Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 10/11/26 — 10/17/26

Posted on October 17, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)

Austin City Limits (PBS)

I watched an episode featuring Olivia Rodrigo on Saturday morning.

Bar Rescue (Weekdays, Paramount)

I was up early on Wednesday so I could watch Sweet November on TCM. After the movie ended, I watched two episodes of Bar Rescue on Paramount, The first one was set at an Irish bar that needed some help. The second one was at a North Carolina nightclub that was pouring cheap liquor into expensive bottles and then overcharging the customers. John Taffer got mad and yelled at everyone, as he should have.

In between watching the first and the second episodes of Crystal Lake on Thursday, I ended up watching three episodes of Bar Rescue. I only meant to watch one but I couldn’t help it. I got drawn into all the drama and the shouting,

Baseball: Devil Rays vs Guardians (TBS, Tuesday Night)

My sister was so sweet about watching the Twilight films with me that I watched a baseball game with her on Tuesday night.

Baywatch Nights (YouTube)

David Hasselhoff and two Vikings! I watched a classic episode this week. Valhalla!

Carrie (Prime)

I finished Carrie on Sunday and promptly shared my thoughts.

Crystal Lake (Peacock)

My thoughts can be read here.

Diff’Rent Strokes (Tubi)

My friend Mark recommended that I watch an episode featuring Arnold, his younger stepbrother Sam, and an epileptic street performer. The performer had a seizure in Central Park and Sam yelled, “It’s Karen! She’s dying!” Later, Arnold cracked a joke about the performer and got yelled at by his housekeeper, who was epileptic herself. That served Arnold right!

The Ghost Writer (YouTube)

I watched this unsold pilot on Monday and I shared my thoughts on Thursday.

Holy Mass In Honor Of Our Lady of Fatima (EWTN, Tuesday Night)

Erin and I watched this on Tuesday. It was very moving.

In Search Of…. (YouTube)

I watched (and shared!) a few episodes of this old Leonard Nimoy-narrated series this week. They were pretty fun! The entire series is on YouTube so I might watch them all.

Jail (Reelz, Weekdays)

I watched two episodes on Wednesday. Just about everyone who was brought into the jail was drunk. The deputies called everyone “buddy.”

Mother Angelica Classics (EWTN, Weekday Mornings)

In a show that probably originally aired in the 80s or the early 90s, Mother Angelica, the founder of EWTN, discussed the importance of faith. At one point, Mother Angelica went to commercial because she was having “mic problems.” It was a nice, humanizing moment.

Night Flight (Night Flight+)

On Friday night, I watched an episode about “women in rock.” I’m pretty sure that I had watched that one before.

SCTV (Netflix)

Erin Nicole and I watched two episodes on Sunday. Mel did his best to host Mel’s Rockpile, despite his audience not having much respect for him. We followed this up with another Mel’s Rockpile episode. Richard Harris came by to sing MacArthur Park.

Seinfeld (KDAF, weeknights)

Erin and I watched two episodes of this show on Tuesday night. The first featured an old movie theater, Elaine losing a button, everyone thinking that George was crazy, and Lloyd Braun (Matt McCoy) acting strange. The second episode features Kramer using butter to shave, Jerry purposefully bombing on stage to make Kenny Bania look bad, and Elaine and Puddy flying back to America after a European vacation. George also pretended to be handicapped so he could get a job at a company that manufactured playground equipment. Who wouldn’t?

Shawn’s Eyes (EWTN, Wednesday Morning)

This sweet short film from 2014 aired on EWTN on Wednesday morning. It was a profile of Shawn, a 41 year-old man with Down’s Syndrome. It was very touching. Both Erin and I had tears in our eyes by the end of it.

Survivor (CBS, Wednesday Night)

I wrote about Survivor here!

Twilight Zone (Paramount+)

On Sunday, Jeff and I watched Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, with William Shatner and the Gremlin.

Great Moments In Television History #45: A Game of Pool

Posted on October 15, 2026 by Jedadiah Leland

65 years ago, on October 13, 1961, Jesse Cardiff (played by Jack Klugman) faced off against the world’s greatest pool player, “Fats” Brown (Jonathan Winters). Jesse was eager to prove that he was even better than the legendary Fats. The only catch was that Fats was long dead and only visited from the afterlife so he could play Jesse. If Jesse won, he would be known as the greatest pool player who ever lived. If Fats won, Jesse would die. Jesse did win, but he found himself now fated to always have to play anyone who challenged him, even after he died. Fats Brown, meanwhile, went fishing.

