt from Alzheimer’s.  After my aunt passed, I threw myself into the holidays and I dealt with my emotions by buying lots of presents for other people.  It’s only now, in the light of 2026, that it’s all truly hitting me.  I cry very easily right now and I cried while watching this episode.  There’s a sincerity and earnestness to Highway to Heaven that gets to me, despite how corny the show could sometimes be.

That said, this episode had the same flaws as most of season 5’s episodes.  Jonathan and Mark were only in a few scenes and the majority of the episode was carried by Joseph Culp and Julianna McCarthy, both of whom tended to overact during their big emotional scenes.  Culp eventually won me over but McCarthy’s performance was so theatrical and over-the-top that it really did take you out of the story.

That said, I did cry.  Would I have cried if I wasn’t currently in mourning?  I think I would have, actually.  The final shot of a young boy reading George’s book while sitting in a wheelchair earned those tears.  We never really know how many people we help, do we?

 

 

Retro Television Review: Decoy 1.24 “Saturday Lost”

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 learns about the dangers of reefer!

Episode 1.24 “Saturday Lost”

(Dir by Stuart Rosenberg, originally aired on March 24th, 1958)

Casey and her partner-of-the-week (played by Simon Oakland) are investigating the death of Geraldine “Geri” Wilson, a quiet and studious college student who was found dead on the side of the road after attending a college football game with her sister, Beth (Barbara Lord).  Beth, who couldn’t even remember her own name when she was first found the morning after, isn’t much of a witness.  She can’t remember what happened that night but, as she and Casey sit in one Geri’s old hangouts, she recognizes Ken Davidson (Larry Hagman), a student who was with them at the football game.  Beth remembers that Ken and Geri had a fight.

The stunned Ken says that he had no reason to kill Geri.

Casey replies, “Marijuana gave you a reason!”

Casey has figured out, from listening to the way the spacey Beth talks, that Beth and Geri smoked “reefer” the night of the football game.  Casey is convinced that, in a marijuana-crazed state, Ken tossed Geri out of the car.  To help jog Beth’s memory, she has her partner drive Beth, Ken, and Casey along the same route where Geri’s body was found.

“Where did you get the reefers, sonny!?” Casey demands of Ken.

Beth suddenly remembers that she’s the one who bought the marijuana.  Beth says that it only cost a dollar and that Ken himself didn’t indulge.  Instead, it was just Beth and Geri who got stoned.  Beth was driving when Geri opened the car door and fell out.  “Faster!  Faster!” Beth says, a line that immediately brings to mind the 30s anti-drug film, Reefer Madness.

(Why wasn’t Ken driving if he was the only one who wasn’t stoned?)

Back at police headquarters, Casey looks at the camera and tell us that the case has been dismissed.  However, Beth will never forget that her sister died because Beth bought “reefer.”

Beverly Garland is, as always, excellent and a young Larry Hagman does well as Ken.  But Barbara Lord overacts to such an extent that you really find yourself wondering if maybe she actually popped a bunch of amphetamines as opposed to smoking weed.  Indeed, Beth and Geri’s story would be plausible with a lot of different drugs but it’s not particularly plausible with marijuana.  There’s also a rather bizarre cameo from a young William Hickey (you’ll recognize the voice), playing a hipster who spouts a lot of nonsense.  If anything, Hickey’s hipster comes across as if he’d be more likely to know where to get weed on campus than Ken but Casey just lets him wander off.  In the end, this episode feels like a version of the urban legend about the girl who walked into an airplane propeller because she took too many pills.

Larry Hagman, I should mention, was a proud member of the Hollywood counter-culture and was very open about his own use of marijuana.  (Apparently, he was introduced to it by Jack Nicholson, who felt it would help Hagman cut back on his drinking.)  I wonder if anyone ever asked him about this episode.

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 3.7 “Mutiny on the Bull Team”

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.

Things aren’t looking too good for the Bulls!

