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Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 3.13 “Edna, Howard, Cathy & Morty)

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!

This week, Edna continues to allow Howard to humiliate her.

Episode 3.13 “Edna, Howard, Cathy & Morty”

(Dir by Alan Ehrlich, originally aired on November 28th, 1987)

When her friend Cathy (Deborah Grover) comes to town and talks about her wonderful marriage to Morty (John Stocker), Edna once again wonders how long she’s going to have to wait for Howard to ask her to marry him.

If this episode seems familiar, it’s because I’ve lost track of how many times Check It Out! has done an episode featuring Edna getting frustrated with Howard’s refusal to settle down.  Honestly, Edna can do better.  The first season at least pretended like Howard was a born romantic who truly loved Edna.  From the second season on, Howard has been taking Edna for granted and Edna really does need to move on.  Howard is in his 60s, now matter how much this show insists that he’s actually in his 40s.  If he’s not ready to commit yet, he never will be.  At this point, it’s hard to really care about Edna’s situation with Howard.

On the plus side, this episode did feature Viker trying to become a magician.  I laughed because Gordon Clapp could make just about anything funny.  For that matter, the pre-credits sequence made me laugh.  It featured Edna imagining that she was on the Dating Show and everyone reacting with shock when she announced she was going to pick Howard.  I don’t blame them!  You can do better, Edna!

 

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 4/6/25 — 4/12/25

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidinfluencing (Netflix)

The latest Netflix docuseries takes a look at kid influencers and the adults who get rich off of them.  The first two episodes were a disturbing portrait of manipulation and exploitation.  The third episode got bogged down with politics, with Taylor Lorenz demanding that the social media be regulated and various politicians making an unwelcome appearance.  The problem with the third episode is that it often felt as staged as the youtube videos that dominated the first two episodes.  That said, overall, this was a sobering call for parents to be a bit smarter about keeping track of what’s going on with their children, especially when it comes to their online lives.

Happy Hour (YouTube)

I watched an episode of this 90s, celebrity-driven game show on Friday night.  Dweezil and Ahmet Zappa were the hosts.  Dweezil was the epitome of cool while Ahmet kind of needed to calm down a little.

It’s The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (Apple TV+)

Erin and I watched this holiday classic on Saturday afternoon.  You can read her thoughts about it here.

 

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back Kotter 4.23 “The Bread Winners”

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 Welcome Back Kotter, which ran on ABC  from 1975 to 1979.  The entire show can be purchased on Prime.

This week, we finally finish this show up.

Episode 4.23 “The Bread Winners”

(Dir by Norman Abbott, originally aired on June 8th, 1979)

Epstein is excited about getting a job working at an antique store.  However, a chance meeting with the store’s owner leads to Freddie getting the job instead.  Epstein gets upset and, after a tense confrontation at the Horshack residence, Epstein challenges Washington to a boxing match at the local gym.  However, once at the gym, Epstein and Washington realize that they’re friends.  They care about each other.  They’re not going to let a little thing like a job come between them.  The owner of the gym is so moved that he gives Epstein a job.

And so ends Welcome Back, Kotter.  After 95 episodes, Kotter ends not with a bang but with a definite whimper.  We don’t even see the Sweathogs defy the odds by finally graduating.  It’s an underwhelming finale but apparently, it was made when there was still the possibility of a Kotter spin-off, which would have focused on Horshack and his marriage to Mary.  This episode also sets up the possibility of a show featuring Washington working at the antique store or even Epstein working at the gym.  (Henry Beckman plays the owner of the gym while Priscilla Morrill plays the owner of the antique store and both of them get a lot more dialogue and character-building moments than the guest stars typically got on Kotter.)

On the plus side, the show did manage to get nearly the entire cast to show up for the finale.  Barbarino is absent, of course.  But Gabe Kaplan makes one of his rare appearances, giving Washington some advice on how to make up with Epstein.  Julie shows up at the beginning of the show but, noticeably, Marcia Strassman doesn’t share any scenes with Kaplan.  John Sylvester White, as Woodman, gets to do his crazed laugh one last time.  Beau gets a few lines of dialogue.  We get a peek at Horshack’s homelife with Mary and even Epstein’s girlfriend, Kelly, shows up for a few scenes.

Again, this was an underwhelming finale but that makes sense when one considers that season 4 was an underwhelming season.  Looking over this show, the first two seasons were the best.  During those seasons, the show had a bit of an edge and the actors really seemed to be trying to ground their outlandish characters in at least a hint of reality.  The third season saw the show turn into a living cartoon and Kotter never really recovered.  By the fourth season, the actors cast as the Sweathogs were too old to still be playing high school students, Kaplan was refusing to appear on the show that was based on his stand-up act, and way too much time was wasted on Julie getting upset and glaring at people.

