2 on the Town: The Beatles

Hostess Melody Rogers around that time

2 on the Town: The Beatles
CBS
Sometime between July and October 1987
News
VHS
C+

Half-hour-long local station report on the 20th anniversary of the Sgt. Pepper album, although too much of the show is about promoting the show, and not enough time is given to seeing the Beatles, including contemporary interviews (well, one-liners) from Paul, George, and Ringo.  Of historical interest at this point, including the excitement of Beatles music being released on CD for the first time.

Miss America 1988 Pageant Excerpts

Miss America 1988 Pageant Excerpts

NBC

September 19, 1987

Beauty Pageant

VHS
B-

Patricia Brant (Miss Louisiana) performs her Talent-Category-winning ventriloquism act with two dummies, one of whom can yodel, followed by pageant winner Kaye Lani Rae Rakfo (Miss Michigan) doing a Tahitian dance where she can be seen accidentally hitting herself in the head with one of the props.  I'm not into pageants, but this was taped for the kitsch factor.

Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Colorization (updated)

Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Colorization (updated)
Syndicated
1987
Movie Review
VHS
B

Roger and Gene discuss their objections to film colorization, primarily the ineptness of the process (particularly at that time) and the ransacking of the cultural heritage that black & white movies represent.  This episode originally aired in '86, but in the following year an update was included in the end, mentioning Representative Richard Gephardt's sponsorship of the National Film Preservation Act (passed in '88).  If I have a quibble, it's that S & E don't acknowledge the degree that color films (and by that I mean films originally made in color, not ones with color added on top of black & white) are also part of our cultural heritage.  Still, the episode is worth watching, especially the examples, like Frank Sinatra with brown eyes.

Late Night with David Letterman: Linda Ellerbee and others

Late Night with David Letterman: Linda Ellerbee and others

1984 appearance

NBC
August 11, 1987

Talk Show

VHS
B-

Dave hosts kid inventors, has a long rambling phone conversation with a Southern car dealer, and talks with Linda E. soon after the cancellation of Our World.

Sesame Street: Everybody's Song

Sesame Street: Everybody's Song
PBS
Mid 1980s
Children's, Music Video
VHS
B

Thanks to http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Everybody's_Song, I now know more about this clip than just that it's one of the earliest and weirdest things the then-future-ex-husband and I taped with the Veece in '87.  Bip Bippadotta (a scatting hippie) and the Androoze Sisters (pigs in wigs) first performed it in '79 and then it made its way onto TV a few years later.

Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: "Back to the Beach" review

I miss you guys!

Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: "Back to the Beach" review
Syndicated
Early August 1987
Movie Review
VHS
B

I started grinning as soon as I saw the credits.  Siskel & Ebert (usually ampersanded, sometimes abbreviated to Sisbert) were a wonderful team and some of their reviews have stayed with me for years.  (A few minutes ago, I watched the 1985 review of Red Sonja on Youtube, and it's just as I remembered it, "Buddha going to the bathroom" and all.)  I was tempted to go B+ just out of affection for Gene and Roger, and for that matter for Frankie & Annette.  But I'll just say that, fun as it is to see S & E argue, or both bash a flick, it's also fun to see their surprise and delight over a sweet, likable movie like BttB.

Steve Kmetko: "Back to the Beach" review

Kmetko around that time

Steve Kmetko: "Back to the Beach" review
CBS
Early August 1987
Movie Review
VHS
B-

The local LA news (KCBS) movie critic gives the new Frankie & Annette movie three out of four stars, which sounds fair.  (I gave it a B- a couple years ago, http://reviewingeverymovieiown.blogspot.com/2014/12/back-to-beach.html.)  Preceded on this clip by news that Donna Rice is going to promote "No Excuses" jeans.

Reagan Speech on Iran-Contra, with Mitchell Response

Reagan Speech on Iran-Contra, with Mitchell Response

Tower Report

NBC

August 1987

News

VHS
B-

It's a little hard to judge this as entertainment per se.  I will say that, although the talking heads aspect of the speeches feels very dated, I was still drawn in.  In fact, although I no longer felt the fury or even dislike I once felt towards Reagan, I did find myself making (quiet) comments.  Reagan changed the subject from Iran-Contra to issues he felt he were more important, including the nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court!  George Mitchell of Maine (still alive now at 83) in his response was very respectful, speaking of "mistakes" more than "crimes."

Late Night with David Letterman: Steven Wright and Kathryn Harrold

Late Night with David Letterman: Steven Wright and Kathryn Harrold
NBC
August 5, 1986
Talk Show
VHS
B-

This is on one of my oldest VHS tapes, although the program was recorded about a year after it first aired.  It's not the complete episode, and I admittedly marked this down from what might've been a B due to the condition of the tape.  Still, it's fun to see Wright be deadpan and hear Harrold tell Yes, Giorgio anecdotes.  At the time this originally aired, Letterman's show was about four years old.

