Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 1.1 “Dancing To The Max”

Posted on October 18, 2025 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!

Good Morning Miss Bliss failed where it aired on the Disney Channel but Brandon Tartikoff, president of NBC, felt that the show still had a potential future on NBC. Specifically, Tartikoff felt the kids — Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dustin Diamond, and lark Voorhees — and Dennis Haskins were the ones worth keeping around. As such, Hayley Mills was let go. Max Battimo and Heather Hopper were dropped from the cast. The show was retconned from taking place in Indiana to taking place in California. The show itself was retitled Saved By The Bell….

Episode 1.1 “Dancing To The Max”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on August 20th, 1989)

This is it. This is the first episode of Saved By The Bell, the network morning show that would go on to dominate syndication for 20 years. That’s the thing about Saved By The Bell. It’s not necessary to have been anywhere close to being a teenager when this show began. It’s not necessary to have watched the shows when they originally aired. If you grew up in the 90s or the aughts, you knew Saved By The Bell. It was one of those shows that always seemed like it was airing somewhere. Even as recently as two years ago, it was airing on MeTV and there were frequent marathons on E! Today, it’s on Prime and Tubi. That’s not bad for a show that, if we’re to be absolutely honest, really wasn’t that good.

The first episode — which actually premiered in prime time before the show subsequently moved to its Saturday morning time slot — sets up the show. Zach Morris (I know that some people claim that it’s spelled Zack but I’ve always gone with Zach), Screen Powers, Lisa Turtle, and Mr. Belding have all been resecured from the Indiana Hell of Good Morning, Miss Bliss. Now, they all live in California and they all attend Bayside High School. They hang out at the Max, a tacky restaurant owned by a tacky magician named Max (Ed Alonzo).

Joining the ensemble are Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley), Kelly Kapwoski (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen), and AC Slater (Mario Lopez). Both Slater and Zach have a crush on Kelly. Screech likes Lisa. A dance contest is approaching, one that is hosted by Casey Kasem. (All the teenagers on the show go crazy over someone who, realistically, most of them had probably never heard of. Max imitates Casey Kasem saying his name twice.) Screech wants to ask Lisa to be his partner but Lisa’s already been asked by someone else. Kelly can’t choose between Zach and Slater so they agree to have a dance-0ff. Uh-oh, Zach can’t dance! Maybe his childhood friend Jessie will teach him….

Jessie doesn’t have a date because she’s tall. When she tells Kelly and Lisa about being insecure about her height, they joke that she could become a basketball player. This gets a big laugh and I assume this episode aired before the WNBA was a thing. Eventually, Zach tells Kelly to enter the contest with Slater because he’s going with his best friend, Jessie. Meanwhile, Lisa sprains her ankle, get dumped by her partner, and ends up entering the contest with Screech.

It’s interesting to watch the character dynamics in this first episode. Jessie is not the straw feminist she would later become. Slater is a jock but still sensitive enough to comfort Screech. Kelly is actually portrayed as being somewhat shallow. Watching this episode, one gets the feeling that Zach and Jessie were originally meant to be the show’s main couple until someone decided that Zach and Kelly had better chemistry and that Jessie’s feminism and Slater’s chauvinism would make for an interesting combination. Lisa doesn’t like Screech but she doesn’t quite hate him as much she would in later episodes. Even more importantly, Zach is nowhere near as cocky as he would be in later episodes. He’s actually insecure about something.

As for the dance contest, Lisa and Screen dance “The Sprain” and they win, largely due to Slater and Zach bullying everyone into voting for them. “C’mon,” Casey Kasem announces, “let’s all do …. THE SPRAIN!” Everyone starts hopping on one foot and, at home, I cringe like you wouldn’t believe.

God, this was a stupid episode. And yet …. it was very likable. The young cast had a lot of talent. In this episode, even Dustin Diamond’s Screech is tolerable. I cringed at the extremely cheesy dance contest but I also smiled. I guess that’s the power of nostalgia. Sometimes, even the really bad things make you feel good when you rewatch them.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 10/12/25 — 10/18/25

Posted on October 18, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

The Abbott teachers go to a baseball game! As our readers may have noticed, my sister loves baseball so I made sure to have her watch this episode with me. She enjoyed it, which made me happy. Myself, I found myself wondering why so many shows — like Abbott with Philadelphia or Dick Wolf’s Chicago shows — take place in cities that most American hate. Like, if I was ever told that I had to pick between Philadelphia or prison, I’d probably pick prison because at least there wouldn’t be as many people yelling. Yet, Abbott is often a rather charming show and I usually love It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. It’s just weird how these things work.

