Retro Television Reviews: Welcome Back, Kotter 2.5 “The Museum” and 2.6 “Gabe Under Pressure”

Posted on September 9, 2023 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 is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, the Sweathogs meet John Astin and Gabe goes to the doctor!

Episode 2.5 “The Museum”

(Dir by Bill Davis, originally aired on October 28th, 1976)

Mr. Woodman steps out of his office, just to find Gabe waiting for him.

“Mr. Woodman,” Gabe says, “did I ever tell you about the black sheep of my family?”

“I thought that was you,” Woodman replies.

Wow! Woodman has clearly already won this exchange but Gabe still proceeds to tell Mr. Woodman about his Uncle Lefty Kotter, who was a gambler. Mr. Woodman dramatically sighs and walks out of the office. See, Gabe, not everyone’s as patient as Julie.

After the opening credits, we find Gabe and Julie preparing the Sweathogs for a field trip to the Museum of Natural History. Barbarino is super excited because he’s never been to a real museum before. He explains that he did go to a wax museum once. “I saw Raquel Welch,” Barbarino explains, “Did you know that wax come right off in your hands?”

When Mr. Woodman comes out of his office to complain about the Sweathogs being taken off campus, Epstein explains that they’ve decide to take Woodman to the museum with them. Freddie announces that Woodman is going to be his field trip buddy. Personally, I think it would be fun to go on a field trip with Mr. Woodman because Mr. Woodman is clearly insane.

When the Sweathogs reach the museum, it actually looks a lot like one of those “horror dungeon museums” that always seem to pop up around Halloween.

Arnold is frightened of the museum and tosses a bunch of salt over his shoulder and into Epstein’s eyes. (Yes, Arnold is carrying a salt shaker with him.) Gabe asks the museum curator, Mr. Gore (John Astin), to assure Arnold that there is no reason to be scared. Mr. Gore explains that his name is pronounced “Gor-ay,” and then says that there are powers in the world about which one should not joke. “There are forces here,” Gore explains, “that do not appreciate one-liners!” Uh-oh, Gabe’s in trouble!

Barbarino and Freddie are also in trouble because they’ve entered an exclusive room that is home to an Egyptian mummy!

“This room is for VIPs only!” Mr. Gore declares.

“I am a VIP,” Barbarino protests. “I’m a Very Italian Person.”

Mr. Gore agrees to show the Sweathogs the Egyptian room on the condition that they touch nothing. “Or else you’ll risk the wrath of the pharohs!” Julie proceeds to say that the mummy doesn’t look a day over 2500 years old. Gabe jokes about the Mummy being named Pew. Mr. Gore, having grown annoyed, dares Gabe to open a cursed sarcophogus and risk the Mummy coming back to life. Gabe opens it, just to have Horshack step out of it.

“Hello,” Horshack says, “how are ya?”

Gore faints. Woodman announces that it’s time for the Sweathogs to return to the school. One problem, the door to the Egyptian room has slammed shut and cannot be opened. “Its the Curse of Pew!” a delirious Gore says.

Gabe explains that they’ll probably be trapped in the room until the next morning and then proceeds to give a mock eulogy for Pew The Mummy.

“We’re doomed!” Woodman shouts, “All doomed!”

Mr. Gore finally wakes up and says that he’s sure the curator will come to their rescue.

“Mr. Gor-ay,” Gabe says, “You’re the curator”

“How unfortunate,” Gore replies.

With everyone trapped in the Egyptian Room together, Horshack worries that he’ll never get a chance to meet Marie Osmond. When Gabe notices that there’s an air duct that someone could crawl through to get help, Horshack volunteers. Unfortunately, it turns out that the air duct just circles around the room so Horshack returns and continues to think about becoming an Osmond.

“I may be dying,” Woodman yells, “But I’m taking you Sweathogs with me! The mummy is going to get us if we don’t get out!”

Mr. Gore suggests that the Mummy might be satisfied with a human sacrifice. Woodman calls for Horshack to come over.

Fortunately, Epstein says that he’s seen enough home repair shows to know how to find “the stress part” of the door and open it. He taps on the door and …. it opens! The audience goes wild, even if it does seem like kind of an anticlimactic way to end the episode. But at least Epstein got to be the hero for once.

This episode was cartoonish, even by the standards of Welcome Back Kotter, but I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that this episode aired three days before Halloween. This was a holiday episode and I imagine it was a lot of fun when viewed on a dark and stormy night in 1976.

Episode 2.6 “Gabe Under Pressure”

(Dir by Jay Sandrich, originally aired on November 4th, 1976)

Julie brings Gabe his lunch.

“Did I ever tell you about my uncle who thought he was a horse?” Gabe asks. He proceeds to tell her about him. Julie smiles tolerantly.

As for the main storyline, the free clinic (where Julie volunteers) is offering free physicals at Buchanan High. Gabe expects the Sweathogs to take advantage of the offer but he himself refuses to go to the doctor to find out why he has a pain in his chest. It turns out that Gabe is scared of doctors! The Sweathogs are concerned enough to show up at Gabe’s apartment. Barbarino tries to take Gabe’s pulse. When Gabe asks if Barbarino knows what he’s doing, Barbarino replies, “I know it like the back of my hand.” Barbarino then gets distracted by the back of his hand.

Touched by the concern of his students, Gabe conquers his fear and sees the doctor. Gabe discovers he is okay and everyone watching learns a lesson about getting a regular check-up. It’s a pretty simple episode, one that is probably most interesting for having aired two days after the 1976 presidential election. Kotter went to the doctor and Carter went to the White House but Mr. Woodman stayed right where he was.

Later, with the physical having been completed, Gabe tells Mr. Woodman, “You have to hear about my Uncle Kermit Kotter!”

“No, I don’t, Kotter!” Woodman replies.

Gabe says that his Uncle Kermit always used to walk by a bakery and he would see a woman hitting her son with a loaf of bread. One day, Uncle Kermit walked by and the woman was hitting her son with a chocolate cake. Gabe says that his Uncle Kermit asked why the woman was hitting her son with a chocolate cake and….

“And the woman says because it’s his birthday,” Woodman replies, “I already heard it, Kotter.”

Seriously, John Sylvester White was a national treasure.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television — 8/27/23 — 9/2/23

Posted on September 2, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Big Brother 25 (24/7, Paramount+ and CBS)

I wrote about Big Brother here!