It all happened on the 70th episode of The Twilight Zone. Written by George Clayton Johnson and directed by Buzz Kulik, “A Game of Pool” has never gotten as much attention as some other episodes, but it really is the epitome of a Twilight Zone episode. Jesse gets what he’s always wanted and discovers that everything comes with a price. Originally, this episode was meant to end with Jesse losing and Fats telling him that he would indeed die, but it would be far in the future with no one remembering or caring who he was. The version that aired had a more direct and less harsh ending.

“A Game of Pool” aired 65 years ago this week.

Previous Moments In Television History:

Great Moments In Television History #44: Nightmare At 20,000 Feet

Posted on October 11, 2026 by Jedadiah Leland

It was 63 years ago today that America watched as William Shatner played a nervous man on an airplane who looked out the window and saw something on the wing!

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet was the fifth episode of the fifth season of The Twilight Zone. Written by Richard Matheson and directed by Richard Donner, it starred William Shatner as Robert Wilson, a man who had just been released from sanitarium and who was taking a flight with his wife (Christine White). When he spotted a gremlin (Nick Cravat) on the wing, he couldn’t get anyone to believe him until, finally, he was forced to take an extreme action to save all of the other passengers. I remember the first time I saw this, as a kid, I was actually relieved when Rod Serling told me that, even though everyone on the plane thought Robert was crazy, they would eventually find evidence that there had been a gremlin. That’s how good a job Matheson, Donner, and Shatner did with this show. If Robert hadn’t been exonerated, viewers would never have never recovered.

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet was one of television’s best scary programs and it aired 63 years ago tonight, on October 11th, 1963.

Previous Moments In Television History:

Song of the Day: The Twilight Zone Theme by Marius Constant

Posted on May 11, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Technically, the French composer Marius Constant did not set out to write the theme song for The Twilight Zone. In the 50s, CBS commissioned Constant to compose a number of short pieces for CBS stock music library, basically as musical stingers that could be used for radio shows. In 1960, when The Twilight Zone needed a theme song, an enterprising CBS employee combined two of Constant’s composition to create the iconic Twilight Zone theme.

Enjoy our short but haunting song of the day.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Twilight Zone Edition

Posted on May 11, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today is Twilight Zone Day! In honor of this site’s favorite anthology show, it’s time for….

4 Shots From The Twilight Zone

Twilight Zone 1.8 “Time Enough At Last” (1959, dir by John Brahm)

Twilight Zone 1.22 “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street” (1960, dir by Ronald Winston)

Twilight Zone 2.6 “Eye of the Beholder (1960, dir by Douglas Heyes)

Twilight Zone 2.17 “Twenty-Two (1961, dir by Jack Smight)

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

Posted on October 18, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

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

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, Fox)

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

Law and Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

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

Night Flight (NightFlight Plus)

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

Snub TV (NightFlight Plus)

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

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

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

Twilight Zone (Prime)

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

The Vanishing Ray (NightFlight Plus)

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

Song of the Day: The Twilight Zone Theme by Marius Constant

Posted on May 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Enjoy our short but haunting song of the day.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Twilight Zone Edition

Posted on May 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s Twilight Zone Day! In honor of this site’s favorite anthology show, it’s time for….

4 Shots From The Twilight Zone

Twilight Zone 1.8 “Time Enough At Last” (1959, dir by John Brahm)

Twilight Zone 1.22 “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street” (1960, dir by Ronald Winston)

Twilight Zone 2.6 “Eye of the Beholder (1960, dir by Douglas Heyes)

Twilight Zone 2.17 “Twenty-Two (1961, dir by Jack Smight)

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/30/24 — 7/6/24

Posted on July 6, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Other than the shows that I watch for my retro television reviews, I didn’t watch much TV this week. I was busy getting ready for the 4th, celebrating the 4th, and fighting to keep my father from getting kicked out of his rehab facility.

I used the Dr. Phil channel on Pluto TV as background noise. It all kind of blended together. I lost track of the number of times I heard “How’s that working out for you?” I also lost track of the number of shots that I saw of Robin McGraw pretending to be shocked that her husband mentioned her.

On Friday, I watched a bit of H&I’s Twilight Zone marathon. I saw some of my favorites, like The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, Shadowplay, and It’s A Good Life.

So, I didn’t watch much but that’s okay. I needed the rest.