The Bob Cummings Show: Bob Judges a Beauty Pageant

The Bob Cummings Show: Bob Judges a Beauty Pageant
NBC
December 16, 1958
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This episode, the twelfth of the fifth season, has a title that's again a misnomer.  (He wants to judge but doesn't get the chance.)  The Henning & Wesson script is definitely sexist and looksist even by the standards of the series, but the guest stars almost redeem it:

• Madge Blake (pre-Batman) as Florence Patterson,
• Peter Lawford as himself (referencing his wife Pat),
• Rose Marie in her recurring role of Martha Randolph, 
• future That Girl director (two episodes) Sidney Miller as Roscoe Dewitt (he also did the voice of Francis Church in the TV-movie Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus),
• and best of all, Nancy Kulp (pre-Beverly-Hillbillies) in her recurring role as Pamela Livingstone

Dorothy Johnson again appears as Harriet Wyle.  Cummings directed again.  I have to say that Hickman isn't given much do on any of these three episodes, but Ann B. always works with what she gets.

The Bob Cummings Show: Bob in Orbit

Sacque dresses

The Bob Cummings Show: Bob in Orbit
NBC
November 18, 1958
Sitcom
DVD
C-

Henning & Wesson wrote this eighth episode of the season, where Bob's grandfather Josh (also played by Cummings) gets him into trouble with the Air Force.  Bob doesn't actually go into orbit, or any flight except in his grandpa's "old Jenny" biplane.  This is a pretty weak episode, mostly because of the change in setting.  Cummings directed again.

The Bob Cummings Show: Bob and the Dumb Blonde

Aren't you glad they didn't go in this direction
for the title of The Dick Van Dyke Show?

The Bob Cummings Show: Bob and the Dumb Blonde
NBC
September 30, 1958
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Well, look what I found while packing for my move.  My boyfriend owned this DVD and gave it to me a couple years ago, and then I promptly forgot about it.  (It wasn't in the boxes with my other DVDs for the previous move.)  Anyway, as long as we've given up on strict chronology, let's journey back to three episodes from the late '50s.  This one is the second episode of the fifth season of a series that ran in syndication as Love That Bob.  It's also one of thirty-six episodes written by Dick Wesson, who played Schultzy's boyfriend Frank Crenshaw on four other episodes besides this one.  His co-writer Paul Henning is most famous as the producer of the "Hooterville Trio" (Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres), but for the purposes of this blog it's most significant that he co-wrote all three of the Burns & Allen episodes I reviewed at the beginning of this project.

The regulars on this series:

• 48-year-old Bob Cummings as the Danza-ly named Bob Collins; 
• 32-year-old Ann B. Davis, still with her most famous role (Alice, the Bradys' maid) yet to come, here in her Emmy-award-winning part as Bob's infatuated secretary Schultzy;
• 48-year-old Rosemary DeCamp, later Ann Marie's mother on That Girl, as Bob's widowed sister Margaret MacDonald;
• and 24-year-old Dwayne Hickman, who was still youthful enough to play the title role in Dobie Gillis the following season, here as Bob's nephew Chuck MacDonald.

This episode is slow to get going but it does manage to juggle its various farcical situations-- including Bob telling an English girl he's "been saving himself"!-- with a pay-off where they all intersect.

Dorothy Johnson would return as Harriet Wyle, including for one of the episodes coming up.  This is one of 44 episodes of the series that Cummings himself directed.

Who's the Boss?: Yellow Submarine

Who's the Boss?: Yellow Submarine
ABC
December 15, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
C+

This episode doesn't quite work.  Both Tony and Sam get jobs at the popular teen hang-out the Yellow Submarine, and the '60s references are too overdone and self-conscious.  Worse than that though is that when Tony kicks out some popular but obnoxious teens, the other kids desert the place, so the boss wants Sam to fire her father!  I do like how Angela uses reverse psychology on Sam.  Note that Tony can now finish his housework by 10:30 in the morning, despite all his other activities, like coaching Little League and running the PTA.

Meg Wyllie, who was Mrs. Fleming on The Bob Newhart Show, plays Betty here.  Bill Erwin's third and final role on this show is Leon.

Who's the Boss?: Just Mona and Me

Who's the Boss?: Just Mona and Me
ABC
December 8, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Mindy Glazer wrote this story which introduces the character of Max Muldoon, played by 61-year-old Leslie Nielsen.  He's a new client of Angela's, and he and Mona are instantly smitten.  This is the most serious Mona has been about anyone in a very long time, and Angela is thrilled.  However, he has a secret, although not the one that the audience is misled into thinking.  He's not married but recently divorced, with a baby daughter, played by (as the fandom concluded years ago, although it has not been officially verified) by Katherine Danza.  (There are internal clues in the episode, and she was born in '87.)  Note that Sam and particularly Jonathan seem immediately fond of Max, unlike their reaction to Geoffrey.  This may be because they sense that Max would not break up their family, as Geoffrey would've, but overall Max is presented much more sympathetically here and later.  (Until, spoiler, he dumps Mona.)

D.C. Follies: Reagan Tries to Wipe Out National Debt with TV Home Shopping Show

D.C. Follies: Reagan Tries to Wipe Out National Debt with TV Home Shopping Show
Syndicated
December 8, 1987
Satire
VHS
B-

Although three more episodes aired before the year closed out, this episode focuses on everyone's New Year's resolutions, with Reagan's attempt to wipe out the national debt creating moments not unlike the Fred Willard 1979 movie Americathon.  Ed Asner is the live guest star, mistaken for Gorbachev.