CHiPs (Weekday Mornings, GET TV)

I watched two episodes of this very 70s cop show on Friday morning. Both episodes featured car crashes and California living. I liked the opening, bass-heavy theme music.

Claim to Fame (Monday Night, ABC)

Nick Cannon’s brother, Gabriel, ended up winning the show. (It’s kind of weird how everyone just shrugged off Nick Cannon making all of those anti-Semitic comments on that podcast.) This was an amusing reality show, even if all of my favorites were eliminated early on.

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

On Sunday, I watched a two-part episode in which Dr. Phil talked to a mother who had a YouTube channel dedicated to exploiting her autistic child. The mother was convinced her child was schizophrenic as well as autistic and kept talking over both Dr. Phil and all other medical experts on the show. She had a very annoying habit of nodding and saying, “Yes, I agree,” whenever anyone would disagree with her. Seriously, she was the most annoying person that I’ve ever seen on a talk show. I then watched another episode featuring a middle-aged woman who was into S&M and who had recently invited sex offender to come live with her and her 9 year-old daughter. Yikes!

On Wednesday morning, I watched an episode in which Dr. Phil talked to a handsome young drug addict who claimed that he had written all of Taylor Swift’s songs. Then, later that night, I watched an episode about fighting sisters. To be honest, I’m not sure that Phil really helped any of them.

Geraldo (YouTube)

On Sunday, I watched an episode of this 90s talk show in which Geraldo Rivera talked to New York club kids. Michael Alig looked like he couldn’t wait to murder someone.

Jane Pratt (YouTube)

This was a talk show from the 90s. On Tuesday, I watched an episode called “Raves and Ecstasy.” I immediately recognize the host as one of the victims from The Boogeyman.

Jenny Jones (YouTube)

Jenny Jones talked to people who called off their weddings due to stuff that happened at Bachelor and Bachelorette parties. Jenny got extremely flustered while talking about the strippers.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Sally Jessy Raphael (YouTube)

On Thursday morning, I watched an episode featuring “out of control teens” who were sent to boot camp. The audience loved watching the teens suffers at boot camp but I suspect it probably didn’t do much good as far as the teens were concerned. Later, during the afternoon, I watched an episode featuring out-of-control teens. Two terrifying people from the Tough Love Organization, showed up and ordered all of the parents to divorce their children.

South Central (YouTube)

I wrote about South Central here!

Stars on Mars (Monday Night, Fox)

On the finale of Stars on Mars, Adam Rippon emerged as the winner so I guess he is the new Warlord of Mars now.

Steve Wilkos Show (YouTube)

I watched two episodes on Thursday night. Steve kicked abusers off of his stage. GO, STEVE!

T. and T. (Tubi)

I wrote about T. and T. here!

Welcome Back Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back Kotter here!

Retro Television Reviews: Welcome Back Kotter 2.3 “Sweatside Story” and 2.4 “The Fight”

Posted on September 2, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the Sweathogs get violent!

Episode 2.3 “Sweatside Story”

(Dir by Bill Persky, originally aired on October 7th, 1976)

Gabe tells Julie about his uncle who was a highway patrolman and who once chased a guy who was running 80 miles per hour. I didn’t really get the joke.

At school, class is interrupted by a fire drill. While Horshack panics, Epstein tells Barbarino that he’s tired of drills and is thinking of setting the school on fire so that “they can see how it’s done under real pressure.” While everyone waits in the hallway, Woodman shows up, accuses the Sweathogs of pulling the alarm, and then starts doing unconstitutional locker searches.

“What is this?” Gabe asks, “Be Cruel To Sweathogs Day?”

“Every day is Be Cruel To Sweathogs Day,” Woodman replies.

Woodman discovers that Barbarino has a jacket with “Sweathogs” written on the back of it. OH MY GOD, THE SWEATHOGS ARE STARTING A GANG! And they actually are. (“I haven’t been invited to join,” Horshack says, which should be taken as proof positive that this gang is serious business.) Gabe warns them that wearing jackets and starting gangs is a good way to get hurt. On cue, Freddie shows up and says that another gang jumped him for invading their territory.

Later, back at the apartment, Gabe tells Julie that he fears the Sweathogs are going to get into a “rumble.” Suddenly, Horshack shows up at the apartment, looking like a refugee from a John Waters movie. Gabe tells Horshack about how violent rumbles can get and asks Horshack if he’s prepared to be hit around like a hockey puck.

“I want to be a punk, not a puck!” Horshack announces. Uhmm….

Hanging around outside the school, Barbarino, Freddie, and Washington try remember how they were all initiated into their gang and it turns out that none of them were actually initiated. Barbarino states that, when he started the gang, he spent a week watching Gilligan’s Island to toughen himself up. Freddie explains that he became a member of the gang through Barbarino’s minority recruitment plan. Epstein, of course, has a note from Epstein’s Mom. Suddenly, Horshack shows up, prepared to be initiated into the gang.

Barbarino has no idea how to initiate Horshack but says that he’ll figure out how to do it “once I get my thoughts deranged.”

Suddenly, Gabe and Woodman show up, also wearing black leather jackets and looking to be initiated into the gang. Gabe explains that he brought Woodman because Woodman has the key to the nurse’s office, which they’ll need after the rumble.

The rival gang then shows up, demanding to know why the Sweathogs are looking for them. However, when they discover that both a teacher and the school’s vice principal are members of the Sweathog Gang, the rival gang leader announces that this school is too tough for them and they agree to negotiate a peace settlement between the two gangs.

Later, Gabe tells Julie about his Uncle Harry Kotter, who bought a suit that was too big for him.

This episode felt a bit off. Even by the standards of this show, the humor felt a bit overly broad and the Sweathogs’s naivety about what it meant to be in a gang never seemed credible. I mean, they essentially were a gang during the first season! If anything, the Sweathogs felt a bit neutered and too family-friendly in this episode. They were missing the edge that often elevated the episodes during the first season. That said, John Sylvester White had some good moments. It’s hard not to enjoy Mr. Woodman’s total disgust with the world and everyone in it.

Episode 2.4 “The Fight”

(Dir by Bob LaHendro, originally aired on October 21st, 1976)

Gabe tells Julie a joke about how his father always wanted him to date a girl just like his mother, which is something that I’m sure Julie appreciated hearing.

