Tag Archives: TV

Retro Television Review: Fantasy Island 7.7 “The Wedding/Castaways”

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 1984.  Unfortunately, the show has been removed from most streaming sites.  Fortunately, I’ve got nearly every episode on my DVR.

This week, Lawrence ruins everything.

Episode 7.7 “The Wedding/Castaways”

(Dir by Bob Sweeney, originally aired on November 26th, 1983)

Ugh, this episode.

Nerdy Fred Connors (Richard Gilliland) wants to spend a weekend alone with a beautiful woman.  His favorite supermodel, Christy Robbins (Phyllis Davis), has been pressured by her manager (Steve Perry) into agreeing to spend the weekend with Fred at Pelican Cove.  Fred and Christy will have their picture taken before and after their weekend together to show just how much spending time alone with Christy Robbins will improve one’s outlook on life.

Let’s just stop here and state the obvious.  This makes ZERO sense.  Christy’s manager has no idea who Fred is.  He doesn’t even meet Fred until it’s time to him and Christy to go to Pelican Cove.  Christy is a world-famous model.  In what world would a celebrity agree to be abandoned on an isolated island with a total stranger?  The photographers aren’t staying on the island with them.  Instead, Christy and Fred are dropped off on the island and then everyone else leaves.  If I was Christy, I would get a new manager.

A rival model named Celina Morgan (Shannon Tweed) was also up for the “abandoned on an island with a possible sex maniac” gig and she’s upset that she lost out to Christy.  So, she sneaks out to Pelican Bay herself and soon, she and Christy are fighting over the right to spend their time with Fred.  It’s dumb and it makes no sense and, considering that the whole fantasy is basically two beautiful woman fighting over one dorky guy, it’s actually feels a bit demeaning and mean-spirited.

Of course, it’s nowhere near as mean-spirited as the other fantasy.  Lucy Gorman (Jeannie Wilson) is unhappy in her marriage to Dr. Jack Gorman (Gordon Thomson).  She tells Roarke that the only good thing that came out of her marriage was her daughter (Andrea Barber) but Lucy even feels jealous of her!  Lucy wants to go back to her wedding day so she can see what would happen if she left her husband at the altar and pursued another doctor (Richard Pierson).

Well, the main that would happen is that Lucy’s daughter would never be born.  But somehow, this doesn’t occur to Lucy until the fantasy has started.  How would that not occur to a mother?  This fantasy was …. I can’t even begin to describe how annoying it was.  Lucy came across as being very self-centered and kind of dumb.

I swear, the seventh season has just been terrible so far and I blame one person.

And, no, it’s not Mr. Roarke.

Seriously, ever since Lawrence showed up, the Island just hasn’t been the same.  Are we sure that Lawrence isn’t the Devil?  I mean, I know the Devil was traditionally played by Roddy McDowall on this show but I’m sure he change his appearance.  There’s something sinister about Lawrence and I don’t trust him.  He doesn’t care about Roarke and he doesn’t care about the fantasies.

What a disappointing trip to the Island.  Traditionally, the last season of any show is usually the worst but it’s still painful to watch Fantasy Island misfire like it did with this episode.

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 4.10 “Forty Tons Of Trouble”

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 Prime!

This week, two sets of thieves cause trouble!

Episode 4.10 “Forty Tons Of Trouble”

(Dir by Gordon Hessler, originally aired on January 11th, 1981)

A group of criminals is stealing equipment from construction sites and selling it on the black market.  An attempt to steal a loader leads to it rolling down a Los Angeles street until Baker is able to jump onto it and crash it into a (hopefully) abandoned building.  Getraer points out that Baker just destroyed a building.  Baker shrugs and says he’s always wanted to do that.

A different group of criminals is stealing parts for their drag racer.  The CHiPs have their own car entered into the drag races.  Of course, it’s driven by Ponch.

After two accidents on the highway and several chases, Baker and Ponch (but mostly Ponch) capture the bad guys.  Paula Kohl (Mary Louise Weller), the owner of Kohl Construction, appreciates the efforts of Baker and Ponch (but mostly Ponch).

In other words, this was a typical episode of CHiPs.  Still, it’s memorable because of the supporting cast.  Amongst the construction site thieves is Robert Englund.  Englund thinks that Sarge (Taylor Lacher) is taking to many risks when it comes to trying to steal loaders and bulldozers but Sarge is like, “I got it under control.”  Meanwhile, amongst the drag race thieves, is Chris Mulkey.  Mulkey doesn’t get to do much but he does get two scenes where he smirks at Ponch.  Sadly, both characters end up getting arrested during this episode but have no fear.  Robert Englund went on to play Freddy Krueger.  Chris Mulkey went on to play the sleazy but strangely likable Hank Jennings on Twin Peaks.

