Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 1.6 “George Washington Kissed Here”

Posted on February 24, 2026 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 Saved By The Bell: The New Class, which ran on NBC from 1993 to 2o00. The show is currently on Prime.

This week, Scott ruins the school play.

Episode 1.6 “George Washington Kissed Here”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 16th, 1993)

Mr. Belding is directing the school play, a tribute to the heroes of the American Revolution. When Scott sees that Lindsay in the play, he decides that he wants her to play Martha Washington while he plays George so that he can kiss her on stage. Scott goes as far as to convince that Mr. Belding that the play should be an “MTV version” of the American Revolution….

Sorry, I just rolled my eyes so hard that I passed out. Okay, I’m back.

Anyway, Tommy D gets so jealous that he takes a role as a messenger, despite feeling that acting is “for dweebs.” Megan is cast as Betsy Ross and Weasel is cast as Ben Franklin. Vicki is also in the cast because she wants to see Scott in tights.

(Audience: whoooo!)

Tommy D is jealous and tries to ruin the play but Megan calls him out backstage and says, “Tommy D stands for Doesn’t Have A Clue.” The audience cheers, even though Tommy D’s name should be Tommy DHAC. Tommy realizes that he’s being a jerk so he apologizes, which leads to Lindsay chasing after him despite the fact that her cue is coming up. So, Vicki steps in and plays Martha even though Lindsay was previously onstage as Martha. Vicki kisses Scott, Tommy D and Lindsay get back together, and everyone applauds Mr. Belding, even though the play sucked.

I hated this episode. As someone who has done high school and community theater, watching these idiots run around backstage ticked me off. Lindsay missed her cue and everyone acted like it was no big deal. No, it’s a huge deal. It was totally unprofessional. Lindsay should have been expelled.

Watching this episode, it occurred to me that Zack Morris could have pulled it off but Scott’s obsession with Lindsay just comes across as being creepy. Zack may have been fixated on Kelly and jealous of Slater but at least Kelly was actually single and interested in him. Lindsay is dating Tommy D and seems pretty happy with him. Scott needs to move on. In fact, wasn’t the audience going “whooooo!” about Scott and Megan just two episodes ago?

I hope Mr. Belding never directed another play.

6 Shots From 6 Films: Special Twins Peaks Edition

Posted on February 24, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

6 Shots From 6 Films is just what it says it is, 6 shots from 6 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 6 Shots From 6 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

It is Twin Peaks Day, after all.

6 Shots From 6 Films: Special Twin Peaks Edition

Twin Peaks: The Pilot (1990, dir by David Lynch, DP: Ron Garcia)

Twin Peaks 1.3 “Zen or the Skill To Catch a Killer” (1990, dir by David Lynch, DP: Frank Byers)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992, dir by David Lynch, DP: Ron Garcia)

Twin Peaks The Return Part Three (2017, dir by David Lynch, DP: Peter Deming)

Twin Peaks: The Return Part 5 (2017, dir by David Lynch, DP: Peter Deming)

Twin Peaks: The Return Part 18 (2017, dir by David Lynch, DP: Peter Deming)

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.10 “Fast Money”

Posted on February 23, 2026 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 Prime!

This week, Ponch is back!

Episode 5.10 “Fast Money”

(Dir by Leslie H. Martinson, originally aired on December 5th, 1981)

This is getting weird.

After being either absent or only appearing in one or two scenes over the past few episodes, Ponch returns this week. He’s once again on active duty, patrolling the California highways with Baker. As much as I notice and joke about the obvious disdain that Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox held for each other, they do make a surprisingly good team. They just seem to belong together. If I’ve learned anything over the past few weeks, it’s that Larry Wilcox needed Estrada’s flamboyance and that Erik Estrada needed Wilcox’s cool professionalism. They balanced each other out.

With Ponch (and Estrada) back, there’s really no reason for Steve McLeish to stick around. And yet, during this episode — there he was!

