Tag Archives: TV

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 4.10 “A Rock and a Hard Place”

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!

Sonny goes to Hollywood.

Episode 4.10 “A Rock and a Hard Place”

(Dir by Colin Bucksey, originally aired on January 22nd, 1988)

I guess I am going to have to accept that Miami Vice is no longer a show about two vice cops fighting a losing war against drug traffickers.  Instead, it’s now a show about an undercover cop who is married to a world famous rock star, even though it makes absolutely no sense.

In this episode, a tabloid reporter goes to Miami to do some research on this Sonny “Burnett.”  He hears a lot of stories about how Sonny Burnett is one of the city’s biggest drug dealers and he writes a story about it.  Sonny is upset, though one would think this would actually help him maintain his cover story.  Myself, I have to wonder how competent this reporter was.  Sonny Crockett has been established as having been a semi-famous college football star (Tubbs recognized him as soon as he met him) but no one ever seems to notice that Sonny Cockett and Sonny Burnett look, sound, and act exactly alike.  Considering the number of times that Crockett’s cover has gotten blown and that everyone who has ever done business with Sonny Burnett has ended up either getting arrested and gunned down by the police, you would think there would at least be some speculation about this guy being a cop.

(On a plus note, Don Henley’s Dirty Laundry played in the background while the reporter doing his thing.  That’s a song you can’t help but chair dance to.)

The majority of this episode dealt with a corrupt record executive (Tony Hendra) who was looking to get out of paying Sonny’s wife, Caitlin, the money that she was owed for her new album.  His solution was to have her assassinated and to make it look like she got caught in the crossfire of one of her husband’s drug deals.  Needless to say, it didn’t work.  Sonny gunned down the two assassins and then arrested the record executive.  “You’re a cop!?” the bad guy said, stunned.

And again, I have to wonder how this is not going to blow Sonny’s cover.  Is the press really not going to ask why Caitlin’s criminal husband just arrested the guy releasing her latest album?

This episode had all sorts of plot holes and it asked the audience to suspend their disbelief just a bit too far.  But at least it didn’t features Crockett and Tubbs searching for a stolen shipment of bull semen.  That’ll be next week’s episode!

(Seriously, I’m not kidding….)

I miss the old Miami Vice.  Seriously, the city’s drug business is probably booming because Crockett and Tubbs are wasting their time with all of this season 4 nonsense.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.10 “Showtime Part One”

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 High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1989 to 1991!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi

This week, tragedy comes to Degrassi.

Episode 2.10 “Showtime, Part One”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on January 21st, 1991)

When last we saw Claude Tanner, Caitlin was dumping him because he left her behind when the police showed up at the nuclear facility that they were vandalizing.  Claude then refused to go to court to support her, saying that his parents wouldn’t understand.  That was during the first season.

Other than appearing in the opening credits, Claude was not in the first nine episodes of the second season of Degrassi High.  When he did return in tonight’s episode, he made Degrassi history.

When we first see Claude, he’s wearing what appears to be a pirate shirt and he’s looking over a piece of paper.  His beard is a bit thicker.  His earing is a lot bigger.  When he sees Caitlin, he tries to talk to her.  Caitlin tells him to get lost and then asks Maya why Claude just can’t leave her alone.

Claude is auditioning for the school talent show.  He reads a monologue that he’s written, one about an ice queen who makes the entire world dark.  Lucy and Bronco tell him that his monologue is too depressing for the show.  Claude accuses all of the students of being sheep and storms out of the auditorium.

The next day, Claude gives Caitlin a flower, goes to his locker and retrieves a gun, and then shoots himself in the washroom.  His body is later discovered by Snake.

Over the course of Degrassi’s long history, many students would die.  Tragically, Claude would not be the only one to commit suicide.  One was shot while trying to shoot up the school.  The class clown was stabbed to death by a student from a rival high school.  Another died in a car accident.  However, Claude was the first.

And I have to say that I was really impressed with how Degrassi High handled Claude’s suicide.  Snake was traumatized.  Caitlin was left feeling numb.  Some students talked about how much Claude was hurting and also about their own struggles with depression.  Lucy and Spike both said that Claude’s actions were selfish and that he killed himself at school because he wanted to hurt all of the other students.  When it comes to Claude, I have to admit that I find myself agreeing with Lucy and Spike.  When Caitlin returns home from school, she finds a bouquet of flowers and a note from Claude waiting for her.  In the note, Claude says that he loved her and the words are obviously meant to make her feel responsible for his death.  The episodes ends with Caitlin throwing the flowers away.  Claude would probably say that proves that Caitlin doesn’t care about him.  I think it proves that Claude was a jerk who killed himself specifically to get back at Caitlin.