As for the rest of the episode — hey, I don’t ask for much from CHiPs.  As long as there’s a good crash scene and a lot of cool cars, I’m happy.  This episode delivered.  One could ask why Ponch is always the one who gets to do the cool things, like driving in the race and taking Paula out on a fancy date.  Earlier seasons usually tried to portray Ponch and Baker as being equals.  This season, though, has clearly been The Ponch Show.  It’s a legitimate criticism but …. eh.  Sometimes, you just want to watch a chase or two.

 

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 4.17 “Hell Hath No Fury”

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 can be purchased on Prime!

This week, Trudy is once again the main character.  Fortunately, there’s no UFOs this time around.

Episode 4.17 “Hell Hath No Fury”

(Dir by Virgil W. Vogel, originally aired on March 11th, 1988)

Alan Beaks (Don Harvey), the scion of a prominent Florida family, has been released from prison after serving only a few years for raping a black school teacher named Ellen Mason (Carla Brothers).  Beaks claims that he’s reformed and, at the start of the episode, he appears on a talk show where the audience agrees that Alan Beaks is the perfect example of someone who has straightened out his life.

“I wouldn’t want it to happen to me,” one woman in the audience says, “but if it did, I would hope he would be as charming as Alan Beaks.”

Beaks now wants to make a public apology to Ellen.  However, she refuses to see him.  When she starts to get threatening phone calls, both she and her best friend Trudy are convinced that Beaks is the one calling.

Castillo, however, doesn’t want Trudy to have anything to do with Ellen or Beaks.  It’ll make the Vice Quad look bad, he says.  (Since when has Castillo ever used that type of logic?)  Still, when Ellen hires a hitman (John Finn) to kill Beaks, the Vice Squad finds itself involved.  No one on the Squad has any sympathy for Beaks and they don’t make much of an effort to protect him.  When a shootout leaves both Beaks and the hitman dead, Castillo tells the members of the Squad that they have failed and if they’re not going to full commit themselves to the job, they can transfer to another department.  Meanwhile, even with Beaks dead, Ellen is still getting phone calls, implying the Beaks was actually not her stalker.  The episode ends with a terrified Ellen listening as the caller threatens her….

Here’s my number one question about this episode: Why didn’t anyone trace the calls?  Ellen, the victim in a high-profile rape case, is getting calls from someone threatening to harm her.  That right there seems like the sort of thing that the police would normally investigate.  Trudy is Ellen’s best friend.  Trudy knows about the calls.  Trudy is a cop.  So, why didn’t the Vice Squad try to track down the caller?  If they could have proven that Beaks was the caller, Beaks would have gone back to prison.  If it turned out that someone else was the caller, that person would have gone to prison.  Beaks would still be free but at least Ellen wouldn’t be getting threatened every ten minutes.  In the past, that’s what would have happened on this show.  For some reason, this episode features everyone forgetting how to act like a cop.

In the end, this episode tried to deal with a lot of issues — tabloid journalism, rehabilitation, vigilante justice, racism, classism — but it ultimately felt like fan faction that was written by someone who really didn’t know much about the show or the characters.  (One would think that Gina, a rape survivor who gunned down her rapist during the first season, would have some thoughts on Ellen’s plan but instead, she spends the episode cheerfully exchanging one-liners with Switek.)  This was another Season 4 disappointment.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.2 “Mother and Child Reunion: Part 2”

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.

This week, Snake shows that whatever it takes, he’s going to make it through.

Episode 1.2 “Mother and Child Reunion: Part 2”

(Dir by Bruce McDonald, originally aired on July 1st, 2002)

Snake threatens to kill a guy in this episode!

Now, to be clear, the guy in question definitely had it coming.  While Spike enjoyed her class reunion, Emma snuck out of the house, went down to a hotel, and waited for Jordan.  Sitting in the lobby, she was approached by Mr. Nystrom (Jeff Gruich), who claimed to be Jordan’s teacher.  Mr. Nystrom, who was carrying a pizza box, invited Emma upstairs to meet with Jordan.  Emma followed him but, once she stepped into his hotel room and discovered that there weren’t any environmentally-minded teens around, Emma realized that there was no Jordan and “Mr. Nystrom” was actually the person who had been e-mailing her.