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, Fox)

Ugh, this episode made me physically ill. I don’t think I could ever be a professional chef, not if it means having to clean every inch of a fishing boat. (I cleaned my kitchen before watching this episode and my back was killing me by the time I was finished.) As for this episode and this season, it doesn’t seem like a single chef should be trusted to cook food for anyone. Chef Ramsay is doing a lot of yelling and I agree with him.

Law and Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

This week, yet another millionaire was murdered in New York City and there was yet another crazy defense that, for whatever reason, Maroun seemed to have sympathy for. As much as I usually like the “Law” half of these shows, the “Order” part often verges on self-parody. Between Nolan Price’s wimpy summations and Maroun’s eagerness to protect the criminals, I’m surprised they ever get a conviction.

Night Flight (NightFlight Plus)

On Saturday morning, I watched a video profile of KISS, a band that I really didn’t know much about. I enjoyed the juxtaposition between the fearsome makeup and their not-at-all fearsome music.

Snub TV (NightFlight Plus)

On Friday night. Jeff and I watched an episode of this 80s music show with our friends, Patrick and Dani. It was good music. You could dance to it.

Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test (Thursday Night, Fox)

This show is just not that interesting without Jussie Smollett crying about how nobody will accept that “I just want to move on” from filing a false police report. If it was really the world’s toughest test, I don’t think a bunch of out-of-shape reality show participants would be doing as well as they are.

Twilight Zone (Prime)

This week, I watched a few classic episodes — To Serve Man, The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, Twenty-Two (“Room for one more, honey!”), Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up, Nick of Time, and Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. If the Twilight Zone is not a part of your October viewing, you’re doing Halloween wrong!

The Vanishing Ray (NightFlight Plus)

I checked in with this 1930s serial on Friday night. The bad guys were still after the vanishing ray and the good guys were still trying to protect it. As always, this chapter ended with a cliffhanger and an invitation to return to theater next week for the next installment.

Horror on TV: Halloween Is Grinch Night (dir by Gerard Baldwin)

Posted on October 18, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

So, we all know that the Grinch once tried to steal to Christmas and then his heart grew a few sizes but did you know that apparently, the Grinch also tried to steal Halloween?

Until about 9 years ago, I did not. I was going through YouTube, searching for horror films that I could share here on the Shattered Lens, and guess what I came across?

A TV special from 1977 entitled Halloween is Grinch Night!

Unlike How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Halloween is Grinch Night apparently never became a holiday classic. Perhaps that’s because Halloween is Grinch Night is not exactly the most heart-warming of holiday specials. Whereas How The Grinch Stole Christmas tells us about how the Grinch learned the true meaning of Christmas, Halloween is Grinch Night gives us a Grinch who has no redeeming features. There is no hope for this Grinch. This Grinch will steal your soul and probably drink your blood. This Grinch is pure Grinchy evil.

This is the Grinch of our nightmares.

Check out Halloween is Grinch Night below and hope the Grinch doesn’t capture you this Halloween….

Retro Television Review: Baywatch 1.2 “Heat Wave”

Posted on October 18, 2025 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 purchased on Tubi.

Save me!

Episode 1.2 “Heat Wave”

(Dir by Gus Trikonis, originally aired on September 29th, 1989)

Not much of an episode this week, I’m afraid.

California is dealing with a heat wave and no one has air conditioning (really?) so everyone in Los Angeles is heading down to the beach so that they can relax in the hot sand. Eddie and Trevor keep giving each other the side eye because Eddie is a Baywatch lifeguard and Trevor is a country club life guard. Eddie tries to hit on a woman who has spent the entire day relaxing near his tower but it turns out that she’s visiting from Australia and only has eyes for Trevor. “Maybe next time,” she tells Eddie.

Craig is told by his boss that he has to choose between being a lawyer at a big firm or a lifeguard. Craig’s wife, Gina, suggests that Craig quit the law firm and become a beachfront lawyer. She says that he can still be a lifeguard and he can just use their kitchen table as his desk. I don’t know if I would be as understanding as Gina. Craig was making a lot of money as a big corporate lawyer, even if he apparently couldn’t afford to get an air conditioner.

(What the Heck, California? How are you surviving with air conditioning!?)

Meanwhile, two stupid kids get trapped in a storm drain. Mitch sends the junior lifeguards out to look for them. Hobie asks, “What can a bunch of junior lifeguards do?” Mitch replies that this is an opportunity for the junior lifeguards to go to all the places that they’re usually not allowed to go. So, basically, Mitch’s plan to find the missing kids is to put a bunch of other kids at risk. I guess that’s why he’s the lieutenant.