That doesn’t make Claude’s suicide any less tragic.  Any suicide is a tragedy, especially when the person in question hasn’t even reached adulthood.  As one of Claude’s friends says in this episode, Claude was sad and he didn’t feel he had anyone he could talk to.  That is a tragedy and sadly, even though this episode aired over 30 years ago, there’s a lot of people who still feel that way.  We live in a world where more and more people view life as being not a gift but instead a burden.  It’s sad.  Myself, I’m a strong believer in life and finding things to love.  I love my boyfriend.  I love my sisters.  I love writing.  I love movies.  I love cats.  I love knowing that, even when I’m at my lowest, happiness is in the future.  Most importantly, I love myself.  Never give up.

This episode was sensitive and thought-provoking and Degrassi as its best.  Next week, the fallout from Claude’s suicide continues.

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 3.17 “The Old and the Dead”

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, Bolander and Howard return to Homicide.

Episode 3.16 “The Old and the Dead”

(Dir by Michael Fields, originally aired on March 3rd, 1995)

When Giardello discovers that Colonel Granger (Walt MacPherson) has been hiring his brother-in-law’s shady plumbing firm to do unnecessary repairs at the city’s police stations, he leaks the story to the press.  When the scandal forces Granger out, Captain Barnfather is promoted to replace him.  Giardello thinks that, with his years of experience, he’ll be the obvious replacement for Barnfather.  Instead, the captain position is offered to Russert.  As Barnfather explains it, the mayor is aware that the majority of the voters in Baltimore are women.  When Giardello mentions that even more of the voters are black, Barnfather explains that the mayor’s leadership team already has a black man, him.

Giradello is not happy and he doesn’t hold back from letting Russert know about his displeasure.  I have to say that I respected Giardello for not holding back.  Russert has less experience than Giardello and, from what we’ve seen of her, she doesn’t appear to be as good at her job as Giardello is.  I mean, let’s be honest.  Russert had an affair with Beau Felton, of all people!  It’s a little bit hard to respect her judgment.

While Giardello was once again failing in his efforts to move up, both Howard and Bolander returned to duty.  Howard, on light duty, still manages to solve a case.  Bolander, meanwhile, is now wearing a hat to cover up the surgery scars that crisscross his head.  Ned Beatty, as usual, gave a good performance as Bolander.  I like Ned Beatty.  For some reason, I’ve never really liked Stanley Bolander.  I think it might be because he’s always complaining about something.  Maybe it’s because I’m still annoyed by the amount of unnecessary time that the first season spent on Bolander’s love life.  Or maybe it’s because Munch is devoted to the guy and Bolander still treats him like crap every chance that he gets.  For whatever reason, Bolander has always just kind of annoyed me.  That was the case with this episode.  I’m not saying I felt good about it.  Bolander was shot in the head and nearly died!  He has every right to be grumpy.  But there is just a part of me that is like, “If you hate your job so much, just retire.  Otherwise, stop bitching about everything!”

Finally, Bayliss and Felton worked surprisingly well together as they investigated a skeleton found in someone’s backyard.  It turned out that two men has never reported the death of their father so that they could continue to collect his social security checks.

As much as I complain about Bolander, this was not a bad episode.  This was a good example of an episode where the mysteries and plotlines were less important than just watching everyone in the cast play off of each other.  As of this season, the ensemble has really come together as a tight unit and each character has really come to life as an individual.  That’s one reason why I enjoyed watching Bayliss and Felton work together.  It was interesting to see how they interreacted and to compare it to how Bayliss worked with Pembleton and Felton with Howard.

Finally, this episode featured a cute cameo from the late Tim Russert, who is introduced as being Megan’s cousin.  Felton says that he never misses Meet the Press.  For some reason, I doubt that.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 3.22 “For The Book”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Saturdays, I will be reviewing the Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and Peacock!

We all knew this day would come.  It’s time for the final episode of Check It Out!

Episode 3.22 “For The Book”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on February 14th, 1988)

Cobbs is celebrating its 50th anniversary and its putting together a commemorative book of memories.  Howard calls the staff into his office and asks them what they think should be included in the book.

“Remember that time….” Christian starts and yes, it’s a clip show.