Fortunately, Manny, Toby, and JT figured out that Emma had gone out to meet Jordan so they hacked her e-mail (Emma’s password was “Pogues,” after Spike’s favorite band) and found out what hotel “Jordan” was staying at.  They then ran to the Degrassi Community School and found Spike and Snake dancing at their reunion.  They told Spike and Snake where Emma was.  Spike and Snake then went to the hotel and Snake banged on the door until Mr. Nystrom answered.

(Oddly, neither one of them appeared to have called the cops on the way over to the hotel.)

While Spike ran into the room to get her daughter, Snake grabbed Mr. Nystrom, pinned him against the wall, and threatened to “snap (his) neck.”  And I have to say that, as dorky as Archie “Snake” Simpson may usually be, that was pretty freaking hot.

Meanwhile, at the reunion, Joey heard Keith talking to Allison Hunter about how he wasn’t sure he actually wanted to marry Caitlin.  That led to Joey getting into a brawl with Keith while Caitlin was giving her “most distinguished alumni” speech.  Caitlin broke up with Keith and she and Joey reconciled.  It wasn’t the first time that they reconciled and it won’t be the last.

At the house, Emma apologized for panicking Spike and then added, “Like you’ve never made a mistake?  Like having me!”  Wow, that’s …. kind of sad.  Spike assures Emma that becoming a mom at the age of 14 was not a mistake.  However, sneaking out to meet a guy you’ve never met is definitely a mistake!  What Spike doesn’t mention is that this could have all been avoided if Emma wasn’t so obsessed with protecting the environment.

Next week: the school year begins!  Hopefully, Emma will have learned her lesson about getting involved in the environmental movement.

(Spoiler: She won’t.)

Late Night Retro Television Review: Good Morning Miss Bliss 1.6 “Showdown”

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 Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which ran on the Disney Channel from 1988 to 1989 before then moving to NBC and being renamed Saved By The Bell.  The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!

This week, a bully can’t read.  Can Miss Bliss reach him?  Or will he just beat up Screech?  Why not both?

Episode 1.6 “Showdown”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on January 4th, 1989)

“I can’t read!” Deke (Andras Jones) snaps at Screech towards the end of this episode.  Deke is the new student at JFK Junior High, a troublemaker who has continually been transferred to school after school.  Deke was going to beat up Screech but, when Screech didn’t laugh at Deke’s illiteracy, it changed Deke’s life.  That little act of kindness was all Deke needed to approach Miss Bliss and ask for help.

Way to go, Screech!

This is actually one of the better episodes of Good Morning Miss Bliss, as the emphasis is put more on the students and less on Miss Bliss being a sanctimonious nag.  Andras Jones was 21 years old when this episode aired and he really did look too old and too tall to be playing a 9th grader.  (He towers over Hayley Mills.)  But, when you think about, it makes sense.  Deke is probably someone who has gotten held back a few times.  If he looks older, it’s because he is older.  While everyone he knows who is his own age has moved on to high school, he’s still stuck in middle school.  No wonder the kid is pissed off at the world!

To give credit where credit is due, young Dustin Diamond gave a pretty good performance in this episode.  Considering how Saved By The Bell would later transform Screech (and Diamond himself) into the epitome of an annoying sidekick, it’s actually interesting to see how good he actually was on Good Morning, Miss Bliss.  On Miss Bliss, Diamond was allowed to play Screech as just being a nerd as opposed to full-on weirdo.  Seen today, this is actually a very sad episode.  Diamond has no idea what’s waiting for him in the future.

Oh well.  At least Deke might finally make it to the tenth grade….

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 8/16/25 — 8/23/25

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Aaron Hernandez and The Untold Murders of Bristol (Hulu)

I watched this true crime documentary on the 17th.  As I watched it, I found myself wondering just how many documentaries will ultimately be made about Aaron Hernandez.  I’m going to guess that there will be quite a few just because his story really does capture the current cultural zeitgeist.  Americans love celebrities and they love true crime and the Aaron Hernandez case gives them both, along with CTE and toxic masculinity and repressed sexuality.  As for this documentary, it mostly focused on the Hernandez case but it also told the story of two other football players who went to high school with Hernandez and who also ended up becoming murderers.  I guess there must be something in the Gatorade up in Connecticut.  This documentary didn’t really bring anything new to the table.  Above all else, Aaron Hernandez appears to have just been a total idiot.

Big Brother 27 (CBS, Paramount+, Pluto TV, 24/7)

Go Ava!  If Ava wins, I’ll be happy.  I’ve ben writing about Big Brother over at the Big Brother Blog.

Murder Under Fright Night Lights (Hulu)

The Aaron Hernandez documentary led to me watching two seasons of this true crime show about football-related murders.  The first season was considerably better than the second season, leading me to suspect that the show made the mistake of front-loading all of the interesting stories.  Seriously, you have to spread things out if you want to keep people tuning in.