Who's the Boss?: Car and Driver

Who's the Boss?: Car and Driver
ABC
December 1, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Donley & Graham wrote the teleplay, based on a story by a writer who didn't contribute to any of my other shows.  Jesse and Sam are helping Tony in his project to deliver meals to senior citizens, using Tony's van.  Unfortunately, Jesse lets Sam drive and she gets into an accident where another teenager is at fault.  The case goes to trial and Jesse has to decide whether to lie to protect Sam or to do the right thing.  This is the episode where we find out that Tony's middle name is Morton, and a studio audience member can be heard repeating it in amusement.  (By this point, studio audiences, with some exceptions, were more subdued than they'd been in the '70s.)

Anthony Peck, who's Jack Smith, was Mugger #2 on Mork & Mindy.  Prosecuting Attorney Michael Keys Hall played Chad McCann's father.  Bailiff Frank Pesce had appeared as two different characters previously and would be Dave in the final season.  And, yes, that's Molly Cheek of It's Garry Shandling's Show as the Defense Attorney.

Out of This World: Beano's New Diet Clinic

A different episode, but an example of
Evie stopping time, as she does here.

Out of This World: Beano's New Diet Clinic
Syndicated
November 28, 1987
Fantasy, Sitcom
VHS
C+

The basic premise of this series is that Evie Garland (Maureen Flannigan) finds out on her 13th birthday that she's half-alien.  (Her absent father is voiced by Burt Reynolds, but not on this episode.) As with Bewitched, she's not supposed to use her powers, but she can't help giving in sometimes.  She lives with her mother Donna (Danza-ly named for Donna Pescow), whose brother Beano Froelich (Joe Alaskey) also lives in their small Californian coastal town.  Both are in on Evie's secret, but no one else is.

John Boni, who wrote three Three's Company episodes, here contributes his third of four for OoTW.  Although Beano is overweight, he's studied dieting and is about to open the Waist-a-Weigh Clinic.  Meanwhile, at Evie's small private school (where Donna is the principal or something), her classmate Alex (Scott Nemes, probably wearing a fatsuit, since he looks significantly heavier than on It's Garry Shandling's Show) is being teased about his weight.  The episode is conflicted about fat people, objecting to them being mocked but also insisting that they lose weight.  Note that the string of "clever" insults Beano demonstrates is inspired or ripped off from the "nose" insults Steve Martin does in the movie Roxanne, which had come out about five months earlier.

Both Alaskey (who was a voice-actor) and Nemes do celebrity impressions here, and this episode features Mayor Kyle Applegate (Doug McClure), who's never gotten over playing Mosquitoman on TV for three years.  (I was thinking this was a gentle jab at Palm Springs mayor Sonny Bono, but he wasn't elected till '88.  However, Clint Eastwood was mayor of Carmel from '86 to '88, so I guess that's what the reference is to.)

Who's the Boss?: A Fishy Tale

Who's the Boss?: A Fishy Tale
ABC
November 24, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Dawn Aldredge wrote this episode with a man who has no other IMDB credits.  It's the weakest episode of the season so far, although it has its moments.  Joe Rossini runs off with another woman.  His wife, Carmela, is very upset, not only at being abandoned but at having to run the fish-store alone.  Angela suggests that Tony help out, but things don't go well.  I would've gone with a C, but it perks up when Marty Di Nardo (Todd Susman, at this point 40 but playing 35) shows up.  Bunny Summers, who played a Wardrobe Lady on That Girl, is Mrs. Cassio here.

It's Garry Shandling's Show: The Schumakers Go to Hollywood

It's Garry Shandling's Show: The Schumakers Go to Hollywood
Showtime
November 20, 1987
Sitcom
VHS
B

Ed Solomon co-wrote this fourth episode of Season Two with Tom Gammill and Max Pross, both of whom worked on Saturday Night Live in its fifth season.  Grant wins a poetry contest, with a free trip to Hollywood, from Sherman Oaks.  There's arguably more fourth-wall-breaking than usual in this one, from Grant and Pete going to a taping of IGSS to the studio audience singing the opening song and dancing to the closing song.  Florence Henderson appears as herself, still looking great at age 53.  Note that Jackie is absent, busy with her new baby.  (Yes, she had a baby since the last episode I watched.)

Night Court: Who Was That Mashed Man?

Night Court: Who Was That Mashed Man?
NBC
November 19, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
C-

Bob Colleary, who wrote a M*A*S*H episode, co-wrote this episode with someone who hasn't contributed to any of my other shows.  I'm going to blame them for both plots being unfunny and tasteless: a midget with a grudge fixes Dan up with his (the midget's) cock-teasing niece and forbids Dan to touch her, and meanwhile a Western TV hero threatens suicide in an implausible way.  Mike Finneran returns as Art Fensterman.

Who's the Boss?: Hell on Wheels

Who's the Boss?: Hell on Wheels
ABC
November 17, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Angela causes a couple accidents that put Tony in a wheelchair.  As amends, she decides to stay home and take care of him and the house, but his perfectionism makes her hire a young nurse, Doreen (27-year-old Jennifer Runyon, who was then on Charles in Charge and who would be Cindy in A Very Brady Christmas).  Doreen is a klutz and not too bright, so Tony learns to appreciate Angela.  Todd Starks, who's Matt here, would later be a Hardhat.

Tales of Little Women: Shout for Joy

I know they're genteelly poor, but why do they
wear the same outfits in every single episode?