Luckily, the two dumb kids are rescued. One of the kids is the son of Steve Humboldt (Jeffrey Byron), a former Baywatch lifeguard. It turns out that Steve lost custody of his kid in a court case and he basically abducted him. But, after the kid nearly dies, Steve is like, “We’re going to call your mom and go home!” and that apparently makes everything okay under the “He Changed His Mind Afterwards” clause.

This was all pretty dumb. Stay out of the storm drain, kids! It’s not that difficult.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 1.12 “Deadline”

Posted on October 17, 2025 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 …. oh, who knows?

Episode 1.12 “Deadline”

(Dir by Michael Lange, originally aired on January 29th, 1989)

This week’s first story is about Peter (Aaron Harnick), whose father owns the local Springwood paper and who is given a job for the summer. He’s assigned to write the obits so that he can hang out around the newspaper office and learn from the veteran writers. Peter would rather be in Europe. That’s especially true when he starts to visualize the obits that he’s writing and somehow comes to realize that he’ll die unless he meets his deadline.

This story was the epitome of a good premise that was sloppily executed. Peter hates writing obits but if he doesn’t write the obits, he’ll die in the same way as the person that he’s writing about. He has visions. He has dreams. Unfortunately, both his boss and his girlfriend tell him to stop working on his current obit and to get some rest. But if Peter stop writing, he’ll die! Uhmm …. how long does it take to type up an obituary? I mean, doesn’t he just have to type up whatever dead person’s loved ones sent to the paper?

There’s a clever moment where Peter deletes an old article about Freddy Krueger from the newspaper’s computer system. The episode implies that maybe Peter’s visions are in some way Freddy’s revenge but, as was so often the case with this show, it doesn’t really do much to explore the idea.

The first story ends with Peter dead. The episode’s second story deals with Emily (Page Hannah), a friend of Peter’s girlfriend. Emily has been dating an older college student (Timothy Brantley) and she continually has dreams where her friends — including Peter’s girlfriend — get mad at her for not spending more time with her. In her dreams, her friends all die in a car accident. At the end of the story, it turns out that Emily was just daydreaming. Seriously, that’s the entire story.

What a terrible episode. I usually try to be positive about even the lesser episodes but I have to admit that I’m kind of ticked off that I wasted 50 minutes watching this week’s episode of Freddy’s Nightmares. It felt as the show’s writers didn’t even try this week. Instead, they just came up with some weird scenes and then dismissed them by shrugging and saying, “Hey, it was all a dream. Nothing means anything!”

This episode was just lazy.

Bonus Horror on TV: Baywatch Nights 2.12 “Frozen Out Of Time” (dir by Rick Jacobson)

Posted on October 17, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight, I’ve decided to share a bonus hour of televised horror. Tonight, we present to you an episode of Baywatch Nights that originally aired on February 9th, 1997. In this one, two 900 year-old Vikings are causing chaos in Los Angeles! Who can stop them?

David Hasselhoff, of course!

(You can read my review of this beautifully odd episode here. Valhalla!)

Horror On TV: The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t (dir by Bruce Bilson)

Posted on October 17, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oh no! Halloween might be canceled because people just aren’t scared of the old monsters! Dracula (Judd Hirsch) calls all of the classic creatures to a meeting in his castle (where they all happen to be freeloading) and give them an ultimatum. Be more scary! It turns out to be easier said than done.

This originally aired in 1979 but, for people of a certain age, it achieved a certain immortality thanks to regular airings on the Disney Channel. It’s a cute show. It might seem a little bit corny today but that’s a large part of its appeal. It’s a reminder of a more innocent time.

Warren the Werewolf, by the way, was named after Warren “Werewolves of London” Zevon.

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 2.20 “Cramming”

Posted on October 17, 2025 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 Hulu and, for purchase, on Prime!

This week, Peter White goes on trial.

Episode 2.20 “Cramming”

(Dir by Tim Matheson, originally aired on May 2nd, 1984)

Dr. Peter White finally goes on trial, charged with raping Kathy Martin and assaulting Wendy Armstrong. For his attorney, he hires the same lawyer (Conrad Janis) who previously made the case against him at his disciplinary hearing. The lawyer asks Kathy Martin about her own reputation at St. Eligius. (“How many times have you had sex in the morgue?”) Peter himself manages to pass a lie detector test. (Sociopaths don’t have the same physical reactions to telling a lie as normal people.) In the end, Peter is acquitted.

Shirley Daniels blames Kathy for the acquittal, saying that she should have come forward earlier. As for Wendy, she deals with the trauma by binging and then purging. When one of her patients miscarries after being admitted to the hospital, it’s determined that Wendy carelessly missed a heart murmur. When Wendy argues that she’s been under pressure due to the trial, Dr. Craig points out that Wendy missed the heart murmur before the trial even started. Wendy breaks down into tears.