The final episode of Check It Out! is indeed a clip show.  Really, it’s not a terrible way for the show to go out.  For 30 minutes, the show relives what the writers believed were the best moments of season 3.  (There were a few clips from seasons one and two but, for the most part, this episode was dominated by recent clips.)  Some of the clips — like Howard doing a vaudeville routine — went on for way too long.  Some, like Marlene filling in as Howard’s secretary, did not go on long enough.  It was a typical clip show.

And so ends Check It Out!  What can I say about this show?  The first season was okay.  The second season was a trainwreck.  The third season was uneven but, overall, surprisingly good.  The show was built around Don Adams but it was the supporting characters — Aaron Schwartz, Jeff Pustil, Kathleen Laskey, Gordon Clapp — who got most of the laughs.  Looking back, I really can’t think of any episodes of Check It Out! that really stand-out in my mind.  The show was the epitome of pleasant but unmemorable entertainment.

Next week, we’ll have a new show here.  For now, let’s end things with the Check It Out! theme song.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 7/6/25 — 7/12/25

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Back by popular demand, here’s a few thoughts on what I watched this week.

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

Yep, Big Brother is back.  I skipped last season because my Dad was dying and I really wasn’t in the mood for reality television.  I back this season though and I’m covering things over at the Big Brother Blog!

Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service (Hulu)

I binged the latest Gordon Ramsay series on Tuesday.  I’m not really sure how Gordon Ramsay watching taped footage of a restaurant was all that different from what he usually does on Kitchen Nightmares but whatever.  We live in a conspiracy-crazed age and I guess Ramsay taking advantage of that.  This show killed my appetite.  I don’t care if Gordon helped out the owners, every restaurant featured on this show should be closed down and burned to the ground.

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Wednesday Night, FX)

17 seasons!  That’s how long It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia has been on the air.  It’s one of the most consistently funny shows on television and the cast is brilliant.  It’s one of the few shows that has ever made me laugh so hard that I actually fell of the couch.  (Actually, it managed to do twice but both times, it was because Frank injured himself.)  That said, the first two episodes of the new season didn’t do much for me but the problem was more with me than with the show.  The premiere, in which we saw the Gang’s side of their visit with Abbott Elementary, was a victim of my own sky high expectations.  The second episode, in which Frank slipped into a coma and Dee had to watch over him, brought back a lot of painful memories of sitting at my Dad’s beside when he went into hospice care.  Even when he slipped into his final coma, I still kept telling myself that he was going to wake up at any moment and just be fine.  It’s not the show’s fault.  These episodes just weren’t for me.

Planet Rock (Night Flight Plus)

This is an interview show that is now on Night Flight Plus.  I watched on episode on Friday night and the raw, unfiltered interview …. eh.  I have ADD, I can only listen to people talk for so long.

The Prisoner (Night Flight Plus)

Jeff and I have been watching this classic and enigmatic show with our friend Pat.  It stars Patrick McGoohan as a nameless man who might be a secret agent.  After he has an argument with his boss, he finds himself trapped in a mysterious village.  We watched the second episode on Saturday morning.  Jeff and Pat have seen the whole show before but this is a first time viewing for me.  I’m enjoying it so far.  Rover, the big balloon security thingee, is cute!  The second episode features Leo McKern chewing up the scenery.  It was very entertainign.

Snub (Night Flight Plus)

I watched an episode on Friday night.  This music show, from the 90s I believe, had a sort of underground feel to it that I appreciated.

 

Retro Television Review: The American Short Story Episode 6: “I’m A Fool”

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 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, after an introduction from Henry Fonda, The American Short Story presents a short film about a young man discovers that he’s a fool.

Episode 6 “I’m A Fool”

(Dir by Noel Black, originally aired in 1977)

In this adaptation of a Sherwood Anderson short story, Ron Howard (back in his younger days, before he became better-known as a director) stars as Andy.  Andy is a young man who runs away from his safe and comfortable life in search of adventure.  He gets a job as a “swipe,” which was apparently what people used to call the folks who took care of the horses at a racetrack.  He and an older black man named Burt (Santiago Gonzalez) travel the racing circuit in Ohio and form a tentative friendship.  Burt can tell that, for all of his attempts to come across as being tough and worldly, Andy is a virgin who gets drunk easily and who has no idea what the real world is like.

Andy claims to be a proud member of the working class but then he meets a pretty and rich girl named Lucy (Amy Irving).  Andy introduces himself as being Walter, the son of a wealthy stable owner.  Andy and Lucy spend the day together and Andy comes to realize that he loves her and that she seems to love him as well.  But then Andy realizes that she only knows him as Walter and that it’s too late to tell her the truth.  “I’m a fool,” Andy says before leaving with Burt.