Tales of Little Women: Shout for Joy
Fuji TV
November 15, 1987
Anime, Historical Drama
VHS
B-

I don't have the previous episode, where they send a telegram to Marmee about Beth's condition, but this series is slow-moving enough that it's easy to follow this episode.  Plus, yeah, it's somewhat faithful to the book.  The original title for the episode translates as the more desperate "God, Please Save Beth!"  There were six more episodes after this one, but this is all I own.

Who's the Boss?: A Farewell to Nick

Who's the Boss?: A Farewell to Nick
ABC
November 10, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B

Lee Aronsohn's first of three WtB stories, and Marc Sheffler's first of two, has Nick Milano die offscreen, when Sam's on her way to spend Columbus Day with him in Fort Lauderdale.  The way that grief is addressed, with each character responding in their own way, from Jonathan's puzzlement and attempts to comfort Sam, to Angela and Mona sharing the story of how they dealt with Robert's death, is very well done.  And again, Milano steps up when she's given something to work with other than boy-craziness or shopping.  Danza is good, too, his looks of empathy and sympathy totally believable.  I would've gone with a B+, but the set-up, with an unseen character (Nick's previously never mentioned girlfriend Bambi), is a little awkward.  Still, it is better than any of the episodes James Coco was actually on.

Tony Charnota, who was a Hood on Soap and Sgt. Verbanic on M*A*S*H, is Bruno here.  Phil Rubenstein, who previously played the Dealer who sells Tony's baseball card to Angela, here plays Phil.

Who's the Boss?: Two on a Billboard

Who's the Boss?: Two on a Billboard
ABC
November 3, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B

As President of the Parents' Association, Tony stays up on a billboard to raise money and promote reading.  He gains widespread attention, including from the head of the National Parents' Association, Jim (James Karen, who was Dr. Stephen Chesler on M*A*S*H).  Tony is offered a job, which Angela urges him to consider.  Foreshadowing the final episodes of the series, she thinks he puts others' needs ahead of his own, and despite her love for him (unspoken at this point), she wants him to live up to his full potential.  Pam Galloway returns as former PTA President Joanne Parker, now (according to Mona) fooling around with her gardener.

D.C. Follies: Nixon Gives Fred Financial Advice...and He Loses His Shirt

D.C. Follies: Nixon Gives Fred Financial Advice...and He Loses His Shirt
Syndicated
November 3, 1987
Satire
VHS
C+

Just in case you thought we were done with the bizarre world of the Krofft Brothers, we now look at a show somewhat inspired by Spitting Image, the British puppet show that satirized politics and pop culture.  DCF isn't especially funny (and wasn't really at the time), but it's interesting in a time-capsule sort of way.  The premise is that Fred Willard, playing "Fred," owns the titular bar, which is a hang-out for politicians, sports figures, entertainers, etc.  The puppetry (design, movement, and voicework, including by Joe Alaskey, who could be seen at the time on Out of This World) are quite good, but the puppets aren't given very good material.

Bob Dolan Smith and E. Jeffrey Smith wrote this episode where, yes, Nixon gives Fred bad financial advice.  Robert Klein is the live-action guest, as Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's new representative.  This is one of thirteen episodes Rick Locke directed.

Tales of Little Women: Scarlet Fever

A different episode, but it gives you
a sense of the size differences.

Tales of Little Women: Scarlet Fever
Fuji TV
November 1, 1987
Anime, Historical Drama
VHS
B-

Unlike the previous episode, this one is more canonical.  (The Japanese title translates to "Beth Caught the Scarlet Fever!")  This is a good time to note that, while Alcott based the character of Jo on herself, this series features narration by youngest sister Amy.  Furthermore, instead of the year or two between each sister in the book, it seems like three or more here, even allowing for the exaggerations of animation.  So instead of the girls being 16, 15, 13, and 12, it's like 18, 15, 12, and 9 (or younger).  I'm guessing Amy was chosen to allow for more identification by preteen and younger girls than if Jo narrated.  It feels odd on this episode, considering so many of the events by definition have to happen when Amy is absent.

Who's the Boss?: New Kid in Town

Who's the Boss?: New Kid in Town
ABC
October 27, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B

Howard Meyers co-wrote this episode with Susan Meyers, whom I'm assuming is his wife.  This may be why it is one of the better Sam episodes.  It introduces Scott Bloom as Jesse Nash.  (Oddly enough, although his character is 16 at some point this season, IMDB lists him as being only 14 on his series introduction.)  Jesse works in a supermarket and Tony brings him home as a potential date for Sam.  (Note that Sam is now in the 10th grade, with no explanation.)  Unfortunately, he's into yoga and social causes, and he accuses Sam of being shallow.  He does see the good in her, and she finds herself drawn to him in an opposites-attract kind of way.  They kiss and Tony walks in on them but surprises himself and Angela by not throwing Jesse out.  I like that they decided to go in a different direction with Sam's first high school boyfriend, unlike "cool" Chad and Todd.

Tales of Little Women: Letters from Home

Tales of Little Women: Letters from Home
Fuji TV
October 25, 1987
Anime, Historical Drama
VHS
C+

Fumio Kurokawa directed this series, while Akira Miyazaki wrote it, based somewhat loosely on the Alcott classic.  How loosely?  Well, it's not till the 18th episode that material from the book appears.  This is the 39th episode, and the air-date is for the Japanese version, although I got it dubbed from Nickelodeon.  But since this is a case where the visuals are more interesting than the sound, I'm fine with going with the original broadcast dates.  (In contrast, Noozles is even campier with the American dub.)