Well, we’re done with Welcome Back, Kotter.  Next week, a new show will premiere in this time slot.  It’s been a while since I started a new show so I’m looking forward to finding one that will be a slight change of pace.  What will the show be?  Check here next Saturday to find out!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Friday the 13th: The Series 3.9 “Femme Fatale”

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, Micki finds herself trapped in a movie!

Episode 3.9 “Femme Fatale”

(Dir by Francis Delia, originally aired on November 20th, 1989)

In an isolated mansion, former film director Desmond Williams (Gordon Pinsent) lives with retired actress Lili Lita (Kate Reid).  Lili is sick and bed-ridden now but, when she was younger, she starred in all of Desmond’s noir melodramas.  Desmond still enjoys watching their old films, particularly one in which Lili played a doomed femme fatale named Glenda.

Unfortunately, Desmond’s copy of the film is cursed.  Whenever he watches it, he has to watch with a young woman who will suddenly find herself switching places with Glenda.  Glenda is allowed to live in the real world until her unfortunate replacement is killed in the film.  Desmond is overjoyed to have Glenda come into his world.  Glenda, however, is more than little frustrated by the fact that she always has to return to the movie.

When Micki shows up to try to retrieve the cursed film, she ends up trapped in the movie.  Micki, however, is a bit more creative than Desmond’s other victims and continually tries to change the script, just to discover that the black-and-white characters around her are always going to do the same thing no matter what.

Meanwhile, Jack and Johnny show up and try to rescue Micki.  While Glena explores the real world and even drops in on a showing of one of her old movies, Lili ends up shooting Desmond and then willfully taking Micki’s place in the movie.  Micki returns to the real world.  Lili dies in the film.  Gloria burns up into nothingness.  With Desmond dead, Gloria is now forever trapped in the film.

This was a good episode.  When it started, I thought Desmond was going to turn out to be one of the quasi-sympathetic villains who was using a cursed object in an effort to help someone else.  But, as the episode progressed, it becomes obvious that Desmond didn’t really love Lili.  Instead, he loved the character that he created for her to be.  He loved the imaginary femme fatale but not the real-life woman who played her.  As well, the scenes inside the film were handled with a lot of wit and style.  I enjoyed watching Micki trying to disrupt the film’s story.  As much as I miss John D. LeMay’s Ryan, his absence really allowed Robey to come into her own during the third season.

Friday the 13th could be an uneven show but this episode was definitely a triumph.

Retro Television Review: St. Elsehwere 1.18 “Dog Day Hospital”

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, Judith Light has got a gun!

Episode 1.18 “Dog Day Hospital”

(Dir by Victor Lobl, originally aired on March 22nd, 1983)

Finally, Dr. Ehrlich is performing his first solo operation.  Dr. Craig is assisting but Ehrlich is in charge.  He gets to play his music in the OR.  He gets to decide what type of retractor to use.  It’s a simple hernia operation.  The patient (Sam Anderson) is awake and babbling through the whole operation.

Unfortunately, there’s also an angry woman in the OR and she has a gun.  Barbara Lonnicker (Judith Light) is eight months pregnant, despite her husband claiming that he got a vasectomy at St. Eligius.  As she already has several children to deal with, she wants to see the doctor who screwed up the vasectomy but she’s just as willing to shoot any other doctor to get her revenge.  The operation continues while Dr. Craig and Dr. Westphall negotiate with her.

I have to admit that I did find a lot of this episode to be amusing.  Ehrlich’s excitement over getting to do his first operation, Dr. Craig’s stuffy annoyance with being interrupted by a woman with a gun, and the patient’s nonstop rambling all made me smile more than once.  And Judith Light, not surprisingly, was great as the woman with the gun.  I loved the her husband was played by Tom Atkins.  You never know who you might see at St. Eligius!  That said, after the episode ended, I couldn’t help but think about how dumb the whole thing actually was.  How are people always managing to get guns into St. Eligius?  How did Barbara manage to get into an operating room without being stopped beforehand?  (Luther does tell her that she can’t be back there but he’s the only one who seems to notice her before she bursts into the OR.)  How come no one in the hospital seems to be more upset about the fact that there’s a woman waving a gun around an operating room?  At one point, Barbara shoots Ehrlich’s radio and hardly anyone seems to react.  The plot is played for laughs and that’s fine.  But, in this case, the story was a bit too implausible for its own good.

Meanwhile, Nurse Rosenthal returned to work after her mastectomy and struggled to get back into her routine.  Carolyn Pickles did a great job portraying Rosenthal in this episode.  And Fiscus and Shirley Daniels visited an old woman in a nursing home.  The subplots were handled well but, for the most part, this episode still felt as if it was trying a bit too hard.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 3.19 “Normal People”

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 help out at a halfway house.