This 35-minute short film featured good performances from Ron Howard and Amy Irving and some lovely shots of the countryside, showing why a life of wandering through rural Ohio might appeal to a young person searching for meaning.  There’s a great scene in a bar where the outclassed Andy tries to prove himself to a bunch of snobs by drinking whiskey and smoking a cigar.  Unfortunately, the strength of Sherwood Anderson’s original short story is that it puts us straight into Andy’s head and allows us to see the thought process that led to him coming up with his foolish lie.  Despite featuring narration from Ron Howard, this adaptation doesn’t really accomplish that and, as a result, the viewer is always on the outside looking in.

It’s not a bad adaptation but it can’t beat sitting down and reading the original story.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Friday the 13th 3.19 “The Tree of Life”

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 Friday the 13th: The Series, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The entire series can be found on YouTube!

This week, it’s Johnny vs the Druids.

Episode 3.19 “The Tree of Life”

(Dir by William Fruet, originally aired on May 7th, 1990)

Johnny randomly runs into a distraught woman who claims that, years ago, her daughter was abducted and her husband murdered by obstetrician  Dr. Sybil Oakwood (Gale Garnett).  When Jack and Micki doubt the woman’s story, Johnny investigates on his own and discovers that Dr. Oakwood is kidnapping newborn girls and raising them in her fertility clinic.  It turns out that Dr. Oakwood is a druid and she’s trying to breed future Druidic priestesses.

(Don’t yell at me, this is the show’s interpretation of druidism.)

This was the next-to-the-last episode of Friday the 13th and it just feels like the writers were tired and uninspired.  Suddenly, for the first time in three years, Jack and Micki are skeptical about reports of the paranormal.  Johnny is back to being impulsive and, if we’re to be honest, kind of stupid.  He tells the distraught mother that her daughter is being held prisoner at the fertility clinic and then is shocked when the mother runs off to the clinic without waiting for Johnny to accompany her.  Once again, it all leads to a cult and an underground cavern.  This entire episode feels like it was recycled from previous episodes.

I’m not an expert on paganism so I’m not going to get into whether or not this episode accurately portrayed druidic beliefs.  I will say that the druids in this episode acted like every other cult that’s ever appeared on this show.  They’re just like the Satanic cult that showed up at the end of season 2.  Making them druids is probably one of those things that sounded good when the episode was pitched.  The word “druid” brings to mind Stonehenge and all the rest of that good stuff.  But, narratively, there was nothing gained nor lost by making them druids.  The show treated them like any other self-destructive cult.

This episode was a bit dull.  It felt like the show was taking one last shot at getting audiences to replace Johnny as Ryan’s replacement.  The whole thing just felt uninspired.  It certainly left your brave reviewer bereft of inspiration.

Next week, we come to the conclusion of Friday the 13th: The Series.

 

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 2.6 “Under Pressure”

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, the hospital staff is under pressure!

Episode 2.6 “Under Pressure”

(Dir by David Anspaugh, originally aired on November 30th, 1983)

What a depressing episode!

It’s another day at St. Eligius and almost everyone seems to be in a bad mood.  Patients are complaining that Dr. Craig is so obsessed with his heart transplant that he’s ignoring them.  Dr. Westphall wakes up in a bad mood and continue to be in a bad mood for the entire episode.  Dr. Morrison is upset because he’s treating two Irish teens who nearly killed each other because one is Protestant and the other is Catholic.  (One of the teens is played by a young Eric Stoltz.)  Bobby Caldwell has to figure out how to put together the face of one of the Irish boys.  Ehrlich is complaining  nonstop.  Morrison is missing his wife.  Auschlander is dealing with his approaching mortality.  (There’s a wonderful moment when Norman Lloyd rolls his eyes while Auschlander listens to Westphall whine.)

Finally, a man calling himself Mr. Entertainment (Austin Pendleton) took over one of the hospital’s elevators and sang to the patients.  That cheered some people up.  It would have annoyed the Hell out of me.  Mr. Entertainment is checked into the psych ward, where he meets the new head psychiatrist, Michael Ridley (Paul Sand).  (Hugh Beale apparently no longer works at the hospital.  Both he and Dr. Samuels were dropped after the first season, with no onscreen explanation.)  The episode ends with Mr. Entertainment singing for a collection of nurses and doctors and bringing some happiness to their lives.

Everyone in this episode is under pressure.  That’s fine.  That’s realistic.  Being a doctor cannot be an easy job.  But it just made for a rather melancholy episode and I have to admit that I couldn’t wait for the end credits and that meowing cat.