The American voice cast:

• Mona Marshall as Jo March
• Melanie McQueen as Beth March
• Mike Reynolds as James Laurence
• Joshua Seth as Theodore "Laurie" Laurence
• Stephanie Sheh as Meg March
• Reba West as Amy March

The three most notable things about the look of the series:

• Hannah's dark skin
• Meg's waffle-hair
• The exaggerated perspective where characters loom as they approach and shrink as they depart

Note that almost without exception, the translations of the Japanese episode titles are much more interesting than those for the American broadcast, my favorite being "The Friendship Pin," formerly known as "The Town Burns Down!"  This one was called "Letters, Letters, Letters We All Wrote."

Night Court: Death of a Bailiff

No, "death" of a different bailiff.

Night Court: Death of a Bailiff
NBC
October 15, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
C

The script by Bob Underwood is his first of fourteen for Night Court, but I don't know if it's his fault or director Melman's that this is more aggressively unfunny than the episodes we looked at for Season Four.  This was the third episode of Season Five, after Parts 3 and 4 of "Her Honor."  I would've gone with a C- but the last scene redeems the episode some, not with humor (Mac's war against the computer is the equally dismal subplot) but with drama that isn't overly undercut with dumb jokes.  So this episode receives the 100th C on this blog.

Mike Finneran makes one of his 37 appearances as handyman Art Fensterman.

Who's the Boss?: A Trip to the Principal

Who's the Boss?: A Trip to the Principal
ABC
October 13, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Donley & Graham wrote this story where 11-year-old Jonathan has a chance to skip to 7th grade and junior high.  (And, yes, he was 7 and in 2nd grade three years earlier.)  He doesn't adjust well, first boasting of his wealth and "giftedness," and then befriending a hoodlum.  Angela and Tony have to go see the principal, Mr. Crebbin (Gerald Hiken, who was Brody on Three's Company), who finds Tony's presence and relationship with Angela confusing.  Tony and Angela each say that if they were to have another child, they'd want it to be with each other.  And at home later, he snaps her bra!  Yes, this episode is marked down from a B for PC reasons, since the idea of such acts as just "boys being boys" is not one I agree with.  Note that Tony claims that Angela has never mooned anyone, which we'll find out later is not true.

Who's the Boss?: There Goes the Bride

Who's the Boss?: There Goes the Bride
ABC
October 6, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B

Donley & Graham wrote this story where Tony and Angela fix up his friend Lyle, a sports doctor, with her cousin Christy (daughter of Mona's dead sister), a schoolteacher.  Both of them are shy and nerdy but they hit it off enough to decide to get married right away.  Unfortunately, Angela overdoes her assertiveness lesson when the wedding is delayed due to a hockey game on TV.  So Tony and Angela have to reconcile the couple.  Along the way, they learn some things about their own relationship, without any admissions of love though.  And Mona continues to get bitchier, especially towards family members.

Scotch Byerley, who was the Fish Footman in the 1985 Alice in Wonderland TV-movie, is Gary here.

Blackadder the Third: Nob and Nobility

Blackadder the Third: Nob and Nobility
BBC
1 October 1987
Historical Comedy
VHS
B-

This Curtis & Elton episode is more interesting for its plot twists and turns than for its humour, although there are some funny lines.  Blackadder tries to outdo the Scarlet Pimpernel, and ends up killing two people.  Tim McInnerny, who was Percy in the Renaissance series, plays Lord Topper here.

Who's the Boss?: Big Girl on Campus

Who's the Boss?: Big Girl on Campus
ABC
September 29, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
C+

This is one of the few scripts written by Robert Walden (of Lou Grant) and it introduces the character of Mason Peters (Adam Carl in his first of three appearances).  He's 15 and Sam is 14 going on 15, but while she just started high school, he's in college.  She goes out with him to find out more about the campus life and to impress her friends.  Again, I'm not crazy with the direction they're taking teenage Sam, although she does realize it's wrong to use people, especially a nice guy like Mason who likes her.

Oddly enough, Todd Jeffries, who's Skeeter Barnes the jock here, had been the young Minister at Michael and Heather's wedding.

ALF: Somewhere Over the Rerun

ALF: Somewhere Over the Rerun
NBC
September 28, 1987
Sitcom
VHS
B-

I did not like ALF the show or ALF the character, but my then-future-ex-husband taped this for me for obvious reasons.  And it's not bad, even the segments without the castaways.  Once we hit the dream sequence on the island though, well, it's good to be home.  Everyone's aged (except of course Dawn Wells), but they're still comfortable with themselves and each other, and the writing kicks up a notch or two.  Note that the absent Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer were still respectively almost two and almost four years away from death, while Alan Hale had about two and a half years left, although you'd never guess it from here.  This may or may not be the first sitcom to pay a fond if mocking tribute to a "classic" predecessor, but it does predate, for instance, the superior Day by Day homage/reunion for The Brady Bunch.  And even Roseanne would honor Gilligan down the road.

Thirty-eight-year-old Anne Schedeen, who had multiple roles on Three's Company, most notably as his girlfriend Linda, plays wife and mother Kate Tanner.  Andrea Elson, who plays teenage daughter Lynn, would be Melinda on Who's the Boss?, while Max Wright, who plays her dad Willie, would be Dr. Wormser a couple years later on WtB.  Nick Havinga, who directed one Welcome Back, Kotter episode, here does one of his thirty for this series.