He didn’t really have anything to do. Ponch and Baker were after some van-driving engineers who were using a hydraulic lift to hijack other cars. When they figured out which company had developed the hydraulics being used in the crime wave, Steve called the company’s chairman. (Steve says the chairman of the board is an old friend and no one acts surprise. I’m guessing maybe that was an inside joke or some sort of reference to the Olympics.) Later, Steve showed them a mansion that was fixing up so he could flip it. The scenes felt awkward and not just because of the Caitlyn Jenner’s total lack of acting ability. There really wasn’t any reason for them to be in the episode. There was no reason for Steve to be around. Ponch and Baker should have been out there, taking down those nerdy engineers and warning people about the dangers of technology. Instead, they were having to make time to hang out with Steve.

As I watched this episode, it occurred to me that maybe Caitlyn Jenner just refused to go home. Maybe Jenner showed up on set and wouldn’t leave until the writers wrote Steve a few scenes. That theory is really the only one that makes sense.

Anyway, this episode had a few good car crashes. The hydraulic lift was incredibly silly and so was Harlan’s suggestion that they could catch the thieves by tricking them into trying to lift a car that was weighted down with rocks. There was also a big subplot that was centered around Ponch trying to get the shower fixed in his apartment. I always like it whenever the show finds an excuse to show us either Ponch or Jon’s apartment. The wood paneling and the shag carpeting amuses me. They should have called this show Disco Cops.

According to the imdb, next week will be Jenner’s final episode. So, we’ll see how the saga of Steve McLeish comes to an end. I think he’s going to get arrested for taking payoffs from the mob. We’ll see if I’m right!

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 5.16 “Victim of Circumstances”

Posted on February 23, 2026 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 can be purchased on Prime!

This week, Crockett goes undercover as a Neo-Nazi.

Episode 5.16 “Victim of Circumstances”

(Dir by Colin Bucksey, originally aired on May 5th, 1989)

When a Miami coffeeshop is the scene of a violent shooting that leaves several dealers and the coffeeshop’s owner dead, Crockett and Tubbs assume that it’s just another part of an ongoing drug war. However, when it’s discovered that the owner of the coffeeshop was a Holocaust survivor who was scheduled to testify against a former guard named Hans Kozak (William Hickey), Crockett comes to suspect that the hit was ordered by a Neo-Nazi group. Crockett and Switek go undercover to infiltrate the group but it turns out that the killer was actually Helen Jackson (Karen Black), a reporter who is the daughter of Hans Kozak and who is trying to kill everyone who can testify against her father. Crockett and Tubbs manage to capture Helen but Helen is subsequently gunned down by Angelo Alvarez (John Leguizamo), the brother of one the dealers who was killed at the coffeeshop.

This was an interesting episode. On the one hand, it was based in reality. In the days following World War II, several concentration camp commandants were put on trial and executed for war crimes but the Allies were so busy going after the people in charge that there were several guards, doctors, and other personnel who were able to escape justice and who immigrated elsewhere. Quite a few went to South America. Several turned up in the Middle East. And there were many who ended up in America. It wasn’t until decades after the war that people started to get serious about tracking down and putting on trial the camp personnel who were often as brutal as the people giving the orders. By the time many of them started going on trial, they were elderly and often frail, like Hans Kozak. And, just as in this episode, there were many Neo-Nazi groups who protested the trials and sometimes tried to help the accused escape justice.

On the other hand, this episode played out in such a surreal manner that it often felt rather dream-like, with Hans Kozak being haunted by nightmares and the Neo-Nazis themselves meeting in ceremonies that felt as if they could have been lifted from one of Fritz Lang’s Dr. Mabuse films. Karen Black plays her role with such wild-eyed intensity that the revelation that she was the killer isn’t really that much of a surprise. As for William Hickey, he doesn’t so much chew the scenery as he treats it like a buffet. This was one of those episodes that felt like it could spin off into space at any given moment. If James Brown had returned as the alien who abducted Trudy, I would not have been surprised.

This episode was definitely watchable and Stefan Gierasch gave a strong performance as the Nazi hunter who was determined to track down Hans Kozak. There was nothing subtle about it but it’s still one of the more memorable episodes of the show’s final season.

Speaking of final season, next week will feature Crockett and Tubbs in their final adventure. And then, we’ll look at the four “lost” episodes, which aired in syndication after the show’s network run ended. And then, we’ll done with Miami …. for now.