At school, Freddie is upset to learn that 1) Epstein gave Barbarino Freddie’s English homework to do and 2) Barbarino forgot to do it.

“Because of you, I’m going to get an F in English!” Freddie snaps at Barbarino.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Barbarino replies, “so am I.”

An argument breaks out between Freddie, Barbarino, and Epstein but Gabe breaks it up by ordering them into the classroom. For their Social Studies homework, all of the Sweathogs have been asked to either write about or bring in their most prized possession. Barbarino shows off his little black book. Freddie shows off his pet flea, Howard. (Unfortunately, Howard is killed when Freddie asks Horshack to give him five.) Epstein has a toy boat. Horshack starts to talk about how his ancestor, Popeye Horshack, discovered Coney Island and accidentally sits on the boat, destroying it. While Horshack tries to apologize, he accidentally mentions that he’s been doing Barbarino’s homework for Gabe’s class.

Frustrated, Gabe orders everyone to remain quiet while he steps outside and takes two aspirin.

However, as soon as Gabe leaves, Barbarino taunts Horshack and Epstein for being short and then complains that the entire class is short. Freddie stands up and says, “Hi there. I’m tall.” Epstein climbs a on top of Gabe’s desk and says that, “I’ve had it with Hi There!” Freddie replies that he’s sick of Horshack’s laugh. Horshack says that he’s tired of Epstein’s phony notes. Epstein then makes fun of Barbarino for being stupid.

“In your pants with a bag of ants!” Barbarino declares.

“In your pockets with red hot rockets,” Freddie counters.

Gabe re-enters the classroom and tells everyone to stop yelling. Gabe need not worry because the Sweathogs announce that they are never going to speak to each other again.

Later, at the apartment, Gabe struggles to eat Julie’s famous tuna casserole. “You think I like spending my entire life listening to your stupid jokes!?” Julie demands. Gabe replies that he has to tell jokes to cheer himself up after eating Julie’s food.

Suddenly, Barbarino shows up, panicking about how he’s going to get the Sweathogs to follow his orders if they won’t talk to him. Gabe says that he has to be a big enough person to say that he’s sorry and then Gabe apologizes to Julie. Gabe and Julie then attempt to have an honest conversation about their argument while Barbarino continually asks them what they have to eat at the apartment. Gabe suggests that Julie just not make tuna casserole anymore. Julie throws food at Gabe. Gabe throws food at Julie. Barbarino asks if they have any espresso and gets even more food tossed at him.

The next day, at school, Gabe asks Woodman to come into his class, apologize for something, and allow Gabe to forgive him so that the Sweathogs can learn an important lesson.

“I don’t do requests, Kotter,” Woodman replies, “Do I look like Wolfman Jack? …. I don’t have anything to apologize for.”

Gabe then suggests that Woodman could enter the class and Gabe could be the one who apologizes. That sounds good to Woodman. However, once they enter the classroom, Gabe apologizes for a prank he pulled ten years earlier and Woodman refuses to accept the apology. As Woodman leaves, Horshack asks Gabe to keep it down because “There are people trying to be angry in here.”

Barbarino, realizing that he’s responsible for fixing this problem, orders Horshack to apologize to Epstein. After Gabe tells them that their friendship should be their most prized possession, Epstein forgives Horshack. Barbarino apologizes for not doing Freddie’s homework and soon, everyone is hugging. Awwwww!

Later, at the apartment, Gabe is all alone because Julie is at her friend Candy’s place. Gabe calls Candy and asks to speak Julie. When Julie comes to the phone, Gabe says, “Julie, did I ever tell you about my Aunt Edna?” Julie hangs up on him.

This episode was a definite improvement on the previous one, with the emphasis being on the chemistry between the Sweathogs and their own hostile but ultimately affectionate interactions. If the Sweathogs seemed neutered when they tried to start a gang, they regained their edge just one episode later. So far, the best episodes of Welcome Back Kotter have been the ones where each member of the group gets a chance to shine and that’s certainly the case with this episode.

By the way, speaking as someone who can be a bit sensitive about her own cooking skills, I think Gabe is totally right about the tuna casserole. Seriously, there’s comes a time when you just have to admit that you’re never going to master the casserole.

Retro Television Reviews: Welcome Back, Kotter 2.1 “Career Day” and 2.2 “Inherit the Halibut”

Posted on August 26, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, season 2 begins!

Episode 2.1 “Career Day”

(Dir by Bill Hobin, originally aired on September 23rd, 1976)

The 2nd season begins with Gabe telling Julie a joke about the time that his aunt went to a pet store and complained that the turtle she had bought had blisters on the bottom of its feet. Apparently, there was a kid who thought that the turtles were toy trucks. Julie gets angry over the punchline and storms out of …. the principal’s office? Why was Gabe telling Julie a joke in the principal’s office?

It’s career day at Buchanan High! A radio DJ comes by the class and talks about the joys of being on the radio. He tells Horshack that there’s no way that he could ever be a successful radio DJ. After the DJ leaves, Epstein points out that everyone they’ve seen for career day makes more money than their teacher. As if on cue, Mr. Woodman enters the room with a special guest …. hey, it’s Pat Morita!

Pat Morita explains that he is Taro Takahashi and that he is an inventor. Among his inventions is “transistorized underwear,” which the Sweathogs think is a crazy idea. Takahashi gets offended and leaves. Gabe and the Sweathogs follow Takahashi to Woodman’s office.

“My class has something to say to Mr. Takahashi,” Gabe says.

“What?” Barbarino asks.

Eventually, all of the Sweathogs realize that Gabe expects them to apologize and, somewhat reluctantly, they do so. Epstein apologizes for not being a good student but he points out that teachers don’t make much money. Takahashi asks how much money teachers make. Woodman whispers the amount to Takahashi. Takahashi whispers it to the Sweathogs. Everyone has a good laugh, except for Gabe.

Takahashi is impressed by Gabe’s determination and offers him a job in Chicago and offers to pay him twice his current salary.

“I don’t think you understand how dedicated Mr. Kotter is to his students.” Horshack says.

“SHUT UP, HORSHACK!” Gabe replies.

Mr. Woodman announces that he’ll take the job and work for less than Kotter.