Blackadder the Third: Ink and Incapability

Blackadder the Third: Ink and Incapability
BBC
24 September 1987
Historical Comedy
VHS
C+

This second episode, also written by Curtis & Elton, just isn't as funny or interesting.  Maybe it's that literature and writing don't lend themselves to satire as well as politics do.  I find it mainly notable for the guest cast, from Robbie Coltrane as Samuel Johnson (who besides becoming Hagrid down the road, would in '88 be the Spirit of Christmas who visits Blackadder) to the comedy team of Jim Sweeney and Steve Steen, later to be seen on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, here playing Coleridge and Byron respectively.

Who's the Boss?: Frankie and Tony Are Lovers

Who's the Boss?: Frankie and Tony Are Lovers
ABC
September 22, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Wengrod & Cinnamon's fourth-season-opener reunites Tony with the one girl who wouldn't go out with him in high school.  (Other than Anna Cammisa, who was already married by then.)  Francesca Candino is now a beautiful, successful, intelligent lawyer.  She also has more of a sense of humor and presumably is more into sports than Gina was a couple seasons ago.  Mrs. Rossini again plays matchmaker, but Frankie and Tony are attracted to each other anyway.  When Frankie wins his housekeeping services for the weekend, for $1000, they become lovers in some sense.  In fact, she proposes to him!

Angela, despite Mona's concern, pretends none of this bothers her, but she confesses otherwise to her therapist.  In fact, with direct questions and a promise of confidentiality, she realizes that she loves Tony.  She tries to get the courage to tell him but can't.  Still, she's relieved when Tony tells her that he doesn't love Frankie and can't marry her.  I doubt that the writers or producers knew at the time that this series hadn't even reached its midpoint, but we have a situation that for what will turn out to be years, the viewers know that Angela loves Tony (and not just as a friend), but Tony's feelings are less clear.  This fact will shape the rest of the series.

Gracia Lee, who was Jenny Thompson on The Brady Bunch, is a Bidder here.  Walter Olkewicz returns as Tiny, who has a teenage son named Elvis that Sam dates.

Blackadder the Third: Dish and Dishonesty

Blackadder the Third: Dish and Dishonesty
BBC
17 September 1987
Historical Comedy
VHS
B

Curtis & Elton wrote this first episode of the Regency Period saga, where Blackadder and Baldrick work for the Prince Regent (28-year-old Hugh Laurie so vivid here and on Jeeves & Wooster as the ultimate upper-class twit that it's hard for me to accept him on, for instance, House).  In this story, which like all from B3rd has a Jane-Austen-ish title, scene-stealer Simon Osborne as Pitt the Younger is an adolescent politician bent on taking the Prince off the dole.  Blackadder comes up with an elaborate scheme, involving fraud, bribery, and murder, but Pitt is a worthy, and hilarious, opponent.  I'd have gone with a B+ but it felt like there were too many "endings."

Helen Atkinson-Wood plays Mrs. Miggins, a Coffee Shoppekeeper, throughout the series.  Dennis Lill, who's Sir Talbot Buxomly, a Member of Parliament, would be a Beadle in Blackadder's Christmas Carol.  Mandie Fletcher directed this series as she did Blackadder II.

Our World: All Shook Up, Autumn 1957

Our World: All Shook Up, Autumn 1957
ABC
December 18, 1986
Documentary
VHS
B

Co-hosts and co-writers Linda Ellerbee and Ray Gandolf made this too short-lived show a thought-provoking little gem then and now.  The series offered a mini-documentary each week, focusing on a specific time period, sometimes just a few days, or here a whole season.  I wish I'd been able to tape more episodes, but the reruns stopped airing soon after my boyfriend bought a VCR.  This particular episode is of course about a time that was then about as many years ago as have passed since.  It looks at the major occurrences of that fall: from Little Rock and Sputnik to Edsel and American Bandstand.  It's most interesting to see the interviews of people who were part of these stories, how Governor Faubus still stood by what he did, and how Little Richard threw his jewelry in the ocean after hearing about Sputnik.

More Housekeeping

Not the Veece, but you get the idea.

Almost thirty years ago, my then-future-ex-husband bought a VCR, which we affectionately named The Veece.  We taped lots of stuff off TV, some of it pretty random and/or brief.  In considering those VHS tapes which we began filling from the Summer of '87 onward, I realize that some of the shows are of very approximate vintage, unlike the television episodes that clearly have initial air-dates.  For instance, a string of pet videos from America's Funniest Home Videos is going to be difficult to assign a specific air-date to.

So although my aim on this blog (as on the ones for books and movies) is to be chronological, that's simply no longer possible.  I'm going to watch a December 1986 Our World episode next because I was thinking earlier that it was '87 or '88 and so I accidentally skipped it.  Then I'll watch some programs from the Fall of '87 that I do know the air-dates for.  But then it's going to be a potpourri of things taped in that second half of '87.  As we go along, I may be unearthing things from earlier in the '80s, or the '70s, or even '60s.  It'll be more chronological for this re-viewing than chronological for when they first appeared on TV.