Episode 3.7 “A Mutiny on the Bull Team”

(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on October 7th, 1987)

After a terrible start to the season (back-to-back losses!), TD tells Coach Grier that he needs to do something to get the team back into championship shape.  Coach Grier launches an intensive training regimen and he posts a list of rules in the locker room — no beer in the locker room, players must shave for game day, and a bunch of other things.  The players rebel and, during the next game, they stop running the plays that Grier wants.  TD confronts Grier and demands to know what’s going on.  Grier says that he just did what TD told him to do.  TD says that he didn’t tell Grier to become a dictator even though that is kind of what TD told him to do.

Really, “reign of terror?”  Coach Grier is like in his 60s and he’s fat and out of shape.  The football players are …. well, football players.  What exactly is TD Parker saying?  It’s hard to say.  OJ Simpson delivers all of his lines in the same amiable and bland manner that he used when he said he would devote his life to searching for the real killers.  It’s hard to know what TD is thinking.

Anyway, Grier realizes the errors of his ways and the Bulls win the game!  So, TD doesn’t have to cut anyone from the team.  He can put away his knife for now.  Everyone in the locker room should be breathing a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Yinessa and new owner Jill Schrader struggle with their feelings for each other.  In the end, Yinessa kisses Jill in the stadium parking lot so I guess they decided to forget about the whole “We have to maintain a professional separation” thing.

One final note: Last week’s episode featured Delta Burke swearing that she was going to reclaim ownership of the Bulls.  But, with this episode, Burke is no longer listed in the opening credits so I guess that storyline is over with.  Jill is now the owner.  Good!  Maybe the Bulls will finally win a championship.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 7.12 “Dee Dee’s Dilemma/Julie’s Blind Date/The Prize Winner”

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!

Come aboard, we’re expecting you….

Episode 7.12 “Dee Dee’s Dilemma/Julie’s Blind Date/The Prize Winner”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on December 3rd, 1983)

A detective (Don Gordon) tells Isaac and Gopher that he suspects a woman named Doris will be boarding the boat.  She’s supposed to testify in a high-profile divorce case and she’s been dodging the process servers.  The detective mentions that there’s a reward for turning Doris in.  That definitely get Gopher and Isaac’s attention.

And Doris (Markie Post) is on the boat!  Except she is pretending to be a teenager named Dee Dee and she’s speaking in an annoying squeaky voice.  Jerry Howard (Clark Brandon) meets Dee Dee and develops a crush on her.  Meanwhile, Jerry’s father, Phil (Geoffrey Scott), meets Doris and develops a crush of his own!  In the end, Doris falls in love with Phil and Jerry …. well, Jerry gets his heart broken but he claims not to care.  Phil is amused.  As for the divorce case, it’s settled so Doris doesn’t have to testify after all!

(And no, there’s no reward for Isaac and Gopher.  In fact, Stubing threatens to fire them.)

While that’s going on, author Daniel Baker (Tom Poston) wants to enjoy a romantic cruise with his wife (Abby Dalton) but he’s being blackmailed by his assistant, Wendy  (Leslie Easterbrook).  Wendy knows that Daniel plagiarized sections of his book and she threatens to reveal the truth unless Daniel has an affair with her.  This is one of those storylines that would have worked better if some different casting choices had been made.  As it is, noted sex symbol Tom Poston feels miscast.

Finally, Julie has a blind date boarding the boat.  He turns out to be a nerdy, overweight guy named Leonard Gluck (Walter Olkewicz).  Julie has nothing in common with Leonard and is planning on dumping him.  But then Leonard dumps her first and Julie has a crisis of confidence.  This story had the potential to reveal a new side of Julie but, in the end, Leonard revealed that he only dumped Julie to make her like him and Julie’s confidence was restored, along with her rule about not dating fat guys.

This was not a great cruise.  It took me two minutes to get sick of Dee Dee’s voice.  Oh well — not every trip can be a winner!