Takahashi says that he’ll be in New York for a week and he will be awaiting Gabe’s answer.

Gabe goes back to his apartment and tells Julie about the job. Julie tells Gabe that he should take the job so that they can get a two-room apartment and a second pair of shoes. She makes a good argument. Takahashi then shows up at the apartment, looking for an answer. And then Woodman shows up, wearing a kimono and still trying to get Takahashi to hire him. “I could learn to love raw fish!” Somewhat disturbingly Takahashi says that the biggest mistake he ever made was picking up a hitchhiker who looked a lot like Woodman.

The next day, Takahashi accompanies Gabe to school. At the classroom, the Sweathogs dress up in white karate outfits, bang a gong, and speak in exaggerated accents that I think are meant to sound Japanese and …. uhm, yeah, this episode is getting REALLY cringey.

Fortunately, Takahashi then spends about two minutes calling out everyone on the show for being insensitive, stupid, and crazy and Pat Morita totally kills it, perfectly capturing Takahashi’s growing annoyance with Buchanan High’s students and staff. (If you watch the scene carefully, you can catch both Gabe Kaplan and John Sylvester White breaking character and laughing in the background.) Takahashi’s Horshack imitation is peerless.

Gabe gives a speech about how much he enjoys being a teacher and why he could never give up his current job. Takahashi respects his decision and leaves so that Pat Morita can star in a short-lived spinoff called Mr. T and Tina. However, Takashi does return briefly at the end of the episode so Gabe can tell him about “Uncle Max and his friend” who used to enjoy discussing global politics as their local Chinese restaurant.

This episode suffered because it was obviously a pilot for another show. It felt off because the Sweathogs were largely sidelined by Mr. Takahashi. That said, Pat Morita was funny and Mr. Woodman’s gradual descent into madness continued to be entertaining to watch. It wasn’t an ideal season opener and a lot of the humor hasn’t aged well but, as is so often with this show, the chemistry of the cast turned out to be the episode’s saving grace.

Episode 2.2 “Inherit The Halibut”

(Dir by Bill Hobin, originally aired on September 30th, 1976)

Gabe asks Julie if he’s ever told her about his Aunt Esther “who was a matron in a movie house.” Julie politely listens as Gabe tells the story of a moviegoer who fell from the balcony to the floor.

At school, the Sweathogs check the big plastic halibut in which class treasurer Freddie has been keeping the class fund and they are shocked to discover that the halibut is empty! Everyone accuses Freddie of taking the money.

“You’re calling me a thief!?” Freddie says.

“No,” Horshack says, “an embezzler.”

It’s mock trail time! Gabe agrees to act as Freddie’s defense attorney. Horshack puts on a suit and plays prosecutor. Epstein serves as bailiff. Barbarino throws on a bathrobe and serves as the judge. The other Sweathogs are the jury.

Speaking in a bad Southern accent and carrying a paper fan, Gabe announces that “when you walk through the pasture of evidence, you’re bound to step in some facts.”

Horshack calls a witness who reveals that Washington bought a new bicycle at a police auction. He paid eight dollars, the same amount as what was in the halibut. Gabe points out that no one asked Washington from where he got the eight dollars. Mr. Woodman is sworn in as a surprise witness and says Washington did it.

“Objection!” shouts Gabe, “This witness is hostile!”

“Thank you, Kotter,” Woodman replies, “I’m glad we’re starting to communicate.”

Woodman goes on to reveal that he saw Washington counting money outside of the school. (“I checked my wallet,” Woodman says.) Gabe claims that Woodman is too bitter to be a credible witness. Woodman announces that Gabe’s students will be spending a lot of time in the court in the future and runs out of the room, laughing maniacally.

Gabe only has one witness. He calls Freddie to stand and asks him if he took the money. Freddie refuses to answer questions from either Gabe or Horshack. While Horshack dramatically asks his questions, he accidentally breaks open the halibut and several coins and dollars fall out of it.

“There’s a lot more than eight dollars here!” Gabe declares. In fact, there’s $32 in the fish!

Horshack suggests a plea bargain — “Let’s pardon Washington and split the money 50/50.”

Instead, Gabe calls Horshack to the stand. Horshack says that he’ll never snap before admitting to putting $8 in the fish to try to clear Freddie’s name. Epstein is called to the stand and admits that he also put $8 in the fish. Barbarino, as judge, then interrogates himself and bullies himself into admitting that he contributed $8 of his own to the fish. The other Sweathogs then announce that they also put $8 in the fish.

Gabe says that they still need to determine whether Freddie stole the money. The jury takes a second to convict Freddie. Freddie finally reveals that he did take the $8 but just so he could put it in the bank. Freddie reveals that he kept quiet because he was offended at everyone assuming that he stole the money. Still, Freddie realizes how the money’s disappearance looked to the class, so he forgives everyone and takes the $32 to the bank.

At the apartment, Gabe tells Julie to guess what he’s hiding in his hands.

Gabe explains that he’s hiding an elephant and Julie smacks him.

I liked this episode, largely because it gave Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, who felt a bit underused during the first season, a chance to take center stage. I also respected Freddie’s refusal to answer a question that he shouldn’t have been asked in the first place. Good for you, Freddie!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 8/13/23 — 8/19/23

Posted on August 19, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Big Brother 25 (24/7, CBS and Paramount Plus)

I wrote about Big Brother here!

The Challenge: USA (Sunday and Thursday Night, CBS)

I did have this show on in the background on Thurdsay night but, if you want to know how little I paid attention to this episode, just consider that I somehow missed Paulie coming out until I read about it on twitter afterwards.

City Guys (YouTube)

I wrote about City Guys here! I’m nearly done with this show!

Claim to Fame (Monday Night, ABC)

J.R. was eliminated this week. It’s still a cute show but I don’t really care that much about any of the relatives left.

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

Sunday morning, as I waited for the Big Brother live feeds to come back, I watched an old episode of Dr. Phil on YouTube. A mother was upset that her teenage daughter was dating a registered sex offender. Her daughter insisted that it was no big deal and that her boyfriend had changed. It turned out the daughter was naïve but the mother was overbearing and a bit hypocritical herself.