Furthermore, I'll be moving and starting a full-time job next month, so I simply won't be able to devote as much time to this project anyway.  It may just be a show or two a day.  However, while it may seem like we've got almost three decades to go, that's just not the case.  I have only a handful of programs from this century, and even the late '90s will be less populous than the early '90s.

Who's the Boss?: A Moving Episode

Who's the Boss?: A Moving Episode
ABC
May 19, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B

Cinnamon & Wengrod wrote this season-closer where Mona is moving to New York to help her brother run his hotel, so she suggests that Tony turn her loft into a bachelor pad.  At first, especially with the encouragement of his friend Philly Fingers (John Del Regno again), Tony is excited about the idea.  But the pull of Angela, the main house, and his "family man" role are stronger.  Angela asks him to move back and he smiles and says, "You're the boss."  Mona, too, comes home, having decided it's better to be annoyed by her daughter than her brother.

Walter Olkewicz makes his first of four appearances as Tony's friend Tiny McGee, not to be confused with his other large ironically named friend, Pee Wee.

Season Three ranges from C to B+, averaging out to a low B, so it's a bit of a comeback after Season Two.  (Which wasn't bad of course, it just had a weaker middle.)  Like I said, Angela goes through the most changes: starting her own business, having a serious relationship with Geoffrey, and going relatively wild.  But, as this episode shows, Tony is changing, too, settling down compared to the previous season and particularly Season One.  Sam still is a bit too much of the '80s material girl, but there are moments when we can glimpse the good-hearted Brooklyn tomboy.  Jonathan is relatively unchanged, although he is beginning to be a preteen.  Mona is getting a little cruder and crueler, but less than she would be later.  And the family is blending more than ever.

Who's the Boss?: Mona

Who's the Boss?: Mona
ABC
May 12, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
C

Cohan & Hunter wrote this attempted spin-off, which at least, unlike Charmed Lives, would've starred one of the regular WtB characters.  It's hard to imagine Boss continuing for another five years without Mona, so it's just as well this didn't sell.  On it's own terms, it's nothing special, and mainly should be watched to one, see, how important good writing and a supporting cast are, and two, to find out some biographical details for Mona.

She goes to New York to spend the weekend with her younger brother, Cornelius Rockwell (James B. Sikking, who's indeed five years younger than Helmond).  While there, she finds out that he's sunk his savings and hers into a faded hotel.  She decides she'll be a far from silent partner.  The most interesting part is the dream sequence that opens the episode, set in the summer of 1941, complete with Helmond as her own mother.  (When we meet Mona's mother, she's nothing like either Helmond character, but then I suppose that may be part of the dream aspect.)  Mona recounts the dream to Tony and Sam, and then Angela comes in.  Jonathan is absent.

This episode features a few actors who had appeared earlier in the series (or even that season) in other roles:

• Beau Billingsley as the Chef, Dave before;
• Joe Regalbuto as Don, Father Mickey Callahan earlier;
• and Paul Sand as Packard, Wally previously.

Suave Jim Ratcliff is played by David Hedison, who was Emily's old flame Steve Darnell on The Bob Newhart Show.  Hotel guest Mr. Padnick is played by Don Sparks, who had two roles on Three's Company.  And, yes, that's 11-year-old Candace Cameron as Little Mona.

Night Court: Her Honor, Part 2

Night Court: Her Honor, Part 2
NBC
May 6, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
C+

This episode has more promise, with everyone reacting to Judge Stone's departure, including some Harry/Christine ship-teasing.  But every time there's a chance for insight, it's killed by some lame joke, like Harry putting on a moose hat.  And, yes, this episode ends the fourth season on several cliffhangers.

Craig Richard, who was Ron Michaels on What's Happening!! and Mr. Spacek on Square Pegs, plays Mr. Binnit.  Al Ruscio, who was Joseph Rossini on Who's the Boss?, is Mr. Fetty.  K. Callan, who was much better as Kip's mother on Bosom Buddies, has the thankless role of Mrs. Jane Fletzker.

Night Court: Her Honor, Part 1

Less buttoned-down
than three years ago.

Night Court: Her Honor, Part 1
NBC
April 29, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
C

Changes in the cast since Season One

• Markie Post is now the public defender Christine Sullivan, replacing (in order) Gail Strickland, Paula Kelly, and my personal favorite Ellen Foley;
• Charles Robinson joined as court clerk Mac Robinson in Season Two;
• and Marsha Warfield had become female bailiff Roz Russell the previous year, after the deaths of both Selma Diamond and Florence Halop from lung cancer.

As for Bull and Harry, they're certainly recognizable from the Pilot (Bull wasn't that complex a character anyway), but Dan has gone sleazy in the meantime.  In this episode, he also goes off the rails because he fails to be made a judge, although Christine succeeded.  More of the focus is on him though, despite the episode title, until it turns that Harry hasn't been reappointed.  The studio audience and/or laugh track is having a grand old time, but I found nothing special about this except that Harry is reading the Tower Commission Report in two scenes without comment.*

Wil Albert, who had played Kip's Uncle Saul on Bosom Buddies, is Mr. Peele here and would be a Jeweler on Who's the Boss?  Brent Spiner and Annie O'Donnell, who had played Bob and June Wheeler on previous episodes would return for Part 2 of this one.  Linwood Boomer wrote both parts (and Parts 3 and 4, which would air in the Fall).  Jeff Melman would direct all four parts, and another 73 episodes.