(No one is every truly done with Miami.)

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 1.13 “The Babysitters”

Posted on February 21, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Saved By The Bell, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993. The entire show is currently streaming on Prime and Tubi!

This week, Kelly is irresponsible.

Episode 1.13 “The Babysitters”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on December 1st, 1990)

This episode stresses me out.

Kelly’s parents go off on a ski vacation and leave Kelly with the responsibility of taking care of her infant brother. (Really?) When they get stranded at the lodge, Kelly has to bring the baby to school. She asks her idiot friends to help look after him.

Of course, Zack loses the baby. Fortunately, Mr. Belding finds him but still…

Seriously, I hate this episode. I hate that Kelly’s parents are irresponsible enough to abandon their baby so that they can go skiing. I hate that Kelly has to find someone to take care of the baby while she goes to cheerleader practice. I hate that Zack is dumb enough to lose the baby. I hate that no one ever says, “Wow, this whole situation is really messed up.” This is the one episode that I always turned off whenever I came across it on TV.

This episode, I just can’t take it.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 2.3 “Welcome to Springwood”

Posted on February 20, 2026 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, more and more people are coming to Springwood.

Episode 2.3 “Welcome to Springwood”

(Dir by Ken Wiederhorn, originally aired on October 22nd, 1989)

Roxanne (Leah Ayres) and her husband, Doug (Michael Horton). have just moved to a new house in Springwood, Ohio. Doug, a lawyer, has to go to his office and he leaves Roxanne, who is recovering from a mental breakdown, alone with the boxes that the moves have already brought into the house. He tells her not to worry about opening them and promises her that they’ll unpack when he gets home.

Roxanne, however, opens the boxes. And she finds things that clearly don’t belong to her. She calls Doug at work. Doug says that there must have been a mix-up with the moving company and that he’ll call and make sure that their stuff gets delivered as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, at the house, Roxanne starts to see people who may or may not be there….

As surprised as I am to say this, the first segment of this episode of Freddy’s Nightmares was an enjoyably macabre story. Yes, the final twist is one that you’ll see coming but director Ken Wiederhorn does a great job creating and maintaining atmosphere and Ayres, Horton, and Todd Allen all give strong performances.

The second story isn’t close to be anywhere as interesting. Emily Jamison (Dey Young) has moved into a new home and she finds a hidden stack of letters that were written years before. The letters detail a doomed romance and Emily soon starts to see ghosts. The story isn’t terrible but it’s a bit bland.

Still, this was another good episode of Freddy’s Nightmares. So far, at least, the show appears to have found its footing during its second season. It’ll be interesting to see if that continues next week.

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 3.10 “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988. The show can be found on Daily Motion.

This episode proves that Dr. Cavanero is the worst.

Episode 3.10 “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”

(Dir by Bruce Paltrow, originally aired on November 28th, 1984)

The struggle is real.

Seriously, I am thankful that someone uploaded St. Elsewhere to Daily Motion. With the show no longer on Hulu and Prime only having the first season available, Daily Motion is pretty much the only place where I can stream the show. That said, the sound quality is not great. The sound quality wasn’t particularly good when the show was on Hulu either but at least then I could turn on the captions. The Daily Motion uploads don’t have that option. I had to strain to hear the dialogue and, as a result, this review is not going to be as in-depth as it could be.

What I can tell you is that Dr. Cavanero is now one of the least sympathetic characters that I have ever seen on a television show. Last week, Dr. Christine Holz (Caroline McWilliams) told Cavanero that she was a lesbian. This week, Cavanero blabbed that information around the hospital, leading to a lot of homophobic comments from certain members of the stuff. (Not surprisingly, Victor Ehrlich was there to say something stupid.) Cavenero admitted to Christine that she found Christine’s lifestyle to be “unnatural.” Christine smiled sadly and left Cavanero’s apartment and left the show. Keep in mind, Dr. Holz was portrayed as being a brilliant surgeon and bone marrow expert. It probably would have been good to keep her around the hospital for a little while but nope. Sorry. Dr. Cavanero — who really hasn’t done anything of note since the first season — felt uncomfortable.