On Thursday and on Saturday, I watched a few episodes about trashy in-laws because I needed some background noise. They all kind of blended together, to the extent that I’m not even sure how many episodes I ended up watching.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

On Friday night, I joined Jeff and our friend Pat in watching an episode about British pop stars. It was a fun episode!

The PGA Tour on CBS (Sunday, CBS)

I refuse to apologize for liking golf. I didn’t even care that the tour totally preempted Big Brother on Sunday. I enjoy looking at the courses.

Radio 1990 (Night Flight Plus)

On Saturday morning, Jeff and I joined our friend Pat in watching an episode of this old music program. The episode featured a profile of Van Halen.

60 Minutes (Sunday Night, CBS)

Because golf ran late on Sunday, I sat through an episode of 60 Minutes as I waited for Big Brother to start. I can’t remember anything about any of the stories that they showed. 60 Minutes has always seemed like such a strange show to me. It feels like a show that’s permanently frozen in the past century. That said, I appreciate the way the stopwatch always tells me how many more minutes are left in each episode.

Stars on Mars (Monday Night, Fox)

Ariel, who was the person on Mars to whom I related to, volunteered to be sent back to Earth. If I was a producer of this reality show, I would be concerned by the fact that all of the participants keep volunteering to be kicked off the show.

Superfan (Wednesday Night, CBS)

People competed for the title of being Shania Twain’s biggest fan. It was dumb and it’s tempting to blame the show on the dearth of new scripted content during the writer’s strike but, to be honest, the networks were airing game shows just this stupid on television before everyone went on strike.

T. and T. (Tubi)

I wrote about T. and T. here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back, Kotter here!

Retro Television Reviews: Welcome Back Kotter 1.22 “Father Vinnie”

Posted on August 19, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the first season comes to an end with a surprisingly touching episode.

Episode 1.22 “Father Vinnie”

(Dir by Bob LaHendro, originally aired on February 26th, 1976)

At the apartment, Gabe asks Julie if he’s ever told her about his Uncle Jerry and Aunt June and how, on their 40th wedding anniversary, they took a second honeymoon. Aunt June was feeling romantic and asked Jerry to bite her neck, just like he did when they were newlyweds.

“Wait a minute,” Jerry replied, “I’ll get my teeth.”

(Gabe comes from a very old family, I’ve noticed.)

At school, Gabe teaches his class about the Russian revolution. Horshack asks where Kotter “learned all that stuff.” Gabe replies that he saw Dr. Zhivago four times. Horshack breaks out into wheezy laughter. All the Sweathogs are amused but …. WHERE’S BARBARINO!?

Barbarino shows up, just as the bell for lunch is ringing. Depressed, he barely acknowledges Gabe’s question as to where he’s been. Instead, he sits down at the classroom window and stares at the rain falling outside. Epstein tries to cheer him up by reading some his latest “excuse notes.” They’re all in verse!

“Roses are red, violets are blue, I’ve been home two days with the Spanish flu.”

Freddie reads note that Epstein wrote for him. “Please excuse me for missing your lecture on mold but I was home sick with a bad head cold.”

Barbarino is not amused. He explains that he’s just gotten back from the hospital, where his 87 year-old grandmother is dying. “She’s got a bad case of being old,” Barbarino explains.

The Sweathogs discuss death. Epstein doesn’t worry about it because he has a note for wherever he goes. Horshack mentions that he’s against death. Freddie, always the pragmatist, says that death is something that you have to accept.

Barbarino explains that his grandmother’s dream was always for him to become a priest and now that she’s dying, he has to do it! The other Sweathogs scoff at the idea and Gabe tells him that not everyone is cut out to be a priest. Despite not wanting to become a priest himself, Barbarino is stunned by their lack of faith and decides that he is going to become a priest just to show them.

A few days later, in the teacher’s lounge, Mr. Woodman tells Gabe that Barbarino just blessed Epstein’s gym locker and that he’s now walking around the school and telling people that he loves them. Gabe, however, is depressed because Barbarino’s grandmother has died and now he’s thinking about all the family members that he’s lost and used for material for his stand-up routine. Woodman mentions that Epstein’s mother died four times over the course of the previous school year.

Gabe asks Woodman if he ever thinks about death. Woodman replies, “Mot people want to go quickly but not me. I want to linger. I want to be a burden to people for as long as possible.”

(As always, John Sylvester White brilliantly portrays Woodman’s mix of bitterness and what appears to be genuine mental instability. As played by White, Woodman could announce that he had just spent the morning attacking muggers on the subway and it would be a laugh-out-loud funny line.)

Carrying a bible, a much changed Barbarino enters the teacher’s lounge.

Barbarino says that he forgives Gabe for the previous day’s pop quiz. Gabe tells Barbarino that he doesn’t need to forgive him, he just needs to study. When Barbarino replies that he no longer needs to study because the Lord is his shepherd, Gabe tells him that he’s taking the religion thing too far.

The next day, in the school hallway, Barbarino interrupts a Sweathog dice game and tells Horshack that he loves him.

“I’ve always been fond of you,” Horshack says.

Barbarino suggests that the Sweathogs should give their money to the poor.

“We are the poor!” Freddie replies.

A blonde named Bambi asks if Barbarino is going to meet her at their usual place “behind the billboard.” Horshack replies that Barbarino is now a priest. After an offended Bambi walks away, Barbarino has a meltdown in the school hallway, saying, “I can’t take it!” Gabe steps out of his classroom and says that maybe he’s not cut out to be celibate. The other Sweathogs start taunting Barbarino about all of his now ex-girlfriends. Barbarino realizes that it will be okay for him not to become a priest but he worries about how he’s going to tell his mother.

Epstein writes an excuse note for Barbarino to give to his mother, though he asks Gabe to sign because Epstein has yet to figure out how to forge his signature. The note reads, “Dear Mrs. Barbarino, they were shocked when you had a son, because that meant you could not be a nun. I hope you won’t mind this as a reason but your son Vinnie will not be a priest. Signed, Epstein’s teacher.”

Back at the apartment, Gabe tells Julie about his Uncle Morris, who was so thrifty that he never gave any money to charity.