I have to admit that Wendy Armstrong has never been one of my favorite characters on this show. She’s the type of doctor who most people would dread having to deal with. She knows all of the technical stuff but she has absolutely no idea how to relate to patients and she gets defensive whenever anyone disagrees with her. Even if she hadn’t been attacked by Peter White, it seems like it was inevitable that she would eventually end up overlooking something with one of her patients. That said, my heart still broke for her in this episode. One gets the feeling that she’s one bad day away from breaking.

This episode ends with all of the residents taking their National Board exams. The residents know that five of them will be cut from the program. Having been acquitted, Dr. White approaches Westphall and Auschlander and announces that he doesn’t have any hard feelings towards them and he hopes that they’ll give him a fair shot. “I’m innocent,” he lies.

Dr. Ehrlich is also nervous about his exams, cramming everything he can into his last minute study sessions. His Aunt Cherise (Louise Lasser) comes to visit and help him deal with the end of his marraige to Roberta but Ehrlich is able to dump her off on Dr. Westphall. After having an awkward dinner with the eccentric Cherise, Westphall realizes that he’s not ready to start dating again.

This episode left me reeling, to be honest. The acquittal of Peter White was a gut punch. I know he’s guilty. Everyone in the hospital knows that he’s guilty. But he’s acquitted. Kathy Martin’s name is drugged through the mud. Wendy Armstrong has gone from being determined to self-destructive. But Peter White has not only gotten away with his crimes but he’s now apparently convinced that he can go back to being a doctor at St. Eligius. And who knows? He probably can. It’s a messed up world. It was messed up in 1984 and it’s messed up today.

Next week, we’ll find out which residents made the cut!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 4.18 “We Have Forever: Part Two”

Posted on October 16, 2025 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’s episode is massively confusing.

Episode 4.18 “We Have Forever: Part Two”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on February 17th, 1988)

Picking up from last week, an embittered Jonathan is no longer an angel. Instead, he’s a mortal man who can’t get a job because he doesn’t have any references. (The idea is that Jonathan can’t explain that he’s spent the last 40 years working for God. But, over the past four and a half seasons, he’s had numerous jobs where he helped people out. Couldn’t he have listed some of those people are references?) However, Jonathan is happy because he’s fallen in love with Jennifer (Leann Hunley), the woman that he saved from drowning last week.

Meanwhile, Mark is actually making an effort to help people by working at the camp for the blind where he and Jonathan worked earlier in the season. (Actually, why couldn’t Jonathan ask for a job at the camp? The more I think about it, Jonathan not being able to get a job makes less and less sense.)

Jennifer, however, has a secret of her own. At the end of the episode, she leaves Jonathan a note, in which she explains that she’s actually Joan, Jonathan’s late wife. Jonathan was upset because he felt God was keeping him from seeing Joan in Heaven. Instead, it turns out that Joan — like Jonathan — has been assigned to work on Earth as an angel. So, the two months that Jonathan spent with Jennifer was actually God giving Jonathan a chance to spend time with Joan but, for some reason, no one told Jonathan that was what was happening so Jonathan got mad and walked out on God. But then, Jonathan changes his mind after learning that Joan is Jennifer but instead of asking to work with Joan/Jennifer, Jonathan goes back to working with Mark.

Seriously, I’m having a hard time following some of the logic here.

That said, despite all the lapses in logic, this episode still made me cry. Admittedly, I’ve been feeling under the weather today so maybe that’s why I was so emotionally susceptible to this episode. Or maybe it’s just the fact that Highway to Heaven is such an overwhelmingly earnest and sincere show that even the episodes that shouldn’t work somehow do. All I know is that I was sobbing by the end of this episode.

The important thing is that, at the end of the episode, Jonathan and Mark have a new assignment and drive off. Wait, I thought Mark had a job. Way to abandon all those blind children, Mark!

Perhaps it’s best not to think too hard about this episode and just accept it for being the tear jerker that it was.

Horror On TV: The Cloning of Clifford Swimmer (dir by Lela Swift)

Posted on October 16, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight’s televised horror is The Cloning of Clifford Swimmer. Peter Haskell stars as Clifford Swimmer, an angry jerk who is unhappy with his marriage. He’s come up with a plan, though. He’s going to have himself cloned and then, after leaving his clone with his family, he’ll be free to live his life. However, Swimmer discovers that things never work that simply when it comes to creating a clone. This is a clever story with a great twist at the end.

It originally aired on November 1st, 1974 as a part of ABC’s The Wide World of Mystery. Unfortunately, whoever uploaded this film to YouTube has disabled playback so you’ll have to click on the link to watch it!