(Originally, Christine and Cavanero were supposed to have a romantic relationship but Cynthia Sikes, the actress playing Cavavero, objected to the storyline. As a result, the story was rewritten and perhaps it’s not a coincidence that Cavanero comes across as being a bit of a homophobe.)

Meanwhile, Dr. Chandler was concerned when he discovered that a neighborhood woman (Beah Richards) was practicing medicine out of her apartment. This storyline at least gave Denzel Washington more to do than usual, which was good. St. Elsewhere, at least so far, has often tended to underuse both Chandler as a character and Washington as an actor.

Jack’s friend (John Schuck) insisted on doing an experimental kidney procedure to try to save the life of his daughter (Brandy Gold) and Dr. Auschlander finally gave his approval for it to be done. I would say that was a good thing except for the fact that Jack’s storylines hardly ever have a happy ending. There’s a reason why Morrison is the most depressed resident in the hospital.

Nurse Rosenthal continued her affair with Richard Clarendon, even though Richard’s wife (Beverly Sanders) is now working at the hospital. Wow, that’s going to be awkward. In fact, I hope it’s really awkward. I’m tired of Nurse Rosenthal and her holier-than-thou attitude.

Dr. Craig testified at a city council hearing. The poor sound quality kept me from fully understanding what the hearing was about but at Dr. Craig told everyone off. It’s always fun to watch William Daniels tell people off.

Here’s hoping the sound will be a bit less muddy next week!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 5.8 “Goodbye, Mr. Zelinka”

Posted on February 19, 2026 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, it’s time for yet another student protest.

Episode 5.8 “Goodbye, Mr. Zelinka”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on June 23rd, 1989)

The students at Lincoln High are upset to learn that beloved English teacher Mr. Zelinka (Lew Ayres) is going to have to retire because he’s reached the mandatory age of 70. The school’s new maintenance workers — Jonathan Smith and Mark Gordon — suggest that they should all conduct a walk-out to demand that Zelinka be allowed to keep his job. The evil school board president (James Karen) says that Zelinka can stay if he takes and passes an exam. However, the exam is rigged for Zelinka to fail. Jonathan uses “the stuff” to make sure that Zelinka not only passes but that he also gets the highest score ever. In the past, Jonathan always refused to use “the stuff” to help people cheat. Instead, Jonathan would have shown the school board president the error of his ways. But, for this episode, Jonathan rigs the rigged exam and the villain is left in power so that he can presumably continue to make Mr. Zelinka’s life miserable.

I did not like this episode. Yeah, it’s heart was in the right place but the entire school walking about in support of Mr, Zelinka just felt kind of silly. I mean, did every student at the school have Mr. Zelinka for English? What did everyone’s parents think about the protest? If Mr. Zelinka had been a compelling character, may be I would have felt differently but Mr. Zelinka was instead a pretty passive character and I have to admit that I wondered about all the other good teachers who had been forced to retire at 70. Why didn’t Jonathan show up to help any of them out? What made Mr. Zelinka so special? It didn’t help that Lew Ayres was 80 years old when he played Mr. Zelinka and that he looked and sounded even older. The obviously frail Ayres comes across as someone who maybe does need to retire.

I’ve sat through a lot of Highway to Heaven episodes about clean-cut teenagers walking out of class so that they can protest injustice. Highway to Heaven was a very earnest show and that was one of the things that made it likable. But, by the fifth season, Highway to Heaven‘s formula was a bit less effective than it had been in the past. This is an episode just just seems to be going through the motions. This is also the rare Highway to Heaven episode in which I wanted someone to tell Jonathan and Mark to just mind their own business.

Retro Television Review: Decoy 1.21 “The Showplace”

Posted on February 19, 2026 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!

Casey goes under cover at yet another cocktail lounge.

Episode 1.21 “The Showplace”

(Dir by David Alexander, originally aired on March 3rd, 1958)

There’s been a murder at a cocktail lounge. One of the girls who worked there has been found in alley, strangled. That means that it’s time for Casey to go undercover as a clip-joint girl, convincing men to buy her drinks. It’s a sleazy place, run by two brothers (Bill Hayes and Lewis Troy) and featuring a sad-eyed bartender (Lou Polan) with a mysterious past. Casey’s investigation uncovers all sorts of nefarious dealings. In the end, the murderer is revealed and it’s not who you might have thought. In a cocktail lounge full of largely ugly people, the murderer is the one handsome man. Casey mentions that he may have been handsome on the outside but, on the inside, there was nothing.