And with that, season one ends! Wisely, Welcome Back, Kotter ended by focusing on Barbarino. All of the actors playing the Sweathogs were talented and all of them did a good job in the episodes that focused on them but, from the start, John Travolta was clearly the star and Travolta does a pretty good job of capturing both Barbarino’s sweet-natured stupidity and his earnest sincerity in this episode. It was hard not to be emotionally moved by his desire to make his grandmother’s dying wish come true, even though it wasn’t what he wanted to do with his life. This was a rare sitcom episode that dealt with religion in an even-handed manner while still remaining funny and non-preachy. All in all, this was not a bad way to end the first season.

(I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting much from Welcome Back, Kotter but I’ve certainly enjoyed watching and reviewing the first 22 episodes.)

Next week, season two begins!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 8/6/23 — 8/12/23

Posted on August 12, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Big Brother (24/7, CBS and Paramount Plus)

I wrote about Big Brother here!

The Challenge USA (Thursday Night, CBS)

The latest season of this reality show premiered this week. I kind of watched it but, to be honest, I got bored and tuned out after 20 minutes or so. As far as I can tell, The Challenge mostly seems to exist to give work to former reality show contestants who don’t want to return to their former lives.

City Guys (YouTube)

I wrote about City Guys here!

Claim to Fame (Monday Night, ABC)

The remaining contestants finally figured out that Hugo was Jimmy Carter’s grandson and they sent him packing. I’m enjoying this show, though I’m still annoyed all of my favorites have been eliminated. That said, Hugo wasn’t one of my favorites so this week was a good one.

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

Despite being opposed to Dr. Phil on general principle, I did have the show on for background noise while I was getting some work done on Tuesday. The first episode featured an out-of-control teen who got sent to rehab. Phil said that the parents were ultimately to blame and, for once, I agreed because her parents really were the worst! The 2nd episode featured a man who somehow thought it would be okay to live with both his wife and his mistress in the same house. Dr. Phil explained why this arrangement probably would not work. The 3rd episode featured a woman who hired a nanny off of Craig’s List and who was shocked when the Nanny turned out to be a bit shady. The fourth episode featured a former beauty pageant contestant who was now an out-of-control teen. Dr. Phil sent her to a mental health facility, which led to a lot of tears. It was awkward. I’m not sure I agree with Dr. Phil’s solution. I think it was more about making the audience happy than helping the child. Finally, for the fifth episode, I watched an episode about two sisters who claimed they would never accept their new stepmother. The family was a complete mess. I felt bad for the stepmother.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here.

Saved By The Bell (MeTV)

On Sunday morning, I watched three full hours of Saved By The Bell. Zack started dating Kristy, the new wrestler. But then, in the next episode, he was suddenly trying to date Slater’s ex-girlfriend from Germany, showing that Zack definitely had commitment issues. Zack then had an operation on his knee and returned to school in time to convince everyone to not allow oil drilling on Bayside’s property. (Poor Becky!) Then, it was time to rig a chess tournament and head to the mall so that he and his friends could buy tickets to (snicker) the U2 concert. The common factor in all of these episodes was everyone putting way too much faith in Screech.

Solid Gold (YouTube)

I watched an episode of this old 80s music show on Sunday night. The episode I watched was from 1982 and it featured some good music and a lot of dancing so I enjoyed it.

Stars on Mars (Monday Night, Fox)

The Lance Armstrong redemption has come to an end as Armstrong left “Mars” this week.

T. and T. (Tubi)

I wrote about T. and T. here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back Kotter here!

Yes, Minister (Monday Morning, PBS)

In the special one-hour Christmas special, Jim Hacker became Prime Minister! While it’s true that he became PM because everyone was impressed by the fact that he had no strongly held beliefs, it was still hard not to be happy for him. I love this show.

Retro Television Reviews: Welcome Back Kotter 1.20 “The Telethon” and 1.21 “Kotter Makes Good”

Posted on August 12, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s exam time!

Episode 1.20 “The Telethon”

(Dir by Bob LaHendro, originally aired on February 12th, 1976)

Gabe tells Julie about the time he went to visit “my uncle, Mo Kotter, in the hospital.” Uncle Mo was in an oxygen tent. Gabe accidentally stepped on his air hose. Uh-oh!

At school, Gabe shows up for class and immediately makes the Sweathogs groan by announcing that it’s time to take a test. He passes out the test papers and Freddie announces that this is a test that he can pass. Yay! I’ve always felt that Freddie was actually one of the smarter Sweathogs and I’m glad to see that he is finally making an effort to excel academically and …. oh wait. Freddie is just pointing out that the test papers are blank because the school’s Xerox machine has broken down.

Yes, the school desperately needs money. But how can the Sweathogs raise money for their much-needed supplies? Barbarino volunteers to sell kisses. Freddie suggests stealing hubcaps. Horshack starts shouting, “Let’s put on a show!” Gabe argues that no television station — not even public access channel 52.4 — would agree to air a Sweathog telethon. However, Mr. Woodman stops by the classroom to gloat about how, due to budget cuts, the remedial Sweathog class is going to have to be cut, unless the Sweathogs can come up with $700. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Gabe and the Sweathogs invite the president of channel 52.4 to the school so that he can see the Sweathogs perform Me and My Shadow. Needless to say, the Sweathogs get their telethon! Will they be able to raise $700?

(Seriously, no one had an extra $700 lying around?)

The telethon is broadcast live from Gabe’s classroom and even Mr. Woodman shows up in a tux. “I sing!” he explains. Once the show goes live, Gabe (of all people) freezes up on camera so Julie has to grab the microphone from him and explain the purpose of the telethon. Julie proceeds to sing a deliberately off-key version of Let Me Entertain You. Juan Epstein sings a version of “Day-O” while playing the bongo drums. Freddie sings a song and turns out to be just as off-key as Julie. Gabe and Horshack do a somewhat disturbing routine where Gabe pretends to be a ventriloquist and Horshack pretends to be the dummy. Barbarino sings his “Ba-Ba-Barbarino song.” And I have to admit that I actually laughed at all this. I’ve seen a lot of “let’s put on a show” episodes from the 70s and this is one of the first where the point is that no one is as talented as they originally claimed. It’s a fun little twist.

As the telethon comes to an end, Gabe realizes that they still need to raise $22 to make their goal. (Can’t Gabe just donate $22 from his next paycheck?) Anyway, Gabe’s mom calls and offers to donate $22 if Gabe sings some silly song from his childhood. Gabe sings something about apple pie and — yay! The Sweathogs are saved. Woodman sings My Way as the telethon comes to a close.

