Ellen: Alone Again...Naturally

Ellen: Alone Again...Naturally
ABC
January 8, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Ellen babysits Ed's daughters Willa and Emily (Sarah Dampf and Cristine Rose) for New Year's Eve, but she makes a resolution to "live dangerously," which means going to a romantic French restaurant on her own and taking a pottery class.  The writing in this Mark Wilding story is pretty solid, including the Ghost parody, but I had to mark it down from a B because of the subplot where Spence and Joe accidentally and stupidly burn Paige's kitchen.  Note that Ellen finds a bathroom attendant to be a better therapist than the professionals she's paying $75/hour (which honestly doesn't sound that much for L.A., considering what Bob Hartley charged in the '70s), and even shares a dream about K.D. Lang (another fourth-season hint/tease).

Bob Saget again plays himself, this time filming a Canadian movie for Lifetime, with Paige overseeing the budget.

Ellen: Ellen's Improvement

Ellen: Ellen's Improvement
ABC
January 4, 1995
Sitcom
DVD
B

Tracy Newman and Jonathan Stark's first of eleven stories for the series took a situation that we've seen on other sitcoms, e.g. Three's Company, in a different direction than I expected.  Ellen's plan to self-educate leads her to date a British UCLA professor, but he ends up embracing the world of pop culture, especially television.  (He even takes her to a taping of Full House.)  Meanwhile Joe and Stephanie (Kate Hodge)'s whirlwind romance continues, with her moving in after two weeks, and him moving out (and into the bookstore) soon after that.

Peter Kim, who was Po on M*A*S*H, appears here with his wife, named, yes, Kim Kim.

America's Funniest Home Videos: Animals and People

Still paving the way for Youtube

America's Funniest Home Videos: Animals and People
ABC
Spring 1992
Reality Television
VHS
C+

The people, including the little girl who chases a ball, are about as funny as the animals.

America's Funniest Home Videos: Cat Videos #2

America's Funniest Home Videos: Cat Videos #2
ABC
1990
Reality TV
VHS
B-

Not as funny or as cute as the last batch, but you know, it's cat videos, so I'm not complaining.

America's Funniest Home Videos: Cat Videos #1

One of the videos, squee!

America's Funniest Home Videos: Cat Videos #1
ABC
1990
Reality TV
VHS
B

They're cute, they're funny, they'll take over the Internet someday.  And Saget's commentary, including a Dr. Science reference, isn't bad.

America's Funniest Home Videos: Man Wiggles Ears

America's Funniest Home Videos: Man Wiggles Ears
ABC
1990?
Reality TV
VHS
C+

A man wiggles his ears, with decorated Q-tips or whatever they are, to the tune of "Dueling Banjos."

Bosom Buddies: The Show Must Go On

Bosom Buddies: The Show Must Go On
ABC
March 26, 1981
Sitcom
DVD
B+

This Gewirtz & Praiser story is another that works on different levels:

• While Kip and Henry's friendship with each other is central to the show, we here see what good friends they are to Isabelle, taking jobs as busboys so she can fulfill her dream of being a singer;
• Hopkins is a wonderful singer, not surprising considering that she was part of Dawn (as in Tony Orlando &), but she's showcased well, and when you see her friends beaming at her, it looks completely genuine;
• Sperber and Dixon offer back-up, as singers and as friends, looking great in their black dresses, and they're funny with their "Is she unconscious?" exchange;
• Also, Dixon has a cool almost Marilyn Monroe moment, when Sonny asks, "How do you like the show so far?" before exiting to check on Isabelle;
• There's a nice little "girl talk" bit where Amy lusts after Henry, and Sonny has drunk enough to lust after Kip;
• We find out that Henry had stage fright in junior high, which not only gives us some more background, but underlines the message of not giving up on your dreams (an important theme throughout the series of course);
• 24-year-old Bob Saget plays Bob the Comic, but it's not like he's just getting up there and doing a stand-up routine (like the comics on Welcome Back, Kotter for instance), he's doing some meta stand-up about stand-up, like when he throws in a reference to Gumby just for generational cred;
• The character is clearly presented as untalented (watch his insecurity about Isabelle, even though she's in another field), and Kip's "Bob the Comic, once again saving his best material just for us" line is brutally funny;
• Ruth shows up with a hunk who's done Moliere;
• The club-owner is a jerk who keeps firing his relatives, but it's played down rather than up, as it would be on Three's Company and other sitcoms of the era;
• The "mumps" sequence, including the Godfather reference and what I think is the first time the guys do their falsetto sing-song "Who is it?", is funny, even if it does beg the question of what excuse Buffy and Hildy made for not attending the second night.

Reb Brown, who had played Elmo Hacker on Three's Company, is Ruth's beefcake boyfriend Roger.  Lilly is absent, although she knows Isabelle much better than Ruth does.