*Iran-Contra had broken the previous fall, just after the mid-term elections.  It would not impact TV, including sitcoms, as much as Watergate had, but then, this time a president wouldn't resign.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Jammin' Me

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Jammin' Me
Song released April 18, 1987
Music Video
DVD
B-

Probably the only rock song to ever mention Joe Piscopo, this is catchy but, along with its accompanying video, doesn't seem to add up to anything meaningful, beyond a man getting understandably fed up with the '80s.  It does show how much music videos had progressed in terms of special effects, although you ain't seen nothin' yet.

The Garry Shandling Show: 25th Anniversary Special

Yes, I would rather watch Donny Osmond
on The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.

The Garry Shandling Show: 25th Anniversary Special
Showtime
Copyright 1985 but aired sometime in 1986
Parody, Variety
VHS
C

We're going to step back a little in time, to this precursor to The Larry Sanders Show, although it more immediately paved the way for It's Garry Shandling's Show.  I saw it after watching the first season of IGSS and was disappointed.  It hasn't improved with age.  It's not bad but it's not particularly funny.  It's mainly of historical interest, from a time when Johnny Carson was till the King of Late Night TV but had faced some challenges.

Paul Willson, who would be Leonard Smith on IGSS, plays Garry's sidekick Pete.  Britt Leach, who was Davy Jones's manager on The Brady Bunch, Reporter Dan Blevik on M*A*S*H, and three different characters on Three's Company, is Dr. Robert Lebec here.  DeVera Marcus, who was Violet on Bosom Buddies, plays Dee here and would be Willa on Who's the Boss?  Helaine Lembeck, of Welcome Back, Kotter, is Mindy here.  Doug McClure is among the many people appearing as themselves.  Tom Trbovich, who did one Bosom Buddies episode, is this special's director.

It's Garry Shandling's Show: Dinner with Garry

It's Garry Shandling's Show: Dinner with Garry
Showtime
April 3, 1987
Sitcom
VHS
B

In the fifteenth episode (the penultimate for Season One), Garry wants to fix up his widowed mother with his internist, Dr. Paul Derwin (Dennis Patrick, Cason's real-life husband).  The passage of time is handled cleverly again in this episode, ending with a scene at a disco in 1989.  Twenty-one-year-old Jay Kogen, who appears as Big Grant here for the first of three times, was Jay on The Bob Newhart Show a dozen years earlier.

Who's the Boss?: Reconcilable Differences

Who's the Boss?: Reconcilable Differences
ABC
March 31, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Glazer, Guylas, Mandel, and Meyers co-wrote this story where Tony finds an efficient British woman to help out at Angela's office, but Mona comes to resent the woman and her efficiency.  John Welsh, who was "Big Earl" on What's Happening!!, appears as the client Mr. Perkins

Who's the Boss?: Walk on the Mild Side

Who's the Boss?: Walk on the Mild Side
ABC
March 17, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B

John Donley's first of ten WtB stories and Clay Graham's first of twenty-three has Angela deciding to do all the wild things she wished she did when she was younger, an interesting follow-up to the previous episode, where she was feeling no longer young.  One of the things is to go out with the wildest boy in her high school, Jake "the Snake," whom she hasn't seen since she went off to Montague Academy.  Tony and Mona worry about her, so Tony goes to rescue her.  In the tag, he and Angela "make out" at Inspiration Point, their first sober kiss as adults.  And we learn that Angela is about 5'7".  (This is Light's height.  Danza is 5'9", although when she wears heels it's hard to tell.)

Note that Twink Caplan, who plays Joann, isn't in any of my other TV shows, but she is recognizable as Miss Geist from the movie Clueless (1995), while Lee Ving, who plays Snake, had the small but pivotal role of Mr. Boddy in the 1985 movie Clue.

It's Garry Shandling's Show: Laffie

It's Garry Shandling's Show: Laffie
Showtime
March 13, 1987
Sitcom
VHS
B

Shandling & Zweibel wrote this episode (the thirteenth in the series) that is both Baby-Boomingly nostalgic and cable-friendly tasteless.  (The prison rape joke would probably not have made it nowadays, although the "Nancy reaching orgasm while hiding a dog under her long skirt" sequence might've.)  Garry takes in a smart stray collie but Leonard Smith says this violates the terms of the condo contract.  "Laffie" nonetheless helps rescue Leonard from an oncoming miniature train.  Sixty-one-year-old June Lockhart appears as herself.

Who's the Boss?: Older Than Springtime

Who's the Boss?: Older Than Springtime
ABC
March 3, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B

Alan Mandel wrote this story where Tony dates Casey, an athletic 22-year-old who works for a fashion designer.  Angela tries to get the account, including by dressing young.  (Her outfit is great but the makeup and hair are horrific as they could be only in the late '80s.)  She wants to sell the fashions to women her age, but she doesn't realize that "young girls" don't want to dress like their mothers.

Meanwhile, Tony finds it hard to keep up with Casey.  And he ogles Angela's legs when her face is hidden by a newspaper.  They both definitely express jealousy and attraction in this episode, which features a fantasy dream sequence to "Bluebirds Stepping Out."  And they tease each other about their ages, although Tony must know she's two years older than he is, because of "Anthony & Ingrid."  I might've gone with a B+ but the script, like Angela, tries a little too hard to be "with it," especially in its references to pop music.

This is another episode Danza co-directed with Bergmann.