Retro Television Review: The American Short Story #12: The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg

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, Lisa will be reviewing The American Short Story, which ran semi-regularly on PBS in 1974 to 1981.  The entire show can be purchased on Prime and found on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, we have an adaptation of a Mark Twain novella.

Episode #12: The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg

(Dir by Ralph Rosenblum, originally aired in 1980)

In this loose adaptation of one of Mark Twain’s darkest novellas, Robert Preston stars as The Stranger.  When we first meet The Stranger, he’s looking down on the small town of Hadleyburg and it’s hard not to notice that he looks a lot like Mark Twain.  The Stranger explains that the people of Hadleyburg consider themselves to be honest and free of sin.  The town’s motto is “Lead us not into temptation!”  The Stranger has a plan to test them.

Riding into town, the Stranger stops at the home of Edward and Mary Richards (Tom Aldredge and Frances Sternhagen).  The Stranger gives them a sack that he claims is filled with $40,000 worth of gold bars.  The Stranger says that he was once a poor man and someone in Hadleyburg gave him $20 and some meaningful advice.  Now that’s he rich, he wants to pay back the person who helped him.  The Stranger explains that there is an envelope inside the sack.  In the envelope, the Stranger has written out the advice he was given by his benefactor.  The Stranger’s instruction is for the man who helped him to write out that advice and give it to Rev. Burgess (Fred Gwynne), who recently lost his church when the citizens of Hadleyburg tired of him calling them out for their hypocrisies.  The honest man who remembers the advice he gave the Stranger will be very rich as a result.  The Stranger then leaves.

News of the sack and the gold travels throughout town and eventually the rest of the nation.  The most powerful families in Hadleyburg, including the Richards family, receive a letter telling them that the advice given to the stranger was “You are far from being a bad man, go and reform.”  Burgess is soon swamped by notes, all featuring that same phrase.  At the town meeting, Burgess reads each note, revealing that everyone wrote down the same phrase and that none of the town leaders is as honest as they claim.

The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg is one of Twain’s most stinging satires, featuring an ending that is surprisingly dark.  This adaptation takes a much lighter approach to the material, altering Twain’s ending to something much more gentle and friendly.  Unfortunately, changing the ending causes the adaptation to lack the bite of the original short story.  Twain’s portrayal of greed and guilt instead becomes a mild story about a quirky town that learns a lesson.  It’s well-acted, especially by Fred Gwynne, but this adaptation doesn’t honor Twain’s intentions.  It just doesn’t add up to much.

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 2.12 “Hearing”

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 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 faces the judgment of the medical board.

Episode 2.12 “Hearing”

(Dir by Charles Braverman, originally aired on February 1st, 1984)

At his disciplinary hearing for giving a controlled substance to an undercover officer, Dr. White lies to protect Shirley Daniels.  Even though Shirley tossed him the keys to the drugs on that night, White says that he took the keys without Shirley noticing.  It’s a rare case of Dr. White actually trying to help someone else.  It gets Shirley off the hook but it leads to Dr. White receiving a two-year suspension from working in an ER or prescribing medicine.  Westphall and Auschlander both agree that Dr. White’s career is probably over but Westphall, who has been White’s biggest supporter since he returned from rehab, says that they’ll find a place for him in the hospital.

The new X-ray tech, Lee Tovan (Robert Daniels), cannot hear.  His supervisor (Raymond Singer) claims that Lee is too difficult to work with.  Westphall pledges to support Lee, no matter how much his supervisor complains.

Victor meets Roberta’s wealthy parents and, to everyone’s shock (especially his), he manages to charm them.  Victor also asks Dr. Craig if he can use his house for the wedding.  Dr. Craig misunderstands and thinks that Victor is asking him to be his best man.  Victor explains that he’s already asked his friend, “Dogger,” to be best man.  Craig rolls his eyes but agrees to let Victor use the house.

Finally, Dr. Auschlander asks Fiscus to help him get some marijuana to help with his chemo side effects.  Fiscus tries and fails to call his old college weed guy and then asks Luther if he knows anyone who deals drugs.  Luther rightly points out that Fiscus is stereotyping him but he still manages to get Auschlander a baggie of joints.  Auschlander gets high.  For a first time smoker, he gets REALLY high!  He also ultimately decides that marijuana is not for him.