Back the apartment, Gabe asks Julie if he’s ever told her about his Uncle Ben. “Did he make rice?” Julie replies. Gabe explains that Ben didn’t make rice but that he was schizophrenic.

Anyway, the important thing is that the Sweathogs raised $700 without having to contribute any money themselves. New York City really is a generous city.

Episode 1.21 “Kotter Makes Good”

(Dir by Bob LaHendro, originally aired on February 19th, 1976)

Gabe asks Julie if he’s ever told her about the time that his cousin Brucie didn’t want to go to school because all the student made fun of him. Aunt Elsie told Brucie that he had to go to school because, “You’re 37 and you’re the principal.”

At school, the Sweathogs are worried about exam week. Horshack makes out his last will and testament because his father is going to kill him when he sees his grades. (Yikes!) Epstein has a note from “Epstein’s mother,” requesting that he be excused from exams because he’ll be attending the Ecumenical Council in Rome. Gabe attempts to encourage the Sweathogs to just study and take the tests but he is interrupted by Mr. Woodman, who drops by to announce that Gabe never took his senior exams. Horshack says that Gabe should just take the upcoming exams with the Sweathogs.

Back at the apartment, Gabe searches for his old school records while Julie tells him that he needs to study. Suddenly, the Sweathogs show up to help Gabe study. Epstein brings the blackboard from school. (“It just fell off the wall,” Epstein says.) Horshack shows up dressed like Mr. Kotter and asking Julie if she wants to hear a joke about his uncle. Though it takes a while, especially with Gabe deciding to show the Sweathogs what its like to teach them (“Hi there,” Gabe repeatedly says to Freddie), Gabe eventually realizes how much his students care about him and he decides to study with them.

At the school, a chagrined and twitching Woodman tells Gabe that he made a mistake and Gabe actually did take his senior exams while a student at Buchanan High. Gabe, however, takes the makeup exams anyways. He passes every exam, though he does come very close to failing his Algebra test. The Sweathogs celebrate by singing a version of the Mickey Mouse Club song.

Back at the apartment, Gabe tells Julie about his Aunt Selma, who was a lousy driver and parked her car in the kitchen. This is followed by a second joke, in which Gabe tells Julie about two brothers who always went fishing. The jokes probably would have been funnier if Gabe had been able to tell them without Julie interrupting him every few minutes. This was one of those episodes were you could really see that there was some truth behind the stories of Marcia Strassman hating her time on the show.

This was one of those episodes that worked primarily due to the chemistry between the members of the cast. Horshack’s Kotter impersonation was surprisingly effective and John Sylvester White’s unhinged performance as Woodman was, once again, a highlight of the episode.

Next week: Barbarino becomes a priest and the first season ends!

Retro Television Reviews: Welcome Back, Kotter 1.18 “Dr. Epstein, I Presume?” and 1.19 “One Flu Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”

Posted on August 5, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Epstein becomes a vet and a flu epidemic hits the school.

Episode 1.18 “Dr. Epstein, I Presume”

(Dir by Bob LaHendro, originally aired on January 29th, 1976)

At home, over a checkers game, Gabe tells Julie about his uncle, Walden Kotter. Walden was always concerned as to whether or not he was going to go to heaven.

“Did he ever find out?” Julie asks, without a noticeable lack of enthusiasm.

Gabe explains the Walden went to India and asked the High Llama. “The good news,” the High Llama said, “is that you are going to Heaven. The bad news is that you leave Thursday.”

The next day, an energized Gabe enters his classroom and tells the Sweathogs that it’s time for them to read their compositions about what they want to do with their lives. Barbarino wants to be a guy who never writes compositions. Freddie says that he doesn’t know what he wants to be but he wants to make sure it’s something that pays a lot of money. Horshack says that his essay is not about what he wants to be but about what he wants. “Dear Santa….” Horshack begins.

Suddenly, Gabe realizes that Epstein is not in the class. “I ain’t seen him,” Barbarino says before Epstein suddenly shows up at class, late because he says his pet hamster Florence is sick. Epstein has put Florence in a box and brought her to school with him. Everyone takes a look at the hamster. Epstein explains that he also owns several white mice and a chicken.

“Have you ever considered becoming a vet?” Gabe asks.

“My cousin was in the army, he didn’t like it,” Epstein replies.

“A veterinarian!” Gabe yells.

Epstein says he likes to eat meat.

“Not a vegetarian, a veterinarian!”

It goes on for a while but eventually, Epstein realizes that he could be “Dr. Epstein” and he agrees to talk to the guidance counselor about his new career goal. Yay!

Meanwhile, in the teacher’s lounge, Ms. Helms (Laura Zucker), the school guidance counselor, tells Mr. Woodman that computers and VHS tape are going to change the way that principals run their schools and teachers teach their classes. Remote learning is the future!

“Are you telling me,” Mr. Woodman says, “that someday, I will be able to run this school without having to deal with any students? Imagine that …. a school without students!”

Mr. Woodman is so excited about the idea that you have to feel bad that he wasn’t around for the COVID lockdowns. Seriously, he would have been in Heaven.

Overhearing them, Gabe starts to imitate a robot teacher. After an annoyed Woodman leaves the teacher’s lounge, Gabe brings in Epstein so he can talk to Ms. Helms. Ms. Helms tells Epstein that he doesn’t have high enough test scores to ever pursue a career outside of simple manual labor. She further says that encouraging Epstein to dream of being a vet is unfair to both him and dangerous to his animals. Visibly hurt, Epstein says, “That was the shortest career I’ve ever had,” and storms out of the lounge.

When Ms. Helms explains that teachers should not get close to their students, Gabe replies, “Up your nose with a computer hose.”

As always happens whenever something bad happens at school, the Sweathogs show up at Gabe’s apartment, where they ruin his latest attempt to try to get Julie to laugh. Epstein, Horshack, Freddie, and Barbarino all show up with Epstein’s animals and tell Gabe that they are all now his responsibility. (It turns out that Epstein owned a turtle named Truman Capote.) Epstein announce that all of his animals will be better off without him and Robert Hegyes delivered the line so sincerely that my heart broke a little for him. Seriously, whenever I’m about to dismiss this show as being too silly for its own good, it’ll surprise me with a scene of earnest sincerity.