Episode 3.19 “Normal People”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on February 11th,  1987)

This week, Jonathan and Mark find themselves assigned to work as handymen at a halfway house for patients who have recently been released from a mental hospital but who are still not quite ready to reenter the society.  As usual, Mark is skeptical about working with anyone outside of his comfort zone but Jonathan soon shows him the error of his ways.  It seems like almost every assignment was really about teaching Mark to be more tolerant of people who were different than him.

The neighbors aren’t happy about having a halfway house in their neighborhood.  They vandalize the yard.  They blame the patients for every little thing.  When some neighborhood kids accidentally start a fire, the blame is put on a teenager at the halfway house.  Jonathan encourages the patients to try to leave the house and socialize and show everyone that they are just like normal people.  Jonathan also punishes one snobbish neighbor by causing her to have mishap with a stack of melons at a grocery store.  I’ve noticed that, during the third season, Jonathan and the Boss seem to take an extra delight in humiliating people.

Eventually, the stupid kids start another fire, which gives one of the patients that chance to save their lives.  It also reveals that the patient was not responsible for the earlier fires.  Everyone comes to realize the error of the ways.  Hurray!

This was a good example of how Highway to Heaven‘s earnestness often made up for scripts that were a bit obvious and heavy-handed.  There’s nothing subtle about this episode but it’s still so achingly sincere in its message of tolerance that it’s hard not appreciate it.  The show’s good intentions stand the test of time.

Retro Television Review: Malibu CA 2.8 “Guess Who’s Coming To Malibu”

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.

Reviewing Malibu CA feels a bit pointless now that I’ve discovered that half of the season two episodes weren’t ever uploaded to YouTube but I made a commitment and my own OCD tendencies are holding me to it.  Let’s try to take a look at the latest episode.

Episode 2.8 “Guess Who’s Coming To Malibu”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on November 27th, 1999)

Here’s what the imdb has to tell us about this episode:

Peter is thrilled to be named businessman of the year by the Malibu Business Association. Murray is excited that his favorite actor Josh Denmark is in Malibu shooting a film. Jason recalls that he knew Josh a few years back in music camp. Together they sneak onto the set to see Josh and disrupt the shoot. Josh remembers Jason, the two reminisce and plan to meet again. Later Josh comes by the Lighthouse with female fans following him. Jason offers to let Josh stay at the Collins house to escape the crush of fans. Jason asks his dad after the fact if Josh can stay and Peter says no way, it will be too disruptive with his awards banquet coming up and Scott’s Olympic training. Josh’s flattery helps Peter soften his position a little.

Wow, Jason just knows everyone!  Didn’t they already do an episode during the first season about a movie star who needed a place to hide so she ended up staying at the Collins house?  We’re only two seasons in and the show is already repeating itself.  It’s also interesting to note that Scott’s Olympic training is still going on.  When last we checked, he had only recently started swimming again.  And yet, he’s already a potential Olympian.  I learned how to play golf two years ago.  Maybe I should try out for the Olympic team.

This is another second season episode that has not been uploaded to YouTube.  I know, it breaks my heart, too.  Consider this to be a placeholder.  If the episode ever does show up on YouTube, I will review it here.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Monsters 3.14 “Household Gods”

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 Monsters, which aired in syndication from 1988 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on YouTube.

This week, we meet a chauvinistic demon.

Episode 3.14 “Household Gods”

(Dir by Michael Warren Powell, originally aired on December 30th, 1990)

Deborah (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) is a married woman who is trying to balance her career with taking care of her baby.  No matter how hard Deborah tries to keep it together, it seems like there’s just one household crisis after another and her husband (Jeffrey Ware) doesn’t appear to have any sympathy for her predicament.  Deborah hires a nanny (Priscilla Shanks) who tells Deborah that her attitude has upset the Household God, a little misogynistic monster who punishes women who want a life outside of the home.  Deborah is skeptical but, this being an episode of Monsters, it turns out the nanny was right.  There is a messy and self-centered deity living in her house and he’s going out of his way to make her life difficult.  He’s played, under a good deal of makeup, by Michael Anderson, the actor who played “The Man From Another World” on Twin Peaks.

This episode had potential.   The idea that there’s a little sexist demon that is responsible for making it so difficult to balance family and career was an intriguing one and also one that was ripe for satire.  Tonally, though, this episode never quite came together.  This was one of those episodes that couldn’t seem to decide if it wanted to be a comedy or a horrific drama and as a result, it just kind of fell flat.  Deborah Van Valkenburgh gave about as good a performance as one could, considering that the show itself often didn’t seem to know how it felt about her character and her predicament.  But, for the most part, this episode was a good idea that was poorly executed.

It happens.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 5.24 “Isaac Gets Physical/She Brought Her Mom Along/Cold Feet”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986!  The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!