This episode was a bit uneven.  I liked the irony of White saving Shirley, just to potentially lose his own career as a result.  (Saying that he stole the keys probably didn’t help his case.)  Victor’s wedding storyline has been kind of dragged out more than it needs to be but it’s still entertaining to watch Dr. Craig get frustrated with him.  Norman Lloyd was adorable playing stoned.  But the storyline about the deaf x-ray tech was sabotaged by some very bad acting and some very heavy-handed writing.  That was a shame.

Next week, Victor Ehrlich gets married!

 

Retro Television Review: Coming to America 1.1 “Pilot”

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 Coming to America, which aired on CBS in 1989.  Almost the entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

Fresh off the success of the film Coming To America, Eddie Murphy served as executive producer of a series based on the film.  How did that work out?  Read on to find out!

Episode 1.1 “Pilot”

(Dir by Tony Singletary, originally aired on July 4th, 1989)

The pilot for Coming to America begins with the story already in progress.  We get an overhead shot of New York while Prince Tariq (Tommy Davidson, speaking with an unconvincing accent) explains that he and his minder, Omar (Paul Bates), have been sent to America so that Tariq can attend college.  (Tariq is established as being the younger brother of the character that Eddie Murphy played in the original film.)  Tariq and Omar have rented a room from diner owner Carl Mackey (John Hancock).  Carl is a curmudgeon.  Tariq expects everyone to treat him like royalty.  Carl grumbles about not getting to eat unhealthy food before a doctor’s visit.  Tariq does an extended Stevie Wonder impersonation.

Uh-oh, Tariq’s out of money!  In just nine months, he spends all of his money on movies and clothes.  What can Tariq do?  Maybe he and Omar can work in Carl’s diner!  Uh-oh, Tariq’s started a dance party in the diner and he orders Omar to join the fun!  Carl shows up at an inopportune time and Omar is fired.  Can Tariq take responsibility for his actions?

“I’m a Beverly Hills Cop, you’re a Beverly Hills cop too and in 48 hours, we’re Trading Places.” Tariq says at one point and seriously, you have to wonder why they didn’t toss a reference to The Golden Child in there.  Tariq is royalty so it certainly would have made more sense for him to refer to himself as being a Golden Child as opposed to being a Beverly Hills Cop.  That’s the type of show this is, though.  The humor is heavy-handed but it also misses way too many opportunities.

My friend from Australia, Mark, sent me the link for this pilot (it’s on YouTube) and he dared me to see how much I could watch before turning it off in disgust.  I managed to get through the entire thing but it wasn’t easy.  To be honest, I nearly stopped this thing as soon as Tariq’s opening narration began.  When that much exposition is stuffed into the opening narration, you know that you’re about watch a disjointed mess of a program.  Indeed, one could argue that calling this program disjointed is a case of me being charitable.  In the end, the main problem is that, after all the build-up of Tariq being a prince, the plot itself could just as easily been the plot of a thousand other mediocre sitcoms.  How many times did Lisa and Kelly have to take jobs at the Max in Saved By The Bell?  Both Malibu CA and One World suggested that working at a restaurant was the best — perhaps the only! — way to learn responsibility.  The Coming to America diner looks almost exactly like the City Guys diner.  How is this not a Peter Engel production?

Coming to America aired once.  There was never a second episode.  Hence, today, we’ve started and ended a series!  Next week, something new will premiere in this time slot.  Hopefully, it will be better than both Malibu CA and Coming to America.

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 1.6 “You Are Who You Eat”

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.

This week, Diana makes history!

Episode 1.6 “You Are Who You Eat”

(Dir by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on December 30th, 1984)

Coach Denardo has a heart attack and is laid up in the hospital.  It looks like Diane is going to have to coach the team!

Wait?  What?

Listen, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a lot about football but I do know that there is such a thing as an assistant coach.  And there’s also coordinators.  There’s a lot of coordinators and a lot of assistants and I imagine that a part of their job entails coaching whenever the head coach is in the hospital.  So, I’m not really sure how this episode went from “Coach Denardo can’t coach this weekend” to “The owner is going to have to do it!”

Still, Diana ends up on the sidelines as the “first female head coach in history!”  I remember that a few Super Bowls ago, they made a big deal about one of the teams having a female assistant coach and I was like, “Well, they better win or they’re never going to hire another woman.”  I think the team lost.  I don’t really follow football.

Anyway, Coach Denardo is on the phone with Diana for most of the game but, towards the end of the game, the connection goes down.  Denardo runs out of his hospital in his hospital gown and takes a taxi to the stadium.  Luckily, even without his help, Diana knew exactly which play to call and the Bulls win another game.

Yay, I guess.  This episode was pretty dumb.  If I was coaching a football team, I would just be like, “Have that guy run to the touchdown area and then throw him the ball.”  I think we would win easily.