Anyway, it turns out that Florence the Hamster is pregnant and this somehow leads to all of the Sweathogs donning surgical scrubs while Forence gives birth in Gabe’s classroom.

Gabe runs out the classroom and returns with Ms. Helms. Ms. Helms sees that Epstein supervised the whole process and admits that Epstein might have what it takes to be a doctor. When Epstein says that the two baby hamsters are named Julie and Gabe, the human Gabe tells the hamster Julie a joke about his Uncle Max, who was 64 years old and married a 28 year-old girl.

Back at the apartment, Human Gabe tells Human Julie about his Uncle Max who was 64 years old and …. well, you get the idea. When told that making love at his age could be fatal, Max replied, “If she dies, she dies.” Ouch!

This is the second Epstein-centric story of the first season and, much like the first one, it’s surprisingly effective. Robert Hegyes did a really good job of revealing that, underneath his tough exterior, Epstein was just an insecure kid who needed someone to believe in him. This was a good episode, even if I did find myself wondering where the Sweathogs found those surgical scrubs.

Episode 1.19 “One Flu Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”

(Dir by Bob LaHendro, originally aired on February 5th, 1976)

At the apartment, Julie is upset over getting a crank call. Gabe tells her about the time that he called a butcher and asked him if he had pig’s feet. “Where do you buy your shoes?” is the punchline.

At the school, everyone is out with the flu so the gifted class has been combined with the remedial class. The Sweathogs are upset over having to share their class with the smart kids but actually, they’re just insecure because they think Gabe likes the smart kids more than them. Gabe reassures them by asking them a lot of sports-related questions. In the end, the flu takes out everyone except for Gabe and Horshack. This was an extremely simple episode and I got the feeling that it was probably meant to air earlier in the season than it did. The Sweathogs’s individual personalities seemed to a bit less defined than usual and Gabe seemed like he was still struggling to win the trust of his students. Considering that we’ve already seen the Sweathogs visit Gabe at his apartment several times, everything about their relationship in this episode felt a bit off.

To wrap things up, Gabe tells Julie about his Uncle Morris. Morris told a judge that he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to become a U.S. citizen because he spoke “poor English” but, fortunately, the judge also spoke poor English. So, I guess that worked out.

Next week …. it’s exam time!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 7/23/23 — 7/29/23

Posted on July 29, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Big Brother starts next week and I’m going to have a lot less free time. (I probably should have made better use of my free time this week!) That said, I skipped the Big Brother special that CBS aired this week because I knew there wouldn’t be anything interesting revealed. Big Brother is a show that I both love and hate in equal measures. I never find myself looking forward to it but I always watch once it starts.

Anyways, here some thoughts on what I did watch this week!

City Guys (YouTube)

I wrote about City Guys here!

Claim To Fame (Monday Night, ABC)

I have to admit that Cole was one of the players who I thought had a really good chance of winning the game so I was a little surprised to see him leave the show this week. For the record, he was Alicia Keys’s brother. At this point, I’m just rooting for Olivia.

Degrassi High (YouTube)

I watched an episode on Sunday. Everyone was smoking weed.

Degrassi: The Next Generation (Tubi)

I watched a few random episodes on Sunday. Most of them were from the superlong tenth season, which isn’t really Degrassi’s best season but it is one that I occasionally like to revisit just because it’s not one of those seasons that really demands that you put a lot of effort into concentrating on what was happening on-screen. The tenth season of Degrassi is perfect for background noise.

Fantasy Island (YouTube)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Jenny Jones (YouTube)

The episode that I watched on Thursday was entitled “I Want My Child To Stop Listening To Marilyn Manson.” The kids loved Marilyn and the parents were panicking. Jenny Jones told her audience, “Now, you know, Marilyn Manson is a guy, right? He’s a male.” One of Jenny’s guests was a cutter. The audience booed her, which I doubt helped. “He is far from being one of the beautiful people!” one parent said, “He is a sadistic pig!” I think this episode was from 1996.

On Friday, I watched an episode in which Jenny revealed the results of DNA tests. As a host, Jenny Jones was so flustered and spent so much time stumbling over her words that I actually got a headache while watching her.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

The Master (Tubi)

I wrote about The Master here!

Sally Jessy Raphael (YouTube)

On Thursday, I watched an episode about young people with lovers who were old enough to be their grandparents. Many of them had angry family members who wanted to yell at them on national television. The audience did a lot of booing.

I followed this up with an episode in which women were encouraged to dump their “cheating boyfriends.” One of the boyfriends had cheated on his girlfriend with a 13 year-old! Hopefully, they broke up after the show.

I then watched a third episode, in which bratty teenagers talk about how much they disliked the men that their mother dated. I cringed as I was flooded by memories of my own bratty behavior whenever my mom started to date someone new.

On Friday, for reasons that even I can’t quite fathom, I watched another episode in which Sally gave updates on out-of-control teens, the majority of whom were still out-of-control. The boot camps did not work.

Stars on Mars (Monday Night, Fox)

The silliest reality show on television right now continued this week, with Rhonda Rousey asking to be sent back to Earth. Fortunately, since no one on the show had actually left Earth to begin with, it was a quick journey home. As for who I hope wins Stars on Mars …. eh, whatever the prize is, give it to William Shatner. I know he’s the host and he probably only had to spend a day or two pre-taping all of his scenes but he’s still the most entertaining part of the show.

The Steve Wilkos Show (YouTube)

I watched an episode on Thursday. Two brothers with really deep acne scars were on the show, trying to figure out which one was the father of a baby. Their annoying mother came out and screamed at everyone. It was so incredibly trashy that it become oddly fascinating.

I followed this with a second episode, in which Steve tossed an abusive boyfriend off of his stage. That was satisfying to see. Believe it or not, I do think that Steve was perhaps a bit more sincere than his fellow daily talk show hosts. The dislike that he felt towards abusers and cheaters always seemed real in a way that Maury Povich’s similar outrage did not.

On Friday morning, I watched two episodes while doing some work in my office. The first episode featured a woman with a scummy, abusive boyfriend. She dumped him at the end of the episode and the entire audience chanted her name. This was followed by an episode featuring a woman who claimed that her ex-boyfriend had stolen the ashes of her deceased and cremated child. That was weird and depressing.

Welcome Back Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back Kotter here!