This week, horror royalty boards the Love Boat!

Episode 5.24 “Isaac Gets Physical/She Brought Her Mother Along/Cold Feet”

(Dir by Bob Sweeney, originally aired on March 20th, 1982)

For this week, and this week only, there’s a new member of the Love Boat crew.  Charlene Glover (Shirley Hemphill) is a nurse who has been sent to give every member of the crew a physical in order to make sure that it’s safe for them to work on a cruise ship.  Isaac panics because he has high blood pressure and he worries that he’s going to lose his job as a result.  This would seem like a good opportunity for the show to share some tips on what to do if you suffer from high blood pressure but instead, the whole storyline is a smitten Charlene chasing Isaac and Isaac trying to change his medical records.  It was a bit mean-spirited since most of the laughs came from the idea of Isaac having to get romantic with someone who was overweight in order to keep his job.

(That said, take your blood pressure seriously, everyone.  My Dad had high blood pressure his entire life and it was not easy for him.)

Speaking of mean-spirited, Carter Randall (Richard Dean Anderson) is engaged to marry Muffy (Linda Blair …. yes, that Linda Blair) but he’s getting cold feet.  So, he starts leaving her messages and making phone calls to her in which he speaks with a fake Southern accent.  There are three Texans on the boat and Carter is pretending to be one of them, hoping that Muffy will fall in love with this imaginary person and then break off their marriage …. WHAT A JERK!  And yet, somehow, this plan causes Carter to realize how much he does love Muffy and Muffy is totally forgiving when the truth comes out.  Seriously, that’s not the Linda Blair that we all know from such classic films as Savage Streets and Chained Heat!  What the heck, Linda?

(I should also mention that Carter’s attempt at a Texas accent was terrible.  In fact,  none of the actors playing the Texans had a convincing accent.  For shame, Love Boat, for shame!)

Finally, Millicent (Betsy Palmer) boards the boat with her daughter, Debbie (Connie Needham).  Debbie introduces Millicent to her boyfriend and it turns out that Debbie’s dating some guy who is at least twenty years old than her.  In fact, Ted (Gene Barry) is so old that he used to date Millicent!  Wow, creepy!  Anyway, Millicent and Ted realize that they’re still in love so sorry, Debbie.  Ted even says he fell in love with Debbie because she reminded him of Millicent.  Somehow, Debbie learns all of this without jumping overboard.

As a horror fan, I enjoyed this episode.  Gene Barry was in War of the Worlds.  Linda Blair was in The Exorcist.  Betsy Palmer was the original Mrs. Voorhies.  They really should have aired this episode in October.  The stories were terrible but I simply can’t resist an episode that featured this much horror royalty.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 1.12 “The Big Spin”

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 Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Pacific Blue, a cop show that aired from 1996 to 2000 on the USA Network!  It’s currently streaming everywhere, though I’m watching it on Tubi.

Bike patrol expands its roster, this week.

Episode 1.12 “The Big Spin”

(Dir by Terrence O’Hara, originally aired on May 18th, 1996)

Bike patrol has a new recruit!  Scott Kramer (Richard Joseph Paul) has been a cop for ten years and, for nine of those year, he had a perfect record.  But lately, he’s became impulsive and too much of a risk taker.  Bike patrol is his last chance!  “I run things by the book,” Lt. Palermo says.

Chris is assigned to train Kramer and soon, the two of them are falling for each other.  Chris explains that Kramer, like her, is a rebel who breaks the rule.  One of the funnier things about Pacific Blue is that Chris is supposed to be a rebel who breaks the rule when she’s nothing of the sort.  Instead, she just kind of gets annoyed and pouts every episode.

Anyway, it turns out that Kramer is terminally ill so he doesn’t care if he dies while taking down the two motorcycle bandits who have been robbing people all across town.  And that’s a good thing because that’s pretty much what happens.  The bandits are captured but bike patrol loses a recruit.

“The last thing he saw was you,” Palmero tells Chris and I think that was supposed to comfort her.  Chris nods and then walks along the beach by herself.

Wow, it’s an edgy episode!  Well, no, not really.  It comes close to being an edgy episode.  Richard Joseph Paul gives a pretty good performance as Kramer.  But …. come on, folks …. they’re on bicycles!  I’m sorry that I keep harping on this and, since this stupid show has like a gillion episodes, I imagine I’ll continue to harp on it in the future but bicycles are not edgy!  The first season is nearly over and I still laugh whenever I see the bike cops hearing about a crime on their radio and then going, “Unit whatever responding.”  I’m just imagining the dispatcher being like, “Oh no, bike patrol again.”  Seriously, everyone on this show always has such a grim expression on their face and they’re determined to catch the bad guys but, again …. bicycles!

Anyway, season one comes to an end next week.