Perhaps next week will be better.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 4.4 “The People Next Door”

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 take on prejudice.

Episode 4.4 “The People Next Door”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on October 21st, 1987)

Dr. William Martin (David Spielberg) is living a double life.  His family and his neighbors know him as a white doctor who lives in a suburban community and who is a part of the homeowner’s community.  He’s told his wife and his son that his parents died before he met them.

His mother knows him as Dr. Guillermo Martinez, who works at the free clinic in the economically disadvantaged area of town.  Anna Martinez (Mariam Colon) works as a maid and has no idea that her son is married and that she’s a grandmother.

Guillermo changed his name and lied about his ethnicity so that he could get ahead as a doctor and it’s worked for him.  His best friend is Brad Bowman (John Lawlor), the real estate agent who is dedicated to making sure that only “the right people” move into the neighborhood.  But when Jonathan and Mark show up as rival real estate agents and hire Anna to help them clean up the house next door, William/Guillermo is forced to face the truth about who he is.

At the start of this episode, Jonathan tells Mark that their assignment is not only to show William the foolishness of denying his heritage but to also help William’s neighbors become more tolerant.  They definitely help out William but they don’t really seem to have much luck with the neighbors.  Brad Bowman (no relation!) is as much of a bigot at the end of the show as he was at the start.  Jonathan and Mark do arrange for a black family to move into the empty house and then Jonathan and Mark promptly leave the neighborhood.  So, I guess the responsibility for teaching everyone else tolerance is going to be on the new homeowners.  This is one of those episodes where you wish Jonathan had actually gone to extremes to make his point, instead of just arranging for people to run into each other while wandering around the neighborhood.  I know that some people would say, “Well, Brad’s just a bad person,” but wasn’t one the original themes of this show that everyone had the potential to see the light, learn the errors of their ways, and be redeemed?

While the show suggested that there was no hope for Brad to see the error of his ways, it also let Guillermo off way too easy.  His wife was surprisingly understanding about her husband lying to her for years.  And, in the end, his mother was surprisingly forgiving about him lying about the fact that she had a grandson.  Jonathan scolded him briefly but that was pretty much it.  My grandmother, who came to this country from Franco’s Spain, would not have been as forgiving.

This episode was well-intentioned but didn’t quite work.

Retro Television Review: Malibu CA 2.21 “Parent Trap”

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 Malibu CA, which aired in Syndication in 1998 and 1999.  Almost the entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

Yes, this is from the first season. I don’t care. I refuse to waste my time looking for a second season advertisement.

Soon, I will be finished with this show.  I’m just trying to keep my spirits up.

Episode 2.21 “Parent Trap”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on April 15th, 2000)

Peter is having a midlife crisis so Scott, Jason, and Traycee introduce him to Traycee’s mom, Candee (Wendi Winburn).  Peter falls for Candee and decides to ask her to marry him.  Traycee warns Scott and Jason that Candee has been proposed to by a lot of men — including Donald Trump! — and she always turns them down.  But, for some reason, Candee accepts Peter’s proposal.  But then, at the celebration dinner, Candee mentions that she wants to travel and Peter mentions that he wants to stay in Malibu and manage his restaurant (even though he tried to retire just a few episodes ago) and Candee and Peter decide not to get married.  They both share a laugh over the whole thing which struck me as odd.

Meanwhile, Lisa gets upset when Murray paints a naked picture of her.  She goes to Murray’s art showing and attempts to paint clothes on her body and seriously, I just wanted the police to arrest her and drag her away.  What a stupid storyline.  Lisa (the character, not me) is the worst.

This episode …. hey, it fit the running time and stuff happened.  Apparently, by this point in the second season, that’s all anyone was demanding from Malibu CA.  There’s an odd lack of conflict in this episode.  Candee wants to go on safari.  Peter doesn’t.  They laugh and call the whole thing off.  Uhmm, okay.  Most engagements end on a bit more of a dramatic (or, at the very least, an emotional) note.  When I was 18, I was briefly engaged until I found out that my fiancé’s family didn’t actually own all of those oil wells in South Texas, despite the fact that he claimed otherwise.  That was not a happy breakup.  Everyone in this episode is so agreeable that it’s boring.  For someone who was totally in love, Peter certainly seem to be cheerful about never seeing Candee again.  Seriously, he picked his tacky restaurant over the supposed love of his life.  What an idiot.

Oh well, at least this show is nearly over.