This was a great episode, a moody slice of downbeat noir that featured Casey doing actual undercover work. The cocktail lounge was a wonderfully atmospheric location, the supporting cast was full of strong character actors, and Beverly Garland did a great job as Casey both empathized and suspected the men with whom she was working.

This episode ended, as the best ones always did, with Casey talking about the tragedy of it all. Casey’s New York is a city of dreams but it can also be a nightmare.

Docuseries Review: Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model

Posted on February 19, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is the latest three-episode docuseries from Netflix. It takes a look at the history of the groundbreaking reality show that was once loved and which has since been declared problematic. It features interviews with some of the models, most of whom share some very harrowing stories about how they were treated while appearing on the show. (Shandi Sullivan’s story epitomizes everything that is exploitive about reality television.) Producer Ken Mock talks about how the show’s format was inspired by the first season of Making the Band. (Ken seems to be under the impression that O Town is currently a beloved cultural institution.) Jay Manuel talks about being a part of the show and how he was treated by Tyra Banks after he tried to leave. J Alexander talks about how, after he suffered a stroke, Tyra never reached out to him. Nigel Barker pretends to be ashamed of some of the challenges that he photographed and judged. We get clips of TikTokers watching the show during the COVID lockdown and complaining about …. well, everything.

Tyra Banks is also interviewed. The series paints Banks as a villain and yet, she not only consents to be interviewed but actually seem to enjoy it. That’s because Tyra Banks isn’t stupid. She apologizes without actually apologizing because she understands that a real apology would be seen as a sign of weakness, even by those demanding one. Even more importantly, she understands that reality television demands a villain. It demands someone who can say outrageous things with style. It demands someone that people will watch so that they can be shocked and scandalized. While being interviewed, Tyra mentions that she’s trying to put together at least one more season of America’s Next Top Model. If you look at the online reactions, you’ll find a lot of people and entertainment reporters who claim to be angered by her audacity but let’s be honest. If Tyra gets her 25th season of America’s Next Top Model, most of the people complaining about the show will watch. The sites that are currently posting lists of the “Most Disturbing Revelations From Inside America’s Next Top Model” will recap the entire season and post galleries of “Tyra’s Most Outrageous Looks.” They might complain about it. They would definitely make room in their reviews to post the usual litany of complaints. (To be honest, whenever I hit those paragraphs, I always skip over them because it’s always the same thing.) They might claim to hate the show but they would still recap it and they would still get the clicks and they would accept the money the comes from those clicks.

For all the criticism to be found in this docuseries, it was ultimately a commercial for America’s Next Top Model. There’s a reason why you can find the first sixteen seasons on Disney Plus, Hulu, and Pluto TV.

Oh yeah, I thought as I watched, I remember the crime scene photo shoot! Yeah, you’re right, that was totally insensitive. And the photoshoot were the girls had to pretend to have an eating disorder! That was so messed up! And which episodes were those again?

In the end this docuseries doesn’t so much inspire outrage as much as it inspires nostalgia for a time before outrage. Some people would consider that to be a good thing. Some people definitely wouldn’t. But the end result is the same. The viewer wants to go back and rewatch, either to bask in the nostalgia or to have an excuse to get angry.

As for the docuseries itself, it’s only three episodes long. The first episode and the first half of the second episode are effective. Then, the series falls apart as it tries to cram ten years worth of scandal and drama into the remaining 90 minutes. The interviews with Jay Manuel are interesting, though Jay seems to be even worse than Tyra when it comes to dodging responsibility for the show’s more infamous moments. (He says that he asked not to take part in a blackface challenge but, significantly, he did not threaten to quit.) My heart broke for Miss J and for Shandi Sullivan and for Dani Evans, the model who was ordered to close between her front teeth. There was so much wrong with America’s Next Top Model and yet, we’ll all be watching Season 25.

And if Tyra offers him enough money, she can probably get